Marijuana Business Magazine January 2020

Packaging Corner | Design & Production W hen Ray Landcraft founded Island cannabis com- pany in 2014, many of the items sold through retail channels were sealed in plastic baggies. For Island’s first product, filtered pre-rolls dubbed Island Premiums, Landcraft envisioned packaging that patients could stow in their pockets as comfortably as a wallet or a set of keys. Today, Island offers a suite of products that include single-strain pre-rolls, flower and Pax Era pods, but the goal of portability has remained the same. What message are you trying to send with your packaging? Redondo Beach-based Island is a California lifestyle brand, according to Lindsay Berg, the company’s vice president of marketing. She said Island’s goal was to make packaging that’s approachable and suitable for mainstream environments. “We didn’t use ‘canna’ in our name or green on the packaging,” Berg said, adding that the company’s color- ful logo has remained unchanged since the beginning. “It felt approachable, very much the California lifestyle. Nothing is more California than a palm tree.” What was the process to design the Pax Era pods? Island has had a production agreement with vaporizer company Pax since 2017. San Francisco-based Pax produces cartridges for exclusive use with their line of oil vaporizers. (The company also offers models that vaporize flower.) When Pax informed its partners that it planned to update the childproof packaging for its Pax Era pods, Island jumped at the opportunity to retool the look of its product. “They provide the (template) we have to stay within. … It’s up to the brands to do designs,” Berg told Marijuana Business Magazine, adding that the redesign gave Island’s creative team a chance to update its brand aesthetic. Island’s oil pods have a suggested retail price of $29 and come in five flavors. The packaging for each flavor offers a slightly different version of California’s rugged vistas—from the desert to the mountains and beaches. What did the redesign cost? Berg said the cost to produce the redesigned pod packaging is the same as the retired design, “which was great, because the design is a much better consumer experience.” Island’s creative director, Sara Kaja, will modernize the company’s entire line of packaging in 2020 to reflect the new look of Island’s Pax pods. – Kate Lavin ISLAND Founded: 2014 Market: California Products: Flower, pre-rolls, Pax Era pods Price: $7 (Island Classic pre-roll) – $48 (Island Gold premium flower) The new packaging for Islandʼs Pax pods, above, differs from the previous version, right. 12 Marijuana Business Magazine | January 2020