Petra Seleš
6. 5. 2017.
Matija Kašner from the Croatian town of Kutina is known for his pallet furniture design that has been housed in Croatian technology companies like UX Passion. But this time he decided to use the same recycled material to make – designer cases for tablets. The ipallet4.me crowdfunding campaign has started a few days ago!
Netokracija has already reported (in Croatian) on pallet furniture from Matija Kašner‘s workshop in Kutina, but this time Matija decided to take a step further. The idea for tablet cases called iPallet4.me came to him naturally, he says, because he always has technology at his fingertips.
I immediately started to sketch a 3D model and created a design I liked. Back then, it was mid-2014, there was a contest going on to which I applied and got into the finals finishing among the best 10 projects according to judges’ marks. It was a sign that ipallet4.me could become something. I started to develop my idea and the concept of creating eco-friendly products from wooden pallets that are usually not disposed of in a right way. It seemed like a good marketing story with a twist.
He started to work on the project seriously when last year he received a grant from the town of Kutina and hired Evolve’s team to make the product design. Now the product is finally finished, after it was properly tested and improved.
There are many quality manufacturers of wooden smartphone and tablet cases, says Matija. However, they are different from his product because they use high-quality wood for processing, while ipallet4.me creates a new value for wood of low quality.
Besides wood I use magnets and recycled fabric. The fabric is glued inside of a case to protect a tablet from possible damage. The final coatings are as well from organic production, e.g. beeswax, orange oil and similar, non-aggressive coatings.
“Preparing a campaign is the most important part of crowdfunding”
With the goal of expanding the project, ipallet4.me started a crowdfunding campaign on 26 April 2017. There are two reasons for choosing this kind of funding, explains Matija, its simplicity and global presence. Though most Croatian projects fail to collect the desired funds, Matija is aware what an important role plays here a good marketing background. That’s why he decided to follow the examples of teams like Baggizmo and STEMI and began with marketing activities as soon as he started preparing the campaign.
Last year, I used a lot of time and resources for putting together a mailing list, explaining production process on social networks, especially on Instagram where I received the best reactions. I’ve done all online activities on my own, but soon I’ll leave this to PR professionals.
To be as visible as possible to his future users, he decided to bring together the brand ambassadors, including Ivan Brezak Brkan and Mia Biberović from Netokracija.
Project that is environmentally friendly and socially useful
For now, ipallet4.me is focused on Apple’s iPad and Samsung tablets of new generation. If the campaign is successful, we can expect the portfolio to be expanded by iPad mini, smartphone cases, docks and maybe even wooden clocks from pallets. With funds collected by crowdfunding Matija intends to buy a CNC machine and set up his own production employing groups of people at a disadvantage in the labour market, for instance people with disabilities, youth without work experience and seniors before retirement.
Besides the social component, it is important for Matija that his project is environmentally friendly – not just because it’s trendy.
It’s our responsibility to transform this kind of lifestyle into something tangible, be it by waste sorting, sewing bags from unusable patches, making flower jars from old tires, etc. This kind of thinking leads me all the time in this project.
You can support the iPallet4.me campaign on Indiegogo platform, so grab your unique tablet case now! 😉
