The Branding of Polaroid, 1957 - 1977

Polaroid SX-70 Family of Package Design by Paul Giambarba

Click on images for enlargement. A year later in 1973, I got the assignment to design the graphics for an accessory kit for the SX-70 that included a panel to identify the individual accessories and how they might be used. Polaroid's in-house packaging people did the structural designing for the box, working with their folding box vendor. By 1975 the SX-70 family had grown considerably and I had to come up with design variations without compromising the original look.

SX-70 kick-off

This is the press kit that was sent out to announce the introduction of the Polaroid SX-70. The layout and type selection were done in-house. I would not have chosen Times Bold as the typeface. It's a personal thing, but it looks a bit clumsy to me. The escapement between the numerals 7 and 0 is much too tight. Kiss-fits, as they were called in those days, were very much in vogue. This is not good typesetting because the SX looks normal and the 70 is too tight. Picky, picky.

TIME broke the SX-70 story on 26 June 1972 with a heroic cover photo of Land focusing the camera.
LIFE followed later with its own cover for its 27 October 1972 issue and called Land a genius. Each book had several pages of editorial about the inventor and the product.

The ubiquitous SX-70 film box

The SX-70 film process owes its existence to Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady and wife of President Lyndon B. Lady Bird became aware of the trash in our National Parks created by the expended tabs of the original Polaroid film and requested that Polaroid Corporation invent a neater picture process. They did and the rest, as they say,
is history.

What you probably didn't know is that within a few years of its introduction it ranked Number One in dollar sales in drugstores, creating more cash flow than Kodak Instant Film or Kodacolor II film, which followed in order as numbers two and three.

In Unit Sales it was number eight compared to number six for Kodacolor II, but significantly ahead of Kodak Instant Film which is not shown on the chart (it was number fourteen).

The article is from and copyright by The New York Times of 01 August 1980. Click on image to enlarge.

Introduction of the Polaroid SX-70, 1972

Having mentioned the SX-70 just below, I think I should cut to the chase and upload this photo of the entire line at the time. The film box is just left of front and center, the camera boxes which include a Model 2 flank a host of accessory items. Click on the image for an enlargement.

The word came down from on high that Land insisted on a white box, so we did a white box. For those (and there were more than a few) who complained of the simple solution, I countered that only Chanel managed to keep packaging this clean and identifiable over a whole range of products.

For those others who would argue that Polaroid might possibly have too many images, would have been better to use existing graphics and set in large type: A NEW system of photography?

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I thought you might like to know that I'm running another printing of the book, shown here. It's 180 pages in black and white plus full color covers on coated stock, 7-3/8 x 9-1/8 inches (cm 18.8 x23.5) with square "perfect" binding and it contains a lot more information than is here on the web log. There are five pages of photos of my studio workshop and another six of designs that influenced me plus a full color sheet of the Iconography of the Polaroid mark from 1958 to 1977.

The cost is only US$30.00 which includes $5.00 shipping within the USA or Canada, or US$35.00 which includes $10.00 for shipping elsewhere. Payment can be made to giam at aol.com via PayPal using your credit card or PayPal account. Or you can send a check or an international money order to PAUL GIAMBARBA, P.O. BOX 1795, Mashpee MA 02649-1795, USA.
Allow three to four weeks for delivery. Please advise if you would like me to sign the book for you.

Click on image to enlarge it.