I had a chance to meet up with GirlDC so I wanted to share that here...
Ever since I got a glimpse of GirlDC Ironman keycap on google images I was fascinated with the possibility of customizing keyboards. It was GirlDCs Ironman that led me to Geekhack and was the root of my journey to collect various artisan keycaps. Ever since the unfortunate incident on Geekhack, the only way to acquire his work was through the classifieds or on the Korean forums. I had asked him to do a commissioned work for one of his previous project but first he was hesitant, since he did not want to revisit past projects and instead work on new projects. After I explained my situation and talked with him, he accepted my offer. Naturally, I was thankful and led me to start this thread.
So... Who is GirlDC. Earlier this week I had the pleasure to meet him in person to answer that question along with other questions I had for/about GirlDC. Over a drink I found out, by day he is a freelancing jeweler specializing in wedding gifts and by night he resorts