Nugg Club
Building the cannabis brand that disrupted an industry.
Brief
Nugg Club is the nation’s first cannabis subscription club. I helped grow this powerhouse from startup to +10k monthly members and a thriving marketplace - featured in Forbes, Rolling Stone, Esquire, LA Times and more.
Deliverables
Branding
Design
Website
Copy
Packaging
Strategy
Results
20%
YOY growth
80%
user retention
10X
social growth
20%
web conversion
Finding product market fit.
The reality is that cannabis consumers have evolved. As stigmas fizzled and cannabis became more accepted, cannabis became a lifestyle product. However, with that consumer maturation, the industry didn’t follow. It was oversaturated with stereotypical stoner brands and riddled with user frustrations from high prices to lackluster buying experiences.
I built to solve that and brought the first subscription cannabis box to life.
Building the brand identity.
Nugg Club built a model that changed the cannabis industry. The key was building a brand to match. At face value, I was building a club for the modern cannabis user - embracing all the nuances of the modern consumption experience. From my visual design to our verbal identity, I was creating an affordable luxury brand that needed to feel playful, yet sophisticated. I set out and started building brand values, voice, and design language that harnessed this identity, complete in a 70 page Brand Book.
Playful. Human. Sophisticated. Purposeful.
Packaging
The Ask
I needed to design a box that felt premium and was eco friendly. The unboxing experience needed to feel whimsical and shareable, while fitting 5-7 products of varying sizes every month. All that, plus keep costs to a minimum of course.
The Solution
I took to the drawing board and created a new box design from the ground up. Structurally engineered from scratch, it’s made out of 80% recycled materials and soy based ink. It doubles as stash box, rolling tray, and embodies a premium experience from start to finish - all under $3 per unit.
The Unboxing
The fun and playful copywriting acts as brand breadcrumbs from top to bottom. The premium materials and finish communicate a sense of sophisticated quality, while the voice and brand design bring it back to a playful human feel.
“Supremely aesthetically modern.”
- Esquire Magazine
“A true sense of wonderment and joyful discovery.”
-Los Angeles Times
Building the website.
The Nugg Club site oozes fun. As you scroll down the homepage, you’re brought through a journey of flowing design language, cheeky copy, and custom graphics. As you click into signup, the whole flow is custom built to communicate simply and convert.
Building a socially distanced brand activation.
When social distancing pulled everyone apart, we decided to pull everyone together. I strategized a socially distanced drive in movie for Nugg Club members. It was a simple way to feel like they could be together, even though everyone was safely in their cars. And of course, we filled the boxes with snacks.
A great brand is defined by how they handle problems.
Supply chain hit Nugg Club hard, and left them without boxes for a few weeks. In a few days, I turned around the 404 error box. I leaned into the problem and had fun with it, leaving customers delighted even though they didn’t get their usual box.
