SORRY, CAN’T HANG. GOT PLANS WITH PENJAMIN.

How do you create hype around a product that is sold at every single dispensary in the state and a part of a “race-to-the-bottom” pricing strategy to push out higher quality competition in favor of cheap bulk? You have to make an emotional connection to the customer. The Pen Pal is more than just a regular old vape pen, it’s your best friend. You even have a cute nickname for your Pen. No one makes you laugh like Penelope!

I started off by teasing the launch of the new Pen Pals with some colorful gifs inspired by a trend where people would nickname their vape pens so they wouldn’t get flagged for talking about cannabis on TikTok & Instagram. Each character had a different name for their Pen Pal and their photos matched an activity that was enhanced by

From left clockwise: Studio photography by Handcar to evoke that early aughts nostalgia. Top right: If the friendly nostalgic vibe didn’t quite convince you to purchase a Pen Pal, I came up with the idea to hide a golden ticket for a years worth of Pen Pals in one of the bags for each participating retail store’s inventory. Bottom right: So now that we’ve convinced you to buy a Pen Pal, on the back is a QR code that takes you to a landing page for 10% off your next Pen Pal purchase. It’s always nice to make a new friend!

sorry can’t hang. Got plans with Penjamin.

How do you make a new product stand out when you can buy the exact same thing in every single dispensary in the state? You have to make an emotional connection with the customer. The Pen Pal isn’t just a regular vape pen, it’s your best friend. It comes with you everywhere and is down for any adventure. Plus, it’s pretty darn cute.

I convinced our production team that this device needed to look different than any other vape pen on the market. We went through a few prototypes before deciding to wrap the device in bright teal and add the pink Pen Pal logo I created as a pad print on the front and finish it off with our classic High Minded badge on the back.

The name for Pen Pals idea was based on a social media trend where people give their vape a nickname starting with “Pen” to avoid getting their accounts shut down for talking about cannabis on Meta & TikTok platforms.