Cannabis connoisseurs can take flight with POUNDS, the premium line of out-of-this-world, intergalactically inspired glass water pipes and smoking accessories from rapper and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg. Pentagram developed the brand identity, packaging and messaging for the line. The project builds on the brand identity and packaging Pentagram previously created for Snoop’s highly successful Leafs By Snoop line of marijuana-based products. Like Leafs, POUNDS elevates the smoking experience, and the branding avoids clichés for a more sophisticated image that still represents fun and a good time.
Pentagram worked closely on the project with Stampede Management, Snoop’s management, as well as Snoop. The name POUNDS is a play on the “LBS” monogram of Leafs By Snoop, as well as Snoop’s dog-centric persona and the friendly fist-bump, or pound. POUNDS offers five unique water pipe designs, each featuring a stacked tube construction reminiscent of spacecraft and made of hand-blown borosilicate glass. Snoop named each pipe in the “fleet” himself, from the simple Starship beaker to the more intricate Mothership.
The POUNDS logo references the diamond facet shape in the Leafs By Snoop mark, extending it into five fingers that form a fist. Snoop is a forefather of West Coast rap, and the LBS branding was shot through with California cool and images of palm trees, sunny beaches and blue pools. POUNDS adds starry space and big waves to the mix. The Pentagram team developed a brand architecture that gives each bong type its own color, ethereal image and spaceship-inspired graphic icon. The fist serves as a window for imagery, creating a custom logo for each pipe. The spaceship icons are emblazoned on the bongs themselves, along with the fist.
Most bong packaging is designed to be thrown away, but Snoop wanted the POUNDS packaging to feel special and to be kept as a custom collector’s box. The packaging feels luxurious and high-end, made with matte-finish papers, a thick board for the box form, and a magnet closure with a ribbon pull. The printing is embossed with silver metallic ink (the silver of POUNDS complements the gold of the LBS packaging) and the back of the box features a full-scale line drawing of the pipe inside. Opening the white box reveals a blast of color, and the pipe and accessories are held in place by a custom-molded flocked PVC insert.
Each pipe comes with a user’s manual, or “flight guide,” part of the playful messaging developed by Pentagram that ties into Snoop’s laid-back sense of humor and enjoying the products. The pipes are “conceived in outer space and designed in California” (like that other famous hardware from the Golden State) and each box features the tagline “Please fly responsibly.” The POUNDS wordmark and other typography is set in the clean and contemporary Hurme Geometric Sans.
