And so Lift & Co. was born
Winning a branding project can feel like winning the lottery. Actually, we’d like to use a different analogy to paint this picture. Do you watch The Bachelor? No, neither do we. No one “watches the Bachelor". But on the nights that we tripped on the remote and somehow ended up glued to Chris Harrison’s every word for an hour, we’ve familiarized ourselves with the concept of the rose ceremony. For those who also don’t watch the Bachelor, we’ll elaborate.
The rose ceremony happens at the end of the episode when the cast members’ fates are being determined - do they get to stay and fight for a chance at love, or are they packing their bags and heading back home to continue their lives as sport fishing enthusiasts and pizza entrepreneurs? If you’re one of the lucky contestants to receive a rose, the smile can’t be wiped from your face, and the feeling of pure joy fills your heart. We totally get it, because when Lift made the short journey between our neighbouring offices to give us the good news, they did so with roses, and we felt just like one of those giddy, free-spirited, reality TV show goons.
We were thrilled to work on this project. Not only did they want a new name, but also to create an entirely new look and feel for their community-driven brand. Given the exciting future of the Canadian cannabis community and introduction of the recreational market, Lift & Co. needed a new look to tell their story, share their insights, and celebrate the evolving times. Here’s a look at how we approached the project.
THE NAME.
When tasked with the renaming of Lift, there were a few things to keep in mind. Primarily the glowing connotations the name holds. The fact that it feels approachable, positive, uplifting and makes us think of lifting a ban or rising up and relief. Since changing the name entirely could have caused issues with existing brand equity, we focused our attention on word differentiators. Another consideration was to not use misspelled words, in order to avoid being any more similar to other competitors’ names. We tried all the prefixes, suffixes, compound words, and entirely new words we could think of, but even our favourites didn’t quite cut it.
Back to the drawing board we went. We researched plant terminology (in both English and Latin, obvi), words related to health, wellness, and marijuana, and started to really think about spellings and words that fit within the brand ethos that cultivates community. This lead us to think about connection, community, and collaboration. And so, Lift & Co. was born. The ‘& Co.’ signifies connecting the company to its consumers, bridging the informational gap in the space, while also bringing together the entire cannabis community.
THE LOOK
Creating an entirely new look included creating a new logo, new style, and new colour palette. The original Lift logo, complete with a cheery blue smiley face helped to reinforce that the brand was friendly, approachable, knowledgeable, and collaborative. Cory, our Art Director, tried many different fonts, colours, and styles - from the obvious to the abstract. He focused on creating a unique and own-able ampersand that could be used as a stand-alone graphic. We call this the 'laughing ampersand' as it resembles someone laughing (a nod to the old branding - smiley face). This also reflects the brand ethos. We then chose a typeface that paired well with the ampersand and added some unique characteristics to the wordmark, such as the notched L and the FT ligature. The new colour palette consists of desaturated muted tones to keep the tone of the brand calming and cool, while also elevated, stylish, and a little bit grown up.
We feel honoured and happy to have brought Lift & Co. into this new world, which is about to change even further with legalization on its way. It's an exciting time and Lift & Co. is ready to lead you through it, allowing you to search smarter and consume confidently.