Arno Peever, an alumnus of the Design and Technology Futures master’s program at the Estonian Academy of Arts, received the Red Dot Product Design Award this summer for his work on the AGO film processor. The award-winning device, which is shaping the future of analog photography, was originally conceived as his graduation thesis at the Estonian Academy of Arts, supervised by Ruth-Helene Melioranski, Dean of the Faculty of Design.
AGO is a compact home developer that simplifies the development of both black-and-white and color films. The device automatically adjusts process times according to changes in the temperature of the chemicals and reduces chemical consumption by up to 60%. The user-friendly interface and preset programs make analog photography accessible even to beginners, while experienced film enthusiasts can experiment with countless settings.
5,000–8,000 products are submitted to the Red Dot competition every year, of which only a fifth receive an award. According to the jury, AGO, with its easy-to-use and clear design, makes the home film lab accessible to everyone.
“This project started with a simple goal: to make home film development easier. The fact that an idea has grown from a piece of paper into a real tool and has received such recognition is a big moment – and proof that with a clear goal and determination, anything is possible,” said Arno Peever.
Peever’s master’s thesis focused on the infrastructure of analog photography, where he discovered that nearly 50% of films are developed at home with equipment that was created more than 40 years ago. AGO offers a modern and convenient alternative to this, supporting the continued growth of analog photography.
According to Arno, studies and guidance played an important role:
“It took me quite a while to change from a previous problem-solver-engineer to a user-centered designer. When I finally understood the essence of design thinking, it opened the way to real problems and workable solutions – this education gave me a very valuable skill. Ruth-Helene Melioranski guided me time and time again to understand my client better and better, to find the real problem and to formulate it as clearly as possible.”
The journey to the Red Dot award was long and required perseverance:
“Although the thesis itself was quite a challenge, developing a production-ready device, finding money and collaboration partners took a lot of time. The biggest breakthrough was our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. It gave us the means to implement the project on a scale that allowed us to pay ourselves for this work.”
The novelty of AGO lies primarily in the fact that it makes it easy to develop color film at home. Peever is particularly fond of stories from people who have never developed color film before, but who are discovering this world independently with the help of AGO.
When it comes to international recognition, Arno Peever sees the value primarily in the creative process:
“It was a great experience and an exciting opportunity to see the big world of design from the inside. Although Estonian design could be more present in the international picture, the most important thing is that we are able to move forward with our work and create value.”
Peever is optimistic about the future:
“Design thinking, which Ruth-Helene Melioranski and Martin Pärna have taught us, has been a very powerful tool for creating new products. At the moment, we have many exciting ideas around the world of analog film, but at the same time we are also trying to look further and create something new that goes beyond the current boundaries.”
