The goal of the brand identity was to create an aesthetic that could quickly grab the attention of timid tourists while also establishing a rich personality for loyal locals. The color system of near-neon accents over deep cobalt was inspired, in part, by ‘60s blacklight posters, giving the packaging an aesthetic influenced by cannabis culture without falling into the same color palettes and visual tropes common with competitors. The bold typography system, custom icons, and creative copywriting help express The Flower Collective’s unique location, product qualities, and sense of humor.
What challenges did you face? How did you overcome them?
Because the client was chill about any additional costs incurred by choosing a more sustainable material/process, the #1 difficulty for this particular project was time: time to research materials/substrates, time to research production methods, time to find production vendors that were as close to the client as possible, and time to send myriad emails to those vendors with questions. Overall we fared on the extremes as far as overcoming these challenges. For the booklet, we were able to use our previous experience with paper stocks and leverage our connections with existing vendors to make the process as easy as pie. For the t-shirt, quite the opposite—we spent countless hours sending over 50 emails to find the right vendor and material for the shirts. The process took over 9 months to complete; the client wasn’t too happy with that part, but they were extremely satisfied with the end result.
What aspects of the outcome met the client needs? What would you have done differently to make this more sustainable?
We worked with LA Apparel (in Los Angeles) to produce the made-in-usa organic cotton t-shirts. According to their website, LA apparel garment workers “earn up to an average of $20 an hour and no less than $12. Plus benefits and overtime.” These numbers are insanely high, as garment workers in developing countries are some of the lowest paid laborers in the world. In addition, since conventionally grown cotton is one of the most chemical-dependent crops in the world, the production of organic cotton is, consequentially, one of the most impactful ways a designer can reduce the amount of chemicals used for the production of t-shirts. Reduction of pesticides and insecticides improves the health of farm laborers and improves the quality of soil (which has its own array of positive benefits).
