“We’re all familiar with household names like the Pillsbury Doughboy, Tony the Tiger and Elsie the Cow. What would mascots for a more, ahem, underground product like hydroponic growth enhancers, popular with basement horticulturalists of a particularly pungent crop, look like? For the packaging of various product lines from Advanced Nutrients, Pentagram’s DJ Stout collaborated with illustrator Marc Burckhardt to create iconic brand mascots reminiscent of the greats. Meet Big Bud, Kushie, Jane, Dr. X, Sweet Tooth, Tilla Gorilla and Thirstin’ Howl III”
You might say that the original line of Advanced Nutrients products grew organically, one product after another, over time and without an overarching visual brand strategy. Many of the labels on the products, which come in multiple container sizes, were quaint and naïve at best, and just generic and forgettable in most instances. Many of the labels featured clip art or uninspired, often lifeless, depictions of flowers or animals and the typography was all over the place.
