10 years of Dinamo, 10 tiny designs: Dinamo releases typographic toothbrushes

Swiss type agency Dinamo has turned 10 years old and, to blow out the candles, it has launched Artist Edition Toothbrushes – a set of 10 toothbrushes featuring designs by friends the foundry has met along the way. Brian Roettinger, May Kim, Anna Haifisch & Anja Kaiser, Actual Source and Folder Studio are among some of the designers who have contributed works, each receiving a mere 75 x 6mm canvas to play with – the length of a toothbrush handle. The complete set of toothbrushes are available for purchase from Dinamo and come packaged in a gift box designed by art directors Sascia Reibel and Mathias Lempart. But before we get into the details, we had to ask: why toothbrushes?

“Good question,” Johannes Breyer, Dinamo co-founder and creative director digs in. “When Fabian and I first started Dinamo and were travelling to different art schools to give lectures, it often pained us that we forgot our toothbrushes at home… And so stocking up on emergency Curaprox became part of our routine. Curaprox is a very classic, high-tech Swiss toothbrush brand. They’re not only beautifully designed, but also well engineered. Swiss dentists often recommend them.” To Johannes and Fabian, Curaprox felt close to what they wanted to do with Dinamo typefaces. So, the foundry had the idea to create its own Curaprox toothbrushes – with 5,460 ultra-fine filaments and a compact brush head – with typographic handles from contributing designers.

“Daily Practice” – essential to dental hygiene and running a foundry too – is the project’s slogan. The complete list of designers called on by Dinamo includes: Actual Source, Anna Haifisch & Anja Kaiser, Brian Roettinger, Giliane Cachin, Kasper Florio, Folder Studio, Oliver Shaw, Rebecca Stephany, May Kim and Scott Barry – it seems the small design space hasn’t slimmed the variation of work across the project either. Giliane Cachin’s toothbrush, for example, features a print specimen test sheet showing different line thicknesses and rosters. “[Giliane’s] practice is often about trying things out. And her process is usually visible in the end result, so that’s what she was trying to show here. It’s a piece of her daily practice,” says Johannes.

The Artist Edition Toothbrushes come packaged in a colourful, tooth-covered cardboard box. “The idea was to design a birthday box,” Johannes describes. “A celebratory object, like a McDonald’s Happy Meal.” The box houses all the information about the brushes and their designers, plus a special “tooth font” Dinamo created for the occasion. “Inside each tooth, you’ll see ABC Marfa letterforms,” says Johannes. You can read more about the project, plus interviews with each of the artists, here.