Jollylook, a small team of photography enthusiasts, launched a short crowdfunding campaign for the Jollylook Eye, a vintage-styled fold-out instant printer that turns digital photos into instant prints.
While a portable printer that uses instant-style film isn’t an original idea, Jollylook is trying something different. Rather than relying on a digital connection between its printer and a smartphone, the Eye uses its own optics to expose the instant film to a smartphone display and print from the result.
The basic premise of the Jollylook Eye is to move away from sharing photos on a screen and towards creating a physical experience.
“Why swipe when you can touch a memory?,” says Evgeniy Ivanov, the founder of Jollylook. “I’m convinced that one photo printed today beats a thousand stored digitally for someday. In a world filled with digital distractions, we often forget the joy of holding a real photograph, feeling the texture, and reliving those precious memories.”
To that end, the Eye is a compact box that, when unfolded, measures 6.3 by 4.5 by 6.5 inches. It weighs one pound and shrinks slightly to 6.3 by 4.5 by 4.3 when not in the unfolded, working position.
Battery and charger-free, it is designed to allow users to print out their life without worrying about running out of power. The fully analog box uses Fujifilm Instax Mini film which is available in a host of colors (and monochrome) and was chosen because is not only readily available but is relatively affordable.
To use it, the box must be in its unfolded position and placed above a smartphone that is displaying the desired photo. The screen of the phone can still be reached and this allows users to scale the photo to the desired magnification. At that point, users flick the shutter release switch to expose the film and then spin the crank on the side of the Eye to develop the photo.
Outside of the lenses, the entire box is made of natural biodegradable wood fiber material for what Jollylook characterizes as a sustainable choice.
The Jollylook team used to be based in Irpin, Ukraine, which was occupied in the first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The team was forced to leave Ukraine and moved to Zvolen, Slovakia, where they rebuilt the company from scratch and continued working on the Jollylook project. Jollylook Eye is the fifth campaign from the company.
Jollylook is launching the Eye on a seven-day Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign where it will be available for as low as $49. It will eventually retail for $89. Jollylook intends to ship finished units to backers by February 2024.
Disclaimer: Make sure you do your own research into any crowdfunding project you’re considering backing. While we aim to only share legitimate and trustworthy campaigns, there’s always a real chance that you can lose your money when backing any crowdfunded project.
Image credits: Jollylook