After hiring Lady Gaga as their creative director, the entire tech industry was wondering in their heads, “Um, what?” Well, it’s a year and now Polaroid have decided to use CES to launch the end results with their partnership with the pop singer – the Grey Label.
The Grey Label will feature three parts, which Polaroid claim that they are “truly expressive of Lady Gaga’s artistic vision” – a printer, a digital camera and camera glasses.
The GL30 (above), the “Instant Digital Camera”, is a departure to what many traditional cameras are now, and will bring back the traditional Polaroid shape. While it acts like a digital camera, it also features a printer – bringing it back to the 20th century.
The GL10 Instant Mobile Printer, however, is a photo printer for your mobile phone, hooking it up via Bluetooth and just simply sending the photo to the printer – it will print the photo on 3×4″ paper. It, and the GL30, print on ZINK Zero Ink Technology, meaning that there is no ink used but heat crystals on the paper to make the image. It also means that this is environmentally friendly.
However, for some unknown reason, it just does not work with the iPhone – according to a snippet of Polaroid’s CES press event.
The GL20, however, brings some evolution to the brand. It is essentially sunglasses with a camera inside, so you can capture memories instantly and display the images on the glasses’ LCD screen for others to see.
The GL10 will come out in May 2011 with a price tag of $149.99, with paper to come out at that time as well. The GL20 and GL30, however, do not have a release date or price – just “available later this year”.
Full press release is below.
POLAROID AND LADY GAGA ANNOUNCE GREY LABEL
A Collaboration Between Two of the Most Influential Icons of Our Time, Polaroid Grey Label Comes to Life With Three New Products That Showcase the Magic of the Polaroid Instant Experience
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 6, 2011 – (Virtual Press Office) – Polaroid and its Creative Director, Lady Gaga today unveiled Polaroid Grey Label, an original line of products co-designed with Lady Gaga. This collaboration between two cultural icons reflects Polaroid’s long standing tradition of innovation tracing back to founder Dr. Edwin Land and Lady Gaga’s mission to deliver products that enable creativity for all, celebrate artistry and make sharing instantaneous across the physical and digital. The inaugural Polaroid Grey Label line is truly expressive of Lady Gaga’s artistic vision and includes the GL10 Instant Mobile Printer, GL30 Instant Digital Camera and the GL20 Camera Glasses, a unique new look at how to turn images into a fashion statement.
“I consider myself to be a visionary, not just a songwriter and a singer. I am an artist,” said Lady Gaga, Polaroid’s Creative Director. “I brought my vision and love of fashion, technology and obsession with the future into all of my work with Polaroid.”
Polaroid Grey Label Products
Polaroid and Lady Gaga today unveiled the first trio of Polaroid Grey Label products at Polaroid’s CES booth:1. GL10 Instant Mobile Printer:
• Advanced Technology: The newest instant printing experience begins with the embedded dye-crystal ZINK® Zero Ink® Technology from ZINK Imaging. Patented ZINK Paper™ is an advanced composite material with cyan, yellow, and magenta dye crystals embedded inside. Before printing, the embedded dye crystals are clear, so ZINK Paper®, looks like regular white photo paper. The GL10 Instant Mobile Printer uses heat to activate and colorize these crystals.
• Superb Print Quality: The GL10 Instant Mobile Printer uses ZINK’s second-generation thermal technology, delivering image quality that rivals a photo-lab. Prints emerge fully developed and protected by a smudge-proof, water-resistant coating.
• Aesthetically Pleasing and Environmentally Responsible: Designed for both form and function for use both in the present and future. ZINK technology requires no messy ribbons, toner or inkjet cartridges.The GL10 Instant Mobile Printer will be available in May 2011 (US $149.99 MSRP). ZINK 3×4” Paper will be available in May 2011 at a price to be announced.
2. GL30 Instant Digital Camera:
• Brings the Polaroid Instant Experience to Life: Introducing a new generation to the joy of instant photography, the GL30 uses next generation ZINK Zero Ink Technology from ZINK Imaging.
• Fuses the Digital and Physical Worlds: Featuring the benefits of a digital camera, instant photo printer and digital display, the GL30 is a creative tool that delivers the best of the digital and physical worlds.
• Pays Tribute to Polaroid’s Legacy: Reminiscent of Polaroid cameras of the past, the GL30 is clearly a significant departure from a typical camera. Designed for longevity, the GL30 is not only for the future, it’s an object of desire. Users can select from a number of filters and borders to create truly original images that instantly fit in the palm of your hand.The GL30 Instant Digital Camera will be available later this year, at a price to be announced.
3. GL20 Camera Glasses:
• Merges Fashion With Photography: Never before has the world seen fashion, photography and technology come together in one, singular product.
• Tells Your Story to the World: Users can instantly capture or upload photos with the built-in camera and then display the images on the glasses’ LCD screens for others to see.
• Expresses True Artistry and Originality: Only Lady Gaga could create a hybrid that’s part fashion statement, part revolutionary technology and part tool for self-expression.The GL20 Camera Glasses will be available later this year, at a price to be announced.
The Polaroid Grey Label Evolution
After being named Polaroid’s Creative Director in January 2010, Lady Gaga and Polaroid collaborated to define a direction for the line that blended the brand’s core values with Lady Gaga’s creativity. Stemming from “greige goods,” a fashion-industry term for fabric in its purest form, the Polaroid Grey Label line encompasses Polaroid’s heritage of delivering simplicity with the style, wit and sensibility of Lady Gaga.Committed to bringing originality back to product design across all genres, Lady Gaga articulated that all Polaroid Grey Label products communicate three essential elements of self-expression:
• Creativity: All Polaroid Grey Label products are designed with the idea that creativity and sharing go hand in hand, in both the digital and the physical world.
• Instant Artistry: All features found in Polaroid Grey Label products celebrate, express and bring an element of artistry and originality to the act of image making.
• Fashion: Intended to be just as much everyday fashion accessories as innovative imaging tools, all Polaroid Grey Label products feature unexpected design elements such as leather touch points, brushed metal and exposed mechanical details.“The Polaroid Grey Label line embodies the Polaroid brand, with an injection of the future-looking fashion and design mantra of Lady Gaga that simply can’t be replicated,” said Scott W. Hardy, Polaroid’s President. “It represents Polaroid innovation for the new generation, one in which there are no limitations to sharing creativity through photography, both physical and digital.”