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The novelty of House Party
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My excitement towards House Party (the app, not the 1990 movie, House Party) lasted a whole three days. For those unfamiliar, I liken House Party to be a slightly more social version of your regular video chat app (Zoom/Skype etc.) with even less friction. It has an interesting social mechanism that allows you to join a room started by a friend, but which may contain people you don’t know (but your friend knows, hence, expanding your circle).
I wonder if House Party and its rather intuitive and easy approach to starting discussions is the answer to our primal needs of connection and community. In times of open social connection, it seems as though the app would be mostly unnecessary. But more importantly, when we cannot engage in the type of meaningful face-to-face experiences that essentially complete our existence, it’s but a poor supplement to what we really need.
Turn off the notifications from House Party, think of somebody’s company you really care for and call them 1-to-1. The intent and high friction of planning a call almost guarantee a better outcome.
- Eugene
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Seeing Green in A New Light —
Current Cannabis Branding Trends |
The Analysis |
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Since the increased legalization of cannabis in many States, the ensuing Green Rush has meant a massive and untapped market for newcomers to the drug. We break down some of the ways brands are targeting different segments through branding methods that are already familiar to us.
From Connoisseurs to Casuals
Well before the Green Rush and the flood of Silicon Valley-backed cannabis products hoping to target the new markets that would emerge, there were already brands working hard within the then legal grey zone to tap into the new lucrative market.
For one, Sherbinskis, a California-based flower company, was an early mover that would establish itself in the space as a purveyor of highly-curated craft bud produced out. The same went for Proper. That brand invested heavily in the experience of educating customers by testing and categorizing thousands of products and their effects using the data-driven approach of founder Mike France.
Since then, the market has diversified in terms of brands targeting different segments. From the highly discerning OGs who know exactly what they want in a high to casual or first-time users dipping their feet in new experiences, there’s a visual branding style to match their comfort level. The same can be said for whether a brand is targeting users taking cannabis for recreational or medicinal purposes.
The Takeaway
Call it “tried, tested and true,” on-trend or even laziness, much of the branding we see in cannabis products today is grafted from brand trends that were applied to other lifestyle segments like health and wellness, artisanal goods, and pure nostalgia.
As the legal industry continues to develop and new markets become involved in shaping it, we’re interested to see what new forms of visual expression emerge as a result.
For the complete Analysis that includes the list of visual trends, read the rest on MAEKAN.com.
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From the Archives
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Evergreen stories from the MAEKAN archive.
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Sports Slang from Around the World
Sports are lauded for their ability to unite people through a healthy combination of fitness, enjoyment, competition, and camaraderie. But what about their ability to create new words? Through the lenses of different cultures and languages, the same mutually intelligible aspects of a given sport result in slang terms that are weird—even hilarious to outsiders.
To capture the linguistic richness of this intersection of sport and culture, we took a small sample of sports slang words from across the world and brought them to life visually through the talent of Hong Kong-based illustrator Siu Yan Fung.
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For Your A-10-Tion |
what you should know this week |
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