OCIC

From cannabis stereotypes to specialized communication

ClientArteaga Latam

RoleGraphic design coordinator

Contribution Brand identity Art direction

LinkedIn OCIC X @OBScannabis_Co

Problem

Communicating an industry beyond cannabis stereotypes

OCIC sought to position the Colombian cannabis industry through its economic, scientific and business dimensions. The communication had to reach very different audiences: investors in the medical sector, export and customs specialists, doctors, government agencies and people interested in the subject.

We needed to set ourselves apart from the communication associated with recreational cannabis and show that the observatory worked with information, analysis and specialized knowledge. The goal wasn’t to hide the connection to cannabis, but to communicate that the observatory approached the sector from another place: analysis, regulation, production, trade and economic opportunity.

Initial sketches: symbol and typography explorations for the observatory.

Logo proposals and the selected version.

Context

A sector rapidly expanding its possibilities

OCIC was born in 2022, at a moment when the Colombian cannabis industry was beginning to expand beyond medicinal cultivation into research, production, export and business development. At the same time, the debate over regulating adult use was taking cannabis into a much broader public conversation.

I was the graphic coordinator from the start, working directly with the specialists who led the project and developing the identity and visual communication for social media, reports, campaigns, events and audiovisual pieces.

Research

The project leaders were agribusiness experts and held direct conversations with small farmers and entrepreneurs in the sector. My job was to learn from that knowledge, follow their direction on where the project was heading, and complement it with references from cannabis-focused trade media.

Much of the work consisted of translating technical and economic information into presentations, infographics and digital content that diverse audiences could understand quickly.

Piece “Perspectivas & necesidades de los mercados internacionales para productos de cannabis medicinal” (international market outlook and needs for medicinal cannabis products), with data bars formed by a cannabis crop under a blue sky.

Piece “10 años de cannabis legal en Uruguay” (10 years of legal cannabis in Uruguay), with the Legislative Palace, press clippings and a 2013 banner, in blue and yellow.

Piece with a map of Colombia: use of cannabis-based medicinal or cosmetic products was reported most in Bogotá, Antioquia and the Coffee Region.

Event piece: talk “Perspectiva internacional de la evolución del cannabis medicinal” (international perspective on the evolution of medicinal cannabis) with speaker Jesse Stanley, November 3 at 9:30 a.m. via Zoom.

Piece “Estrategias disponibles en la regulación aduanera colombiana para promover el comercio internacional: zonas francas” (strategies available in Colombian customs regulation to promote international trade: free trade zones), with an open yellow container in a field.

Piece “¿Cómo pueden beneficiarse las empresas al utilizar las Sociedades de Comercialización Internacional para sus actividades de exportación?” (how can companies benefit from using International Trading Companies for exporting), over an aerial view of a container ship and a green field.

Pieces designed for the observatory’s social media.

Result

Instead of giving every piece of content a completely new graphic solution, we gradually consolidated a system built on clear hierarchies and visual resources that helped organize information. The identity and visual system lasted through the years the project was active and was applied to social media, campaigns, reports, infographics, events and audiovisual pieces.

The system’s success showed in what it made possible afterward. With a brand manual and access to the editable files, other designers and the audiovisual team could produce new pieces while keeping everything coherent, without each piece depending on a single person. The identity stopped being a set of pieces and became a language the team could use and grow.

Cover “Ruta de internacionalización del cannabis medicinal”: an open green container with a person in a greenhouse crop, boxes on a pallet and logos of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce and the observatory.

Animation of the Adobe Illustrator screen while the cover is being put together, with a black-and-white background of stacked containers. — Putting the cover together.Event with the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce to build, together with experts, an export route for medicinal cannabis; the photos that follow are from that event.

Photo of five participants seated in chairs in front of a light wall, talking during the panel. — A conversation among the guests.

Invitation “Ruta de internacionalización del cannabis medicinal”: an open cardboard box with cannabis plants on a calendar, November 3 at 9:30 a.m. via Zoom. — Invitation to the results presentation.

Event photo: three panelists seated in front of an auditorium, with a Bogotá Chamber of Commerce lectern and an observatory banner. — The event at the Chamber of Commerce.

Piece “Bogotá exporta, Colombia avanza”: green background with boxes on a pallet and the event details: November 3, 9:30 a.m., via Zoom. — Bogotá exports, Colombia moves forward.

Cover “Cannabis: Abriendo caminos para la internacionalización”, with an aerial view of a container ship over a green field and the logos of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce and the observatory. — Opening paths to internationalization.

Institutional brochure of the observatory open on a green background, next to a square cover with a cannabis plant and the slogan “Fortalecemos la industria del cannabis, promoviendo conversaciones informadas” (strengthening the cannabis industry by promoting informed conversations).

A person in front of a laptop showing the JA&A website, with the slogan “Fortalecemos la industria, promoviendo conversaciones informadas” and the “Sobre nosotros” (About us) section.

Institutional brochure, website and newsletter of the observatory.

Reflections

More autonomy, more confidence in design

OCIC was one of the projects where I had the most autonomy at Arteaga Latam. I built my understanding of the problem alongside the team as I got to know the sector and its communication needs.

It was also a project where I learned a lot about teamwork. I worked closely with a team specialized in agribusiness, learning to listen to other perspectives, take in knowledge that wasn’t from my discipline and turn it into a visual system that could grow with the project.