Impossible’s incredible, stylish I-1 camera wins Stuff.TV’s Gadget Awards 2016 in the Design of the Year category

There’s a lot to admire when it comes to Impossible. Their story is one of passion and defiance and one that we are particularly fond of her at PhotoBite; not least due to the fact that it represents the analogue struggle that many of us regularly fight, but on a grand scale.

The Impossible I-1

You see, there are stacks of Polaroid cameras still around the world. A legacy of a pre-digital world, where analogue photo was the only option. Sure, digital photography has its place and you could argue that it’s delivered George Eastman’s vision beyond the successes of Kodak, but it is a sterile alternative to its physical and tactile, analogue older brother.

So there are lots of Polaroid cameras around and it’s purely down to Impossible, that they can all be stocked with film. Saving the last standing factory and largely reinventing the chemistry, the company has single-handedly halted the slide into the abyss to which Polaroid seemed destined.

This year though, Impossible hit a real milestone by releasing its first, entirely new camera. Indeed, the first Polaroid-esque ‘instant’ format camera to be launched in over 20 years. Impossible’s I-1 has a gorgeous, matt black finish and lens-surrounding LED ring flash and also has Bluetooth connectivity and a smartphone app, for remote triggering. There are a host of manual settings and creative options like double exposures to boot!

So hats off to the guys at Impossible – this is a deserved win. Not least for the journey that they’ve been on, but also for saving a classic and really, just take a look at the camera; it’s surely a future design classic?

Read more and see the full list of runners-up HERE