Monogram

Founded by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter in partnership with Caliva, Monogram exists to produce luxury cannabis experiences defined by dignity, care and consistency. In addition to the core product business, the organization acts on social justice issues surrounding legalization, pushing for equitable economic opportunity in the cannabis industry. Ammunition worked alongside Monogram’s founders to design and deliver the brand’s strategy, identity, product portfolio, messages and image.

Taking inspiration from the founders’ personal histories and aspirations for creating both product excellence and social activism, our team began the process of transforming the business concept into a tangible reality by uncovering and articulating Monogram’s deeply held beliefs and higher sense of purpose. As a result, commitments to enabling dignity and crafting “products that can be universally respected; from the connoisseur to the mainstream, from high to low” became our collective guides for creative development.

In response, we created a brand identity system and visual approach that immediately signals a departure from the category’s stoney norms. From the carefully sculpted logotype to the minimal type palette and quiet approach to layout and fine art-inspired photography, the system conveys solemn confidence, painstaking craft, bold intentions, and an extreme commitment to detail.

When it came to the industrial and graphic design of packaging, we were tasked with creating an uncompromising brand experience for multiple product lines and formats, while at the same time elegantly navigating regulatory, safety, manufacturing and fulfillment goals.

The resulting system for flower and pre-roll product formats combines the brand identity’s black-on-black graphic approach with precision-made custom jars, tubes, packs, VIP sets and shipping structures. The packaging creates a striking physical presence for the brand that is at once substantial, understated and gift-worthy.

Services

Strategy
Brand Identity
Visual Language
Packaging
Prototyping

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“I created MONOGRAM to give cannabis the respect it deserves by showcasing the tremendous hard work, time, and care that goes into crafting a superior smoke.”

– Jay-Z

Organizing, naming and presenting the brand’s initial and future product lines also provided a rich opportunity for improvement beyond the category’s largely tangled and disorienting approach to navigating potency, character, plant genetics and blends. We developed a simple and easy to understand system that organizes products into Heavy, Medium, and Light experiences. It’s not tied to percentages. Rather, each category is based on Monogram’s cannabis expertise and the intended overall effect of each strain or blend.

For product-specific naming, the system avoids distracting strain names in favor of a simple and consistent number system for branding single strains and blends. The numbers, however, are not just numbers – they are chosen by the Monogram team in relation to specific artistic or historic backstories. If you know, you know.