This work has been created as part of my job at Simply Loud Cannabis Co, a local and black-owned Detroit dispensary in the heart of New Center. I applied for the job because I noticed they had a great customer experience, but lacked design expertise. In my role as Creative Designer, I am the sole creator of all graphic content going out to customers, such as take-home flyers, digital and physical signage, shirts, and social media presence of the dispensary, while also completing shifts as Front Desk Reception, checking in guests and making sure they are following proper guidelines. 

The logo was not created by me, but I did need to design a visual language and brand around it. The modern, high-end, yet local and urban feel of the dispensary is important to nail down and express visually, since almost all dispensaries carry the same products, and are only set apart by the customer service. I decided to create a set of brand guidelines I could use for graphic content, a visual idea of things I can use in the signage to communicate a feeling of sophisication while also being approachable and rooted in the local Detroit art scene, full of vibrant murals and work by local artists. 

The feeling of the dispensary is that it’s a high-end experience with affordable price points, so that anyone can get a good price while also getting a luxury experience usually reserved for more expensive dispensaries.

The majority of budtenders are female at Simply Loud, so graphic style for Simply Loud started out very simple & sophisticated, with lineless vectors in shades of magenta to connect to the feminine energy, but to also stand out against sharp typography. 

In later updates, I was told to go in more of a sketchy, “fire” direction, with a hand-drawn and more simplistic image style, especially when it became time to create motion menu screens and to make more eye-catching designs that both highlight our artistic senses and keep our customers engaged and interested.

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My first task as Creative Designer was to refresh our take-home flyers given out to customers with their purchases. We use these flyers as guides for pricing out deli flower, and for promoting and relaying information about the dispensary outside of the store and beyond. The information provided needs to be clear, easy to read, and accessibility-friendly, as many of our customers are older and cannot read small type.

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These designs were some of the quickest projects I’ve had so far. I got my list of information to include for the promotion on the same day I sent the prints in. Thankfully, CCS taught me well in terms of thinking under pressure and being able to make designs with a fast turnaround time, so I’m really happy with my design that I ended up with. As for the motion, that took a little longer as I had to actually animate a vector turkey, but that being said I am also proud of myself with how it turned out, and how quickly I got these together.

As my job provides access to an Adobe subscription, it also provides access to Adobe Stock, where I often find what I need when it comes to textures, stock footage, motion backgrounds or loops, or several types of images or even vectors. Other websites I like are Texture Labs, Unsplash, or almost anywhere that I can find something that is public domain or open for commercial or personal use. I do not use AI generated assets or text in my work, ever.

In September, our business had a party for it’s first full year open. We wanted to bring lots of new customers in, but also welcome returning customers back with goodie bags, free products, local artists and food trucks in the parking lot, and just an all-around good time for our birthday. Naturally, we printed flyers to pass out to customers before the event, and at Detroit’s Dalley in the Alley event on the 6th. We would also have a crew documenting the party for socials.

Lauren vs. Instagram

Soon after these in-store design projects, I was given the full reigns to transform our dispensary’s Instagram page into a regularly posting, vibrant social media presence. I was told to post three times a week, and decided to make my posting days Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I decided to focus on recording footage from inside the store with my phone, 1) to make it vertical and 2) give a homemade-familiar-realistic feel to the footage. 

INSTAGRAM LINK

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I try my best to incorporate a combination of digital graphics, photos, and videos from inside the store, while also maintaining a regular posting schedule and keeping up with the reels to keep viewers engaged with the algorithm. I want to highlight our budtenders themselves and what it’s like to shop with them, as the customer service is the biggest appeal to our store besides the products themselves. 

Something very special I always make sure to include is people at our vendor days, where brand ambassadors come into our store and have a promotion on their products, as well as inform customers of new drops and usually pass out merchandise and brand supplies. As someone with a strong interest in the cannabis packaging industry, I always make sure to give them my card.

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