THE STORY

Why we made POPA

We are huge iPhone fans and love the iPhoneography culture that has grown up around the product – so much so that, like many others, we’ve stopped carrying our digital cameras with us and now use our iPhones to capture and share photos of our everyday lives.

However, the experience of using a camera phone isn’t perfect.

It always felt to us like something’s missing from the camera phone photo taking experience – snapping away isn’t as easy and enjoyable as it should be. As designers, it seemed to us that there was a simple solution to this problem – a button. Not just any button – a big, beautiful, purpose built button. We love buttons – we think they’re playful and inviting – they scream out “C’mon press me”.

POPA brings that button back! The design is firmly rooted in the now but with a subtle, respectful nod to the beautiful and iconic cameras of the past. Made in brushed aluminium the design incorporates a tactile textured plastic grip overlayed onto the metal barrel and, of course, a lovely big red shutter button.

POPA hugely enhances the experience of taking photos on your iPhone and gives it the feeling of a ‘proper’ camera. And whilst Apple’s announcement that in iOS5 the volume + button will act as a camera button will work for some people, we also know there are lots of people out there who want the comfort, stability and joy of a product like POPA.

POPA was initially launched on ‘crowd-funding’ site Kickstarter under the name Red Pop in June 2011. The site allows members of the public to ‘pledge’ funds to creative projects they want to see brought from concept into production. People really got behind POPA and over $48k in pledges was given from people all over the world to help move the first run of POPA into production.

Why is it called POPA?

The name pays homage to the father of POPA designer, Brendan Dawes. Brendan’s dad was a larger than life, red headed sports photographer called John Dawes.

Growing up, Brendan was surrounded by cameras and the machinery of photography; crazily expensive lenses sat in the hallway, unexposed film stored in the fridge and of course the products of John’s work hanging from the walls. Shots of Muhammad Ali, John McEnroe, the England Football team filled his childhood home.

His dad instilled in him the importance of capturing ‘the moment’ and that a split second could mean this moment was gone and the opportunity to tell an amazing story had been lost.

POPA celebrates everything that John Dawes believed photography should be; see more of John’s work here.