The Biography of a Weed Logo

Looks like a lot of people hate the new branding for Ontario Cannabis Store. Ever wonder how things go this bad? My guess, feel free to add yours:

• The provincial government went with the lowest fee delivered through a request for proposal (RFP) process
• Exploratory stakeholder work showed that folks in Sarnia, Thunder Bay and Toronto all had different idea of “good” aesthetics
• Hand-wringing over making the logo “too exciting” as to promote over-consumption or under-age use tempered the design process
• The designers prepared multiple options with safe, modest and bold proposals. The government chose the safest proposal with revisions to make it even more “palpable”
• Iteration after iteration with new stakeholders added at every step further dilluted the design intent
• The government unveils the logo and price tag without clarifying the price was for the whole design package. Cue the austerity police

• Over the next few weeks bad actors in the industry, either through incompetence or malice, claim they can deliver the product for a much lower price tag, thereby lowering the value of design in the public eye
• All members of the design community (graphics, industrial, architectural, etc.) eat a collective shit sandwich as public trust is further eroded and fees are depressed