Medcare Farms
Client
Medcare Farms, Lake Elsinore, California
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Deliverables
Disposable Oil Pen Box
Holiday Gift Box
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Goals
Consistent Branding with Previous Products
Create New and Eye-Catching Packaging
Meet Tight Product Release Deadline
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My Role
Structural Packaging Designer + Graphic Designer
Working on behalf of Treeform Packaging
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About Medcare
Founded in 2009, Medcare Farms is a cannabis and dispensary brand in Southern California that prides itself in providing high quality cannabis for those seeking medical or recreational solutions.
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The co-owner, Kelly, reached out to our Treeform Packaging team. I was tasked with designing pouches, labels, and boxes for Medcare Farms. This website will feature the two biggest projects I completed: a holiday gift box and a child resistant oil pen box.
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Branding
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Typography
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Medcare Farms lacked specific branding guidelines as they do not have their own design team. To determine colors and typefaces, I referred to previous packaging projects to keep consistency with my new designs.
Mood board illustrating Medcare's color and style.
Holiday Gift Box
Project Steps
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Initial Meeting with Client for Possible Project
Sent Design Iterations to Gauge Interest
Client interested in Pursuing Order Further
Revisions on Top 2 Designs
Client Approved Final Design
Worked with Engineers on Rigid Box Dieline
Creation of Printed Sample on Dieline
Client Approval of Printed Sample
Compression Test Showed Need for Dieline Edit
Creation of EVA Foam Inserts
Client Approved New Dieline, Timeline, and Cost
Quality Control of Print Run
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Ended in a sale of 10,000 units for the 2020 holiday season.
Concept
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During a meeting with Medcare co-owner Kelly in September, she expressed interest in purchasing a holiday gift box that could hold multiple Medcare products. She wanted to see design iterations and samples before fully committing to a purchase.
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I chose measurements based on various combinations of Medcare products, as the client did not know what products would be put in the gift box until after production.
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Since this project was for a rigid box with internal components to increase strength, I recruited an engineer from our team in China to check and make slight adjustments to ensure my dielines were correct.
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Design
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I began with several iterations, incorporating elements from previous Medcare packaging to keep consistency. After consultation with the client, they chose to expand on a bow design, which reflected the product release of the 2020 holiday season. After supplying a second round of bow iterations, the final design was chosen.
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Printed Sample
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I requested printed samples from China to confirm client approval of design and box dielines. The received samples had errors.
The samples lacked the foil design on the sides of the box. Additionally, one box had been crushed upon arrival, exhibiting a need for revised dielines to ensure stacked boxes would not crush during shipping. This crush test led our team of Chinese engineers to recommend that I increase the top flap of the box by 2 mm in width on either side, to prevent this problem.
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Images showing the crushed box and dieline adjustment recommendation from our team in China.
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Final Dieline
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After adjusting the dieline and discussing concerns with our print vendor, I solidified the final design. The Treeform Packaging sales team finalized costs and production timeline with client, and I resent art to our printer in China.
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During the print run, I solicited our printer to send in-process photos so I could quality check. This was to ensure they did not omit the printing on the sides of the box.
Product Photography
Features of Gift Box
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Rigid Box
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Copper Foil
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Capable of holding multiple item configurations
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EVA Foam Insert
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Follows current Medcare branding guidelines, but with a new twist for the holiday season.
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Disposable Oil Pen
Process
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Initial Meeting with Client
Sizing of Oil Pen with Possible Box Dimensions
Decision on Packaging Dimensions
Discussion of Method of Child Resistance
Creation of Dielines and Unprinted Sample
Client Approval of Sample
Design Iteration and Small Revisions
Confirm Production Schedule with Printers
Client Approval of Estimated Run Costs
Creation of Printed One-off Sample
Addressed Issues with Printed Sample
Reorder of Printed Sample
Client Approval of Sample
Quality Check of Final Print Run
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Ended in a 5,000 unit sale for Dec. 2020.
Concept
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Oil pens have been surging in popularity over the last few years. In order to compete with other popular companies, Medcare wanted a box that grabbed attention and could be sold at a higher price point.
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Medcare already had a design for their previous oil pens. They expressed they wanted something similar replicated.
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Original packaging for Medcare oil pen
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Structure
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The new proposed box was to be smaller, cutting the previously abundant space on the sides of the pen to make the package less bulky. The client and I went back in forth several times until dimensions were decided.
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California Law mandates that all boxes containing cannabis have a certified child resistant (CR) lock. The Treeform Packaging sales representative and I discussed our CR options with the client, and they decided on a button box.
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A child-resistant button box requires pushing in a button on the side of the box to allow for a tray insert to be pulled out.
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Printed samples in black and white for client approval.
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Design
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After sizing the oil pen and creating dielines, I had an unprinted one-off sample created. After client approval, I moved forward with designing the box. There were relatively few revisions, as I was replicating their previous packaging on the new smaller box.
They decided they wanted to pursue spot gloss copper foil, which is on most of the other packaging they have.
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Once the design was solidified, I ordered printed samples in both black and white, since they were considering both colors. Upon seeing these samples, the client decided to move forward with only the black box.
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Quality Control
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As with the gift box, our sample boxes had some errors that needed to be addressed before a full order could be placed.
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The seam where the art wrapped around the box created a white edge that stood out on the front of the box. We needed this seam to face the back instead.
Additionally, these samples had been made incorrectly so the insert faced the back, instead of opening towards the front. This needed correcting before we could send samples to client for final approval.
Images that show the importance of getting samples before a product run, as it prevents mistakes.
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Final Printing
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After clearing up errors with the printed samples and ensuring these flaws would not happen during the final print run, we placed our order.
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During printing, I performed quality control by having our printers send photos of the first few finished products to check for flaws.
Final project dielines broken out into CMYK, foil, and spot gloss UV layers.
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Features of Oil Pen Box
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Copper Foil
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Spot Gloss UV
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Child Resistant
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EVA Foam Insert
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Follows California Cannabis Law, exhibiting Universal Warning Symbol on front and Government Warning with Prop 65 text on back.
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Product Photography
