Pininfarina redesigns Dedem photo booths

An iconic brand, a symbol of beauty and elegance, Pininfarina is known the world over for having built some of the most iconic car models in a career spanning more than 90 years. In 1951, the MoMA in New York opened its collection to a Pininfarina car for the first time, the 1947 Cisitalia 202 Berlinetta. The collection of historic cars are kept in the company’s museum and are displayed on a rotating basis.

Today, Pininfarina, which is active in industrial and experience design, architecture and yachting, is working on new models of electric and hydrogen-powered cars, autonomous people movers, trucks, trains, yachts and major international architectural projects including the Control Tower of Istanbul’s new airport and several high-impact residential buildings in Europe and Latin America.

Among the new projects, there is also Icona, the new passport photo booth produced by Dedem, the one that we could call ‘the ancestor of the selfie’ and in which everyone, at least once in their life, has stepped inside to take a photo for an identity card or to make funny faces with friends or boyfriends. With 3,600 machines distributed throughout Italy and over 10 million passport photos printed every year, the passport photo booth produced and distributed by the Dedem Group – which installed the first Italian passport photo booth in 1962 – is a recognisable landmark.

“Pininfarina has created many icons that have entered the history of the car and beyond. With the Icona, he worked on the stylistic redefinition of such a symbolic object as the photo booth, but also on its functionality and user experience. Today we are proud,” says Pininfarina CEO Silvio Pietro Angori, “to sign the design of a new icon that will be used by so many Italians.”

Maintaining a formal link with the original design, Pininfarina paid attention to three main aspects: simple and immediate user experience, adaptability to different urban contexts and accessibility. Made of stainless steel and innovative 3D-printed materials, the new free-standing photo booth is the result of the intersection of three volumes, which give the structure a sense of momentum and at the same time allow it to be customised and integrated into both indoor and outdoor spaces. The interior features several elements that enhance the experience, such as the full-wall mirror that provides a feeling of spaciousness and comfort, curtains that descend from above automatically, and lights that turn on when the presence of a person in the space is detected. In addition, the user interface has been totally redesigned and digitised to be more intuitive and user-friendly.