Five creative studios. Across three continents. With one mission. To make the best work humanly possible. --- De-extinction | Koto

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De-extinction

Once Upon A Time

Sustainability

2023

Challenge

Disposable packaging is stuck in a cycle of bland promises and empty gestures. The category looks transactional, sounds formulaic, and feels hollow. De-Extinction set out to change that by making sustainability urgent, visible and impossible to ignore.

Strategy

We took inspiration from global movements and protest culture. The idea: make sustainability a rallying cry, not a platitude. De-Extinction would cut through the sea of sameness with a brand built to provoke action, not just nod to it.

Identity

The dinosaurs returned, not as mascots, but as warnings. Bold, vibrant, expressive creatures that signal the risks we face if nothing changes. A high-contrast palette and urgent type system amplify their energy. Even the name, created by Koto, captures the spirit: extinction is real, unless we act.

Application

The identity comes alive across packaging, campaigns, and communications. Dinos demand attention, supported by typography and color that feel loud and uncompromising. Every touchpoint reinforces the urgency of the mission, giving sustainability a voice with bite.

Outcome

We partnered with De-Extinction’s founders to create a brand that broke through and gave them a distinctive story to take to market. The identity helped them stand out with key customers, including successful meetings with Sweetgreen, proving the power of a bold, differentiated brand at the earliest stage.

Thanks

Huge thanks to the De-Extinction founders — Forrest and Chad — for the incredible partnership on this project.

Text on a bright green background reads: Every company will tell you they're working towards being sustainable, which is great. But when you ask them what exactly that means? YOU GET NOTHING.

A collage of website screenshots and product photos highlighting competitor brands’ sustainability efforts.

Lush green tropical landscape with a white cup in the foreground.

A series posters for "de-extinction" featuring a chunky pink cartoon dinosaur and bold typography. The posters the phrases "Sweet packaging without the sour aftertaste" and "Kind on your palate. Kind on our planet.”

Dinosaur illustration covered in recyclable waste, accompanied by text: We’re working with brands everywhere to build a future that’s as kind on our planet as it is on our palates.

A laptop sits on desert ground surrounded by colorful cacti and succulents, displaying De-extinction website.

A digital catalog page titled “Cold cups” shows a table of cup sizes and details. At the bottom, there’s a cartoon dinosaur relaxing with a magenta cold cup on its back.

A green cartoon dinosaur holds a compostable food container in its arms. Large text reads, Re-package your future. Below, smaller text states, Good for the planet. And for business, too.

Bold black text on a bright pink background reads: FEED your business while you NOURISH Mother Earth.

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