LAB76 started as a question, not a feature list: what if taking a photo cost something again?
Designing friction on purpose
Phone cameras are excellent and emotionally flat. Unlimited storage and instant preview removed the anticipation that made film photography feel like something. LAB76 puts a little of that friction back: load a stock, shoot a limited roll, and wait before it develops.
Fictional film stocks
Each stock has its own character and packaging, generated from one reusable instruction system so a dozen of them stay visually consistent. The brand grew out of the constraint.
The wait is the product
The hardest decision was the delay. Too long and people uninstall; too short and the magic is gone. A roll develops over hours, with a notification to bring you back. Testers reported genuine anticipation — exactly the feeling the product was designed to create.
What I scrapped
An instant-preview-behind-fake-grain version felt like a gimmick. Skeuomorphic shutter sounds tested as annoying. Both went. Constraint, it turns out, is a feature.
