After a 10-year-long hiatus Polaroid turns toward analogue instant photography again. Last week the company launched its new brand Polaroid Originals, that focuses solely on analogue photography.
With the introduction of the new analogue camera Polaroid OneStep 2 and a new range of original format instant film in colour and black and white the company tries to return to its glory days of the 1960s and 1970s. Therefore the OneStep 2 is a reminiscence of the One Step, which was introduced in the year 1977. The only difference between the two cameras is the battery of the new model, which can be loaded with an USB-cable.
Polaroid’s creative director Danny Pemberton says in an interview with “It’s Nice That” that Polaroid Originals is a “completely new brand”, dedicated to analogue instant photography. But he admits that the identity is “directly inspired by several iconic areas of the Polaroid brand.” Therefore, the design and style of the new products are a strong reference to marketing campaigns of the 1970s and 1980s.
Paul Giambarba played an important role throughout the redesign. He took, for example, a common brand element, like the rainbow, and incorporated it in the packaging design of Polaroid Originals. The American graphic designer and illustrator was also responsible for the typeface that is inspired by Polaroid’s typography of the 1980s. Back then the company made a big shift toward Helvetica. In the end the decision fell for FF Real, a typeface developed by Erik Spiekermann in 2015, which is full of little details, like the old-school double-storey ‘g’ or round points.
According to Pemberton the main reason behind the decision to revive analogue photography was the physicality and the singularity of the object. The fact that there will only ever be one of every single Polaroid you take makes each photo a valuable and special artefact. For that reason “they come to represent much more than what they contain inside the frame”, as Pemberton puts it.
If you want to make your own memories with the new Polaroid Originals camera, you can order the One Step 2 for 119 € on the Polaroid website. 8 pieces of the new i-Type films cost 16 € and can also be ordered on the website.