WEDEN – Brandon Puckett
“Weden is a garden of accessible opportunities, helpful conversations and shared experiences – much like the warmth of family, the easiness of friendships or the welcoming of an open door.”
“WEDEN is Where WE all Matter”
Brandon Pucket
“Weden is a garden of accessible opportunities, helpful conversations and shared experiences – much like the warmth of family, the easiness of friendships or the welcoming of an open door.”
- Tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Brandon Puckett and I breathe branding, marketing, and design like oxygen. With a Masters in Business Administration and an undergraduate degree in Visual Communications Design, I was propelled directly into the creative business world. I started out working in the exciting Hollywood California’s event and design world. International experiences and living in diverse cultures have influenced my life. As an entrepreneur, my imagination and comprehension of business principles, experimentation, and design approach, while residing in Los Angeles, gave me opportunities to work with many spectacular and cutting-edge companies and organisations. Currently, I hold the position of Creative Director for ManifestSeven in Los Angeles, CA. I oversee how to best visually represent a concept by developing the overall look and style of the corporate and subsidiary brands, advertising campaigns, events, magazine publications, social media and more. I have been in the core team, who produced many successful ManifestSeven’s brands and companies from the ground up.
- Give us a brief outline of WEDEN:
Recently, M7 (ManifestSeven) opened a cannabis distribution, delivery, and retail shop. We were tasked with creating an entirely new brand from the ground up. Name, Design, Branding, Marketing, Store Design, Interior Design, Clothing, Billboards, Shopping Bags, Products, Product Categorisation, and many other aspects that pertain to creating a new brand. It was a big task with a short amount of time. Our goal was to create an all-inclusive cannabis brand. A new cannabis brand that would be for all ages, all demographics, no matter who you are; if you are a cannabis user or someone who has never used cannabis before. This was a very challenging goal. Most branding and marketing professionals go after a specific demographic, but cannabis is for all. So how do you visually create a brand that the young millennial will love, and someone like my mum, wouldn’t feel intimidated to walk into?
First, we dove into the cannabis market. What is working? What is not working? What should we stay clear of? We began with the principles of archetypes, and we also dove into the phycology of names, colours, and many more aspects of branding. We kept mulling around the idea of inclusion, coming together, family, all of us being welcome, we wanted everyone to feel loved, safe, and a place of education in our retail shops. We eventually developed the name WEDEN. We wanted to create an idea of “all of us being in this together” (not him, not her, not they… WE). We also loved the idea of a garden, a paradise, a place of perfection, safety, love, a utopia. So we put it all together and developed “Weden – where we all matter.”
The most important rule when developing this brand was the ideology. No matter what I did, it had to fit into the brand ideology. Is it inclusive? Does it bring people together? Does it say we are a team, a family, a tribe? An example is the sans serif typography choices that we derived from the high fashion industry because we found research that showed people relate to sans serif typographies over serif fonts.
Every colour was chosen using psychology. For example, the blue in our Weden colour is the universal colour for blue jeans. Most people have blue jeans, and most people love jeans. So there is a positive and joyful connection to the colour.
Even down to our logo and how all the letters slightly kiss or touch, it’s a representation of how we are all connected and unified. The logo kerning can never be spaced-out or changed to separated colours. The logo must always be together as one. I went as far as to create rules for the assets and how no one person can be cut off from our logo. No circles or squares can be drawn around our logo. Anyone can access our logo from any walk of life. Our icon is a simple “WE” with two lines – one on top and one on the bottom to represent equality. We are all created equally.
I could go on for hours on how we analysed and created this beautiful brand. But it all was rooted in a strong ideology and a push for good in the world. This brand goes against culture right now. We created something that says “it’s not about you” it’s about all of us. All marketing right now tells you “have it your way” ” do it your way” – this rips apart the very fabric of that ideology. This is no longer just a cannabis brand; it’s a movement. It’s a push for good.
- How has the public reception been since launch?
It’s astonishing how people have embraced this new brand. I think in the current geopolitical climate, people are crying out for unity and love. People are sick of being isolated and alone. We are not just another company saying, “we are inclusive.” We have actually created an entirely inclusive brand from the ground up, and in every decision we made.
- What are you trying to accomplish with WEDEN?
I want a cannabis shop that is for all people. I want my mom and my boyfriend to be able to walk into the same warm and happy environment. Weden is a place for all. We will have accomplished something for the good when all people come to Weden to find what they are personally looking for in relaxation, healing, partying, sleeping, and love.
- Did anyone inspire you to start WEDEN?
I look at the deathly opioid epidemic happening right now in the USA. There must be an alternative to these harmful addictive drugs. Cannabis can be a solution to so many that have pain, anxiety, depression, and so much more. On a more personal note, my mom was recently diagnosed with skin cancer, and the pain she struggles with every day can be unbearable. I am proud to say that she is a survivor! She has also turned to cannabis and more homeopathic remedies instead of addictive opioids.
- Where are you hoping WEDEN will be in 5 years?
I hope Weden will become an example of a company focused on inclusions and diversity in the world. Of course, I hope Weden will be a successful Cannabis brand. But most importantly, I want Weden to be a movement! This brand is going against culture right now. This brand says it’s NOT about you. It’s not about me. This brand is saying it’s about all of us. It’s about all of us coming together. You are a part of my Team, Family, & Tribe. We are all Weden!
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Awesome Article! Thanks so much Team.