Leading Creative Direction For 12 In-house Brands | Mitesh Patel, High Tide

On this episode, we’re joined by Mitesh Patel, the Senior Director of Creative & Design at High Tide Inc., one of Canada’s largest and most diversified cannabis companies. Mitesh oversees all creative across High Tide’s portfolio, which includes over 200 retail locations under banners like Canna Cabana plus global ecommerce and accessories brands like Grasscity, Smoke Cartel, and Daily High Club.Before joining High Tide, Mitesh led the creative vision at Famous Brandz, where he developed licensed cannabis accessories for Snoop Dogg, Jay & Silent Bob, and Hellboy.Mitesh breaks down how High Tide builds a cohesive creative system across dozens of banners and channels. He explains how his team balances compliance with brand storytelling, how in‑house creative drives speed and consistency, and why retail design plays a bigger role in cannabis than most people think.—---------------Episode Highlights:🏪 Building a design system for 200+ cannabis stores🎨 Why High Tide keeps creative in-house📦 Balancing compliance and creativity in packaging🔥 Launching IP collaborations with major pop culture brands🌍 Adapting cannabis retail for international markets💼 The day-to-day of running a lean, high-output design team🧰 Tools and workflows that keep creative moving📈 What retail designers get wrong about ROI🛠️ Mitesh’s transition from editorial design to global cannabis🚀 How creative can drive strategy in CPG retail—---------------Table of Contents:00:00 – Intro & High Tide overview02:00 – How Mitesh manages his time to oversee creative of multiple brands04:15 – Designing retail stores for speed & consistency08:40 – High Tide’s core consumer and how to resonate with them10:20 – Tips for designing dispensaries16:15 – Tips for designing packaging for cannabis accessories20:40 – Learning lessons from leading creative teams—---------------Links:High Tide – https://www.hightideinc.com Follow Mitesh on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/pt902/ Follow Adam on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/ For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint.Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.