Title	THE FIRST SERVER SERVING THE PEOPLE
Brand	PROTONET
Product/Service	PROTONET SERVER
Category	D04. STRUCTURAL DESIGN
Entrant Company	KOLLE REBBE Hamburg, GERMANY
Advertising Agency	KOLLE REBBE Hamburg, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Stefan Kolle	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Chief Executive Officer
Sascha Hanke	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Executive Creative Director
Rolf Leger	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Unit Creative Director
Ales Polcar	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Creative Director
Rebecca Kähler	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Account Manager
Britta Kronacher	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Account Manager
Kristin Nicolaisen	Kolle Rebbe Gmbh	Graphic Designer
David Burkhardt	Protonet Gmbh	Product Design
Tobias Otto	Protonet Gmbh	Packaging Design
Michael Nordström	VD Northstreamstudios	Production Casefilm
	Studio Funk Gmbh	Sound Design Casefilm
Ralf Goldkind	No Limits Music/Entertainment	Music Casefilm

Brief Explanation

We wanted to develop a packaging that fully complies with Protonet's philosophy. It should offer the best possible protection and be easy to remove and re-use. At the same time, the packaging had to be produced in an environmentally friendly way and remain sustainable when in use. Avoiding unnecessary waste was also crucial.

The Brief

Protonet is the first server for people: it liberates users from dependency on mail providers, iCloud or Facebook and gives users sovereignty over their data again. In addition, Protonet is simple: the server can be turned on by just pushing a button, operated and maintained intuitively by non-experts. Protonet conserves resources, running up to three times more fuel-efficiently than rack servers. Thanks to the patented passive cooling, it also provides longer service life. The only thing that Protonet was missing up to now was the right packaging.

How the final design was conceived

We made the packaging of environmentally friendly corrugated cardboard which is lightweight and strong, making bubble wrap and Styrofoam redundant. Viewing window clearly shows the product inside, allowing to avoid any environmentally harmful printing. Unique feature is the dual use of the packaging. Once the server has been removed from the box, the protective cover shouldn’t end up in the garbage, but can be easily re-used. With a few simple steps, it can be turned into a practical storage container reducing waste to almost zero.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

Reactions to Protonet have been overwhelming. On Seedmatch, a crowdfunding platform, the project set a European record raising EUR 200,000 in 48 minutes. Magazines such as Spiegel Online and Wirtschaftswoche as well as TV channels ARD, ZDF and ntv have published and broadcasted extensive, positive contributions on the topic creating media value worth tens of millions. Deutsche-startups.de named Protonet the start-up of the year. Hamburg@work, the initiative of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg, awarded it the Webfuture Award, thereby confirming Protonet's mission that the time has come for the first server for people.