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Hirtenstraße 19, 10178 Berlin, Germany
+49 30 24041420
illustrator@qodeinteractive.com
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Brand identity concept · 2026
Role: Brand identity, logo design, packaging, illustration
Deliverables: Logo system, color palette, typography, patterns, packaging label, merchandise, ad concept
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop
Design a logo for a Sacramento cannabis brand called 916, the city’s area code. The mark had to be rooted in cannabis culture, include a primary and alternate version, and come with a short explanation of the thinking behind it. I built it out into a full identity to show how it would work on the shelf.
“916” is a number every local knows, which makes it easy to recognize and hard to own. The identity needed to do three things:
Sacramento balances old-world roots with a young, creative energy. Gold Rush storefronts sit a few blocks from murals painted last summer. The city is proud of its artists, and it shows. Sacramento has layers, and that became the concept.
The primary mark is built from overlapping numerals, each one a layer of Sacramento. Yellow is the shared color in the palette: orange is yellow and red, green is yellow and blue. Yellow connects them, the way Sacramento holds its old and new in one place.
The numerals are set in Sahara Bodoni, a typeface with an old-world feel that still looks modern. “Cannabis Co.” is set in P22 Posada, drawn from José Guadalupe Posada’s printed broadsides, a nod to Old Sacramento’s storefronts.
A cannabis leaf is cut from the overlap, locking the three numerals into one mark. On its own, “916” reads as Sacramento but not as cannabis. The leaf fixes that. I hesitated at first, worried it would hurt legibility at small sizes or in one color. Once I tested it, the leaf held up, and it became the piece that made the logo work.
The brand voice is local, a little funny, and proud of the work. “We know every plant by name” turns a hand-grown claim into something people remember. On the jar, the label keeps it simple: logo, strain, and the details a buyer looks for first, with California’s required compliance info built in from the start.
Featured, Logo
