Cannabis product packaging and concentrates from Caldera, with black and red volcanic designs, set against a black and white mountainous landscape background.

Caldera

While working as the in-house senior graphic designer at Flow Kana, a sustainable wellness brand, I led brand development & design from concept through launch for the sub-brand Caldera, presenting design directions to leadership and collaborating with cross-functional teams to bring the brand to the California market. Caldera blends science and innovation to create premium cannabis products.

Role

Creative Direction
Brand Strategy
Visual Identity Design
Packaging Design

Impact

👁️ 1 million impressions across media
🚀 Launched in 300+ dispensaries in CA
📱 Gained 5,000 followers on social media

Text saying "Leave Your LICE" in black, bubbly, distorted font on an orange background with circular gradient design.

Design Approach

The brand identity draws inspiration from volcanic landscapes, connecting natural elements with scientific innovation.

Key design elements included:

  • A volcanic-inspired color palette

  • Bold typography for strong shelf presence

  • Natural textures referencing lava and geological formations

  • Playful visual elements that acknowledge recreational cannabis culture

  • This approach allowed the brand to feel premium and authentic without becoming overly clinical or corporate.

Goals

  • Build brand loyalty

  • Increase awareness through authentic marketing campaigns

  • Differentiate the brand in a crowded cannabis market

Audience Insight

Using Headset.io market data, we identified Caldera’s core audience as men ages 25–35.

To connect with this demographic, we developed a brand voice and visual direction that balanced nature, science, and playful energy.

Three packages of Caldera live resin cannabis vape products with black, red, yellow, and orange design, floating against a cloudy sky background.
Multiple smartphones displaying a music playlist or social media profile with colorful album covers and graphics.
Three billboard advertisements promoting artfully crafted fire quality cannabis products, with images of people and colorful backgrounds.
Multiple black and orange vape batteries with a cracked lava pattern and the words "PURE DUST" in bold on each.
Woman with curly hair and sunglasses leaning out of a blue vintage car window, stretching her arm up, on a scenic desert road.
Woman with curly hair holding a black and white patterned vape pen outdoors.
A small black box with red and yellow artwork, labeled 'Caldera' and indicating live cannabis extract, resting on dark volcanic rocks.

Artist Partnership Campaign

We partnered with social media agency Highlyte to have micro-artist influencers create art focused on the brand’s mission.


“Flow Cannabis Company, creators of Flow Kana sun-grown cannabis, launched their new live resin product, Caldera, with a visually captivating campaign. We collaborated with nine unique artists to bring their perspectives to the Caldera brand. Each artist was asked to create a piece that spoke to their experience with cannabis and how they felt after using the product. The campaign achieved over 63K impressions and a 14.5% engagement rate, with zero account shutdowns, proving that compliance doesn't hinder creativity. Our key takeaway: Branding is an iterative process that evolves with a product, serving as a common language between consumers and the company's values. Collaborative development leads to authentic, mutually beneficial results.” —Highlyte

A cutout of a woman with red hair and makeup, depicted with a line drawing of a question mark on her face, layered over a background resembling a yellow tortilla or pancake with a black and orange abstract pattern.
A young man with tattoos, wearing glasses, a yellow beanie, and black ripped jeans, standing against a white wall with pipes, dressed in a black sweatshirt with a graphic of a heart and lightning, and holding a silver chain.
A woman hanging from a basketball hoop with her arms raised above her head, outdoors against a building wall, with a fence and trees in the background.
A young person with tattoos, earrings, glasses, and a nose piercing, wearing a yellow beanie and black sweatshirt with white text and graphic art, standing against a plain wall.

Design is a Process

My process throughout this project step by step:

  • Research & Discovery: Determine values, mood boards, audience, run competitive analysis, & brainstorm brand positioning. Presentation to leadership and integrate feedback.

  • Explore: Sketch logo icons and explore typography, colors, & patterns. Presentation to leadership and integrate feedback.

  • Refine: Refine 2–3 strong concepts with mockups. Presentation to leadership and integrate feedback.

