Date of Birth’s colourful identity for ROCC brings disruptive and nostalgic energy to toothpaste

Melbourne-based branding agency Date of Birth have stayed local in their identity design for fellow Melburnians ROCC; a natural vitamin-and-mineral-enriched toothpaste company aiming to reduce the carbon footprint created through manufacturing – with the product’s tube fully biodegradable within seven years.

Although environmentally-minded, Date of Birth wanted to steer clear of the typical aesthetic associated with organic, natural branding, opting for an unexpected collision of retro and contemporary. “Toothpaste isn’t something new, it’s something we’re all familiar with,” Designer at ROCC Michael Nguyen tells us, noting the change in perspective due to the environmentally-friendly context the product is in. 

“We expressed this through nostalgia,” Nguyen explains, “it looks like something familiar, but it’s interpreted in a new way,” finding inspiration in the challenging typefaces of the past – landing on ITC Zipper as the primary typeface of choice. “ITC Zipper was selected as we felt using a style that references nostalgia would be disruptive and distinctive,” Nguyen recalls, “our favourite part of the typeface was that we felt the rounded forms of the ‘O’ and the ‘C’ resembled teeth,” he adds, noting the subtle reference to the product. 

Commercial Type’s Platform was then selected as the secondary, supporting typeface to ITC Zipper, keeping things similarly retro given Platform’s notoriety within advertisements in the 1970s. “The slightly narrow nature of Platform also suits the condensed forms of the logotype as well,” Nguyen explains, striking a balance between character and clarity.

Continuing to subvert expectations, ROCC’s colour palette opts for a selection that is appropriate but surprising for the context. Using green as the primary colour across the product line, Date of Birth opted for a vibrant pink and blue as their accent colours. “The colours we picked are youthful and bold,” Nguyen concludes, “but still relevant to the product.”

Date of Birth

ROCC