Polaroid

Proposition
Real Life Magic
Year
2018
Brand
BRAND
STRATEGY
BRAND DESIGN
MESSAGING + TONE
ART DIRECTION
Digital
DIGITAL
E-COMMERCE
UX/UI DESIGN
CONTENT WRITING
PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT
Hands opening a Polaroid SX-70 folding camera on a red set

We built distinct product identities based on Polaroid’s iconic rainbow colours and relaunched Polaroid to the world with a new brand. We created everything from an new ecommerce platform to physical products and accessories. We created apps, environmental applications, and global campaigns. In the 70s, the notion that you could see a photo within minutes of shooting it felt like magic. Even though Polaroid’s technology had been technically surpassed by digital cameras, it still had a sense of wonder – of magic – in the present day.

It was a different type of magic, one based less on technology, and more on tactility; the magic of, in this increasingly digital age, simply holding a real photo in your hand. This big idea anchored everything we did for Polaroid and continues to be a platform that’s revisited today: Real Life Magic.

Saint Laurent edition Polaroid camera, close-up of the embossed leather panel
Polaroid and Saint Laurent SX-70 camera displayed on its black box
Polaroid Spectra camera printing a photo, black and white Spectra film boxes alongside

Refurbished Polaroid camera boxes, SX-70 and SLR 680 beside rainbow box ends
Polaroid Originals poster, SX-70 repeated in rainbow colours on red
Red Polaroid hoodie with the rainbow diamond graphic, worn in a laundrette
Polaroid instruction booklet and illustrated guide, How To Make Great Photos
Polaroid launch portrait, a man beside a large-format camera against a red curtain

Ryan McGinley presents New Originals poster, held at the Polaroid launch
Six guests posing together at the Polaroid New Originals launch
Polaroid Originals billboard against a blue sky, camera in hand
Line drawings of five Polaroid cameras including the OneStep Plus

Naturally Polaroid became a magnet for collaboration for some of the most wonderful photographers of the 21st century. The brand we built was flexible enough to be interpreted by vanguards like David Lynch and Parker Day.

Portrait against pink, a woman in sixties dress holding a Polaroid camera
A woman in a feather boa holding a yellow Polaroid 600 camera