  • Finalize: Deliverables, brand guidelines, file handoff.

  • Review & Revise: User testing and lessons learned for future improvements and refine if necessary.

Collection of black and white sailor-style tattoo sketches featuring eyes, flames, skulls, teardrops, and hands, with the word 'Caldera' at the bottom.
Collection of eight black and white Caldera logo concepts, featuring various stylized eye, flame, face, skull, and hand illustrations along with the text 'Caldera' in different fonts.
Three black boxes with white swirling graphic patterns, labeled 'Caldera,' showcasing packaging mockup options against a black background.
A black cube-shaped packaging box with psychedelic orange and yellow graphics, the word "Caldera" in bold orange letters, and a yellow flame symbol on top. The side has small white text and a warning symbol.

Brand Guidelines

A promotional image for Caldera Brand showing two women in a desert landscape, one with curly hair holding a vape pen, the other with straight dark hair with red highlights, both wearing casual summer clothing, with mountains and rocks in the background.
Flowchart of the design process with four stages: Define, Explore, Refine, Finalize, each with a list of tasks, on a black background with white text and circles, and the Caldera logo in the top right corner.
A slide titled 'Audience Persona' featuring a photo of a smiling young man with curly hair in a circular orange border on the left. To the right, there is a paragraph describing Sam, a 26-year-old graphic designer from Los Angeles, who smokes, prefers top shelf material, and lives with friends in Silverlake.
A presentation slide titled "BRAND VOICE" featuring a three-column chart with categories: Presentation, Tone, and Personality. Rows include attributes such as Innovative, Youthful, Bold; Adventurous, Limitless, Spirited; Luxurious, Endeavoring, Friendly; Cool, Playful, Ambitious; Aspirational, Vibrant, Expansive. The slide has a black background with white text and a copyright notice at the bottom.
Presentation slide titled 'Themes / Motifs' with three columns labeled 'Eye,' 'Fire,' and 'Hand.' Each column lists several bullet points explaining their symbolic meanings, such as perception, wisdom, and transcendence for 'Eye'; creation, life, death, and eruption for 'Fire'; and agency, action, mythology, and alchemy for 'Hand.' The slide has a black background with white text and a Caldera logo in the top right corner.
A digital mood board consisting of various abstract and photographic images, artwork, and text with a black background. The mood board features themes of nature, fire, and technology in orange, black, white, and blue colors, with titles like "ORIGINS," "DUNE," "FEAR," and "MAGNA TTO."
Brand guidelines document cover with a red background, white text, and a photo of a woman standing on a rocky hilltop.
Slide with a black background, titled 'PRIMARY LOGO' on the top left, and the word 'CALDERA' with a flame icon above it in the center. The flame icon is orange with a gradient to red at the bottom. There is a paragraph of text on the left explaining the logo's design and symbolism, and a copyright notice at the bottom left.
A digital color palette inspired by the lava theme of Caldera, titled 'midnight explosion,' featuring three primary colors in horizontal stripes: yellow (#F7D904), orange (#EE7022), and red (#EB3525). Below these are three additional colors in smaller blocks: blue (#002BFF), dark blue (#070050), and black (#000000). Each color swatch is labeled with its hex code and CMYK values. The left side includes descriptive text about the color palette's inspiration and vibrancy, with the Caldera logo in the top right corner and a copyright notice at the bottom left.
A black and white slide discussing typography, including descriptions of logo typeface Lydia, its all-caps condensed font, and the headline font, which is wide and used for main titles. The slide features the Caldera logo in the top right corner, the title 'TYPOGRAPHY' in large bold letters at the top, and a brief copyright statement at the bottom.
Black background with white text and graphics. Title reads 'Brand Illustrations' with illustrations of a flaming skull, a hand with eyes, and a flaming eye. The text explains these illustrations are inspired by grunge skate culture, suitable for merchandise and digital/print materials, evoking fun and playfulness. Copyright 2022.
Brand pattern with black background and orange lava-like design, labeled 'Brand Pattern' with text explaining its use and appearance, and a Caldera logo at the top right.

Post-Launch Metrics