Located in South Lake Tahoe, CA, Cannablue is the town’s premier cannabis dispensary. With tourism making up a large part of the customer base, it was important to build a brand that resonated with both locals and out-of-towners. From identity to in-store experience, the brand needed to feel approachable, elevated, and a little playful.
Designer: Megan Harrigan, Free Thought Design
Client: Cannablue, Alex & Jessica Gosselin
2025 Graphic Design USA Cannabis Design Winner, Advertising Category
Cannablue uses the four seasons as a framework to categorize its cannabis products. The idea was to make product selection intuitive, especially for newcomers.
Each season was given a unique geometric icon and color, making product navigation simple at a glance. Guests use “lifted tickets” to choose items from the floor, and seasonal identifiers were carried through on loose flower packaging and pre-roll multi-packs. The visual system made it easy for shoppers to quickly identify what they were looking for—especially helpful in a busy, fast-moving retail space.
South Lake Tahoe is a haven for outdoor enthusiasts—and Instagrammers. For the summer campaign, I leaned into the area’s natural adventure culture with a satirical twist.
Playing off the popular slogan at the time, “Do it for the ’gram,” I created surreal photo composites where people were posed in typical Tahoe scenes—snowboarding, paragliding, swimming in the lake—but instead of granite boulders or peaks, they were scaling oversized cannabis buds.
The campaign visuals were printed as postcards sold in-store and featured on a billboard along Highway 50, just outside Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort. It was bold, playful, and unforgettable—just like the brand.
Our winter campaign took a more rebellious tone, with a wink to locals and seasoned partakers.
In a fully photoshopped scene, two snowboarders were shown hotboxing a gondola cabin—cheekily dubbed the “Ganjdola Express.” Subtle visual easter eggs, like a South Lake Tahoe (SLT) sticker and gondola number #420, added layers of insider charm.
This campaign was featured on a billboard on the west side of town, and supported by rack cards placed in tourism-heavy spots like casinos and Heavenly Village. The campaign stirred conversation and showed Cannablue’s sense of humor and cultural fluency—key traits that built loyalty with both locals and curious tourists.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.