The Grass Agency was born out of a lifelong creative collaboration between Reena Karia and I. We met in college and graduated from the UT Austin school of journalism. She went on to study graphic design in Atlanta, and I moved to the SF Bay Area to pursue a career in media. Years later, as I took on the role of Managing Editor at Engadget, she and I reunited, becoming the site’s de facto creative team. In 2018, after nearly eight years at the publication, I stepped away to join Reena in founding The Grass Agency, a full-service branding and content studio.
Over the next few years, we developed a human-centered practice, offering design, content, and strategy services to brands across cannabis, wine, academia, and the arts. Our approach to brand identity consistently drove genuine, measurable results for clients like Stanford University, Frameline Film Festival, Hirsch Vineyards, The Pairist, and more.
And the fun didn’t stop there. Between client projects, we created an online guide to SF’s cannabis culture; a podcast about California’s messy path to legalization; a pandemic era pop-up headshop; and an award-winning line of retro-futuristic smoking accessories.
THE GRASS AGENCY
A Pivotal Product Launch
UNEARTHLY OBJECTS, UPGRADED BY NATURE.
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UNEARTHLY OBJECTS, UPGRADED BY NATURE. •
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The Grass Agency was a full-service brand and content studio founded by Reena Karia and I. After years building brands for our clients, we were ready to launch a product of our own.
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a) Business owners, creative directors and marketing directors working in cannabis, wine, and the arts. b) Millennial and Gen X creatives. Primarily educated, female city dwellers.
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Diversify income streams with a line of original consumer goods that enhance and encourage creativity.
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Devise an otherworldly, multichannel product launch for a line of smoking accessories and home goods designed to encourage creative exploration.
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Creative Direction, Naming, Tagline, Brand Story, Copy Writing, Branding, Product and Packaging Design, Multichannel Marketing Campaign, Illustration, Animation, PR, DTC and B2B Marketing, Sales, Distribution
Content Strategy \ A Michelin Guide for Legal Weed
We originally envisioned The Grass Agency as a hybrid creative agency and content studio. California had recently legalized recreational cannabis use and we saw an opportunity to fill a niche. A growing number of millennial and Gen X women were embracing cannabis for the first time but most brands and media catered to the bros.
So in 2019, we launched The Grass Guide, a Michelin-inspired guide to California’s cannabis culture. The publication, which included dispensary reviews, product recommendations, and long-form features, served as both a vehicle for brand awareness and a platform to establish our studio as a tastemaker in the industry.
Rec’d, a podcast about California’s messy transition to recreational cannabis legalization, was one of our most ambitious productions.
Each episode I interviewed industry heavyweights and lawmakers about the state of the industry, before returning to the studio to break it all down with my cohosts, Reena and marketing expert Brandi Moody. The ten-part series served as our introduction to the industry. It also afforded us unique insights into the business of cannabis in California and laid the foundation for future client relationships.
LISTEN TO EPISODE ONE NOW!
Making The Bakery | A Pandemic-Era Pop-up Headshop
We were in the middle of planning our first ever print publication for The Grass Guide when COVID hit the US. We’d spent months researching the Bay Area scene and developing content for a hand-held travel guide that would never come to be. Cannabis tourism, still in its infancy, was now on an indefinite hold and we had no way of knowing what the pandemic and subsequent lockdown would mean for our client-side brand and content work, so we pivoted.
In the Fall of 2020 Grass launched The Bakery, a pandemic-era pop-up head shop. The tagline? “Stay High, Stay Home.” With most of the US under house arrest, we rode the wave of increased cannabis and psychedelics use with a tightly curated collection of smoking accessories, fragrances, and decor.
For both name and concept, we drew inspiration from the Bollywood classic Hare Rama Hare Krishna and the hash dens of 1970s Kathmandu. The film’s use of color, psychedelic imagery, and traditional symbols served as the jumping off-point for the brand’s visual identity.
We collaborated with artists and craftswomen to produce limited edition ceramic chillums, cheeky incense holders, blacklight prints, and vibrant floor pillows. We also studied traditional scent blending and hand-rolling techniques to create three signature incense aromas, all of which sold out in a matter of months.
Grass leaned on the studio’s influential following of designers, artists, and cannabis personalities to spread the word about the launch. We devised a multi-stage, cross–platform marketing strategy that reached far beyond our 3,000-plus person audience and garnered attention from industry publications and influencers. We closed The Bakery in April 2021 to refocus our product ambitions around insights from the prior six months.
The TGA Rebrand \ Unearthly Objects,Upgraded by Nature
The Bakery gave us our first taste of product development, and we were hungry for more. In August 2023, The Grass Agency dove back into the world of product development with a new, more refined line of original smoking accessories.
When we launched TGA in 2018, the tides of prohibition were turning and a new breed of consumer was rising to the surface. Millennial women with an eye for beauty and wellness soon became the largest growing market segment. We developed our second line of accessories with them in mind.
After two years raising funds and building connections, we began development on Superbloom, a modern pipe with ancient roots. Our debut chillum carried over the form and function of the world’s oldest-known smoking accessory while playing with shape and finish. After multiple experiments with material, we traded the traditional stone for glass, and chose colors that spoke to our intended audience.
For our branding and packaging, we drew inspiration from a wide-range of sources; most notably, Emilio Pucci and Alexander Girard’s work for Braniff International and Charles and Ray Eames’ Powers of Ten. As a nod to the retrofuturistic visions that inspired us, we developed a fictional astral travel agency (TGA) with an airline-style logo that subtly incorporates symbols like the yin and yang and an all-seeing eye. The TGA brand identity centered creative exploration, speaking to our target audience’s desire to escape the dull realities of the everyday. In addition to Superbloom, we released a book of hemp rolling papers featuring a ticket to the very real exoplanet Coconuts 2-b. Our “Astral Plane” papers landed us a GDUSA American Package Design Award.
A unique brand identity called for a unique launch strategy. Our integrated marketing plan leveraged AI tools, influencer connections, and world-building elements to tell the TGA story. The campaign pulled in double-digit audience growth, attracted new wholesale partners, and garnered attention from media like Broccoli, Gossamer, and Lauren Yoshiko’s Sticky Bits.
TGA products are now available across the United States and Australia.