For this Boston artist, designing packaging for Mayflower cannabis a chance to spread awareness about legalization

For Elias Diestler, a passion for art and the legalization of cannabis collided.

Diestler, a 31-year-old transgender digital artist who lives in Brighton, is the current creator featured in the Mayflower Pharmacy’s Artist Spotlight series to give back to the local art scene while highlighting the work of people who who have done this have a connection to a person or community disproportionately affected by the cannabis ban.

“I’ve never done product design before, so I feel like I’m at a time when we’re still trying to destigmatize medical marijuana. It’s nice to be able to use art to influence areas that I think are really important, to spread awareness, ”Diestler said in a virtual interview. “There is a lot of intersectionality for me with marijuana in general and legalization and the way the country moves. Being part of it is like being part of it, in my own little way. “

In Diestler’s eyes, everyone should have access to the plant’s benefits without punishment.

The series is part of Mayflower’s positive action plan that pharmacies need to help communities disproportionately affected by the war on drugs. Mayflower has a recreational cannabis store in Worcester and a medical dispensary in Allston.

With the series running every three months with a new artist, year-round, Mayflower plans to donate $ 1 for every unit sold to Unbound Visual Arts, a Boston-based organization dedicated to helping local artists.

Diestler is the featured artist for May, June and July and creates different packaging for each month. This weekend, its design was released on packaging for Star Killer, an indica flower variety.

As a patient at the Mayflower Allston Pharmacy, Diestler said he saw other labels that were part of the Spotlight series and was inspired to apply. Donations to Unbound Visual Arts and Mayflower’s work with the Last Prisoner Project, a nonprofit dedicated to cannabis criminal justice reform, made the series even more appealing, he said.

Mayflower is running limited editions of the designs for the series and printing the labels for just 400 units, which means 200 for both pharmacies. The limited edition makes it more of a specialty product, said Lisa Schaefer, Mayflower marketing director. The design is based on a glass for an eighth of a cannabis flower, the glass component a slight improvement over the usual packaging.

Typically an eighth at Mayflower costs $ 45, but the limited-edition items in the series cost $ 35, Schäfer said.

Diestler qualified to appear on the series because his fiancée was charged with marijuana, he said. He also runs an Instagram account for an imprisoned friend named Denise Lendon. She sends out Diestler artwork and he edits it and posts it on the Instagram page with Lendon’s captions.

Diestler said cannabis helped alleviate medical problems like anxiety, but it also helped him find community and build relationships.

“I want to help spread awareness and education as a whole because I think it’s something that everyone deserves access to and that people shouldn’t be punished for,” Diestler said.

Diestler does web and content design for Bose full-time.

“During the quarantine, I practiced my art a lot more,” said Diestler. “It was kind of therapy for me and I’ve just broadened my horizons.”

For Star Killer, Diestler went a bit literal with his design.

“I investigated what neutron stars are,” said Diestler. “I wanted to do what looked like a digital representation of a neutron star that would be considered a star killer, so I took the name and ran with it.”

Diestler said he used purple in the design to represent the indica strain known for its calming effects. For the handwriting, he went with something retro, but also with graffiti pop inspiration.

“Overall, I just wanted to have fun with layers and see what I can do with my Photoshop skills, too,” he said.

Diestler said the first time he felt like an artist was when he was 8 years old when he was playing the piano. He has been drawing and scrawling for as long as he can remember. Lately, Diestler has also worked with photographer Edward Boches, the artist behind @postcards_from_allston. Diestler was a topic for Boches’ project volunteers in America, highlighting his role in Allston-Brighton Mutual Aid and Black and Pink Massachusetts.

Diestler’s next Mayflower packaging design is for the pineapple upside-down cake variety, Sativa.

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