Beginning at the top is the Polaroid mark I did in 1958, its application to package design and corporate identity, which is the bottom panel just above the date, 1958. Somewhere in the lower right of the photo is the corporate sign POLAROID, identical to the mark above. On the left are package designs for Polaroid Sunglasses, 1962, Polaroid Colorpack and black-and-white filmpacks, package design for a Polaroid Colorpack camera, and to the far left, package design and product identity for Polavision, 1977. At the bottom of the row is a package design and product identity for a Polaroid Square Shooter camera. In the row on the right are package designs and product identity for Polaroid SX-70 cameras and accessories, dating from 1972, and just below is a photo of package design for Polaroid Pronto!
Quotes from an article by John Weich, in Grafik [UK} 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.
For more click on The Branding of Polaroid
[How we beat Eastman Kodak and its little yellow boxes in the marketplace
despite a clunky product and an irrelevant corporate name]
My package design based on a need to be seen amid a saturation of Eastman Kodak yellow in the marketplace, 1958
This is what Polaroid had been struggling with in 1957. See colors, below:
M.I.T. colors and the crossed filters we called soap bubbles, 1957
Kodak yellow sat on these timid colors and an impossible to read Polaroid
My first job was to set Polaroid in caps to distinguish the A from the O in a legible type face . . .
. . . that could be used as corporate as well as product ID.
By 1966 we got the brand very visible and recognizable.
Set-up boxes did double duty as pedestals as well, 1958
Polaroid store interior and exterior illuminated signage, 1958
I then concentrated on creating a flag for Polaroid products. The very first was for sunglasses, 1962.
This image eventually became iconic internationally. The sunglasses were not sold in the USA.
The flag for photo products became this after Polacolor was introduced in 1968
The color stripes endured for all photo products through 1977:
1970
1970
1975
1977
1977
Then, for something completely different there was the entire SX-70 family of products
Polaroid SX-70 camera line and accessories, 1972
More Polaroid SX-70 cameras and accessories, 1976
I took on another corporate and product ID challenge on the shores of Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota
Tonka Corporation, 1974
Joint venture, 1974
Old Tonka Toys logo caused all kinds of register problems in printing.
My redesigned logo for Tonka Toys caused virtually no color registration problems, 1975