Wow! How kind of LH!

An outstanding, focused, superbly written site that will hopefully remain available for a long, long time. So much of our changing culture gets lost. The Polaroid and its iconic branding is a chapter in an unwritten missive: "American Lifestyle." Your participation in the product's life cycle and your attendant blog captured the moment just like the product you helped create. Thanks for an excellent read!! LH

What a treat to get such kind and generous comment on a gloomy wet cold day with the threat of snow!
Many, many thanks, LH.

Additional Kudos

As announced in the brilliant UK publication Grafik for August 2005, The Branding of Polaroid, 1957-1977 was published in book form.

For an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file of the article, click on this link: Download G131_Polaroid.pdf

Quotes from the article by John Weich, Grafik, August 2005 --

"Like Apple today, Polaroid supplemented its superior product with superior branding. . . ."

"In 1958 the company decided to hire freelance designer Paul Giambarba with a view to revitalizing the brand. This was the start of a relationship that was to last an amazing twenty-five years—Giambarba changed the face of Polaroid. He was responsible for creating packaging for Polaroid's Colorpacks, its SX-70, Square Shooter and Square Shooter 2 and the OneSteps. Giambarba's first initiative was to transform the logo into an uppercase News Gothic, and his second was to give the company's B&W film shelf distinction by way of black end panels, which were easily discernible in its TV spots (which, of course, were black and white).

"The first round of rebranding lent Polaroid some design credibility, but its second, more significant evolution elevated the brand to design icon. . . ."

Thank you, John and thank you, Grafik Editor Caroline Roberts. Grafik is the UK's only magazine dedicated entirely to showcasing the most exciting new graphic design work every month. It's also an essential tool for a designer in search of information and inspiration.