40 Tons is a cannabis brand built to advocate for rehabilitation and restorative justice for people serving extreme sentences for cannabis-related offenses.
When one case revealed a broken system, the goal was to build a brand with the emotional weight to carry a larger truth.
Corvain Cooper's sentencing highlighted the broader injustice facing cannabis prisoners across the U.S. While his case was highly publicized, it represented only one of thousands of people facing extreme punishment for cannabis-related offenses. The goal was to inspire cannabis organizations and supporters to advocate for fair treatment while building a mission-driven brand that could support reform through cannabis and lifestyle products.
The brand was designed to reflect the emotional weight of incarceration through Corvain's story and the people closest to him. Drawing inspiration from industrial landscapes and container ports, the visual language reflects confinement, scale, and pressure. A jumpsuit-inspired color palette reinforces the reality of incarceration.
Weight became the unifying concept. Cannabis prisoners are often sentenced by the weight of illicit product, so the brand reflects both the physical weight used to judge them and the emotional burden carried by prisoners and their families.
The work focused on translating Corvain's vision into a clear brand story and messaging system that could support advocacy and awareness. Although Corvain was still incarcerated when the work began, we partnered closely with his friend and business partner to guide the development of the logo, visual identity system, and website. The result is a brand designed to support long-term reform while remaining grounded in lived experience.
The result is a brand designed to support long-term reform while remaining grounded in lived experience, built to carry Corvain's story far beyond his own case.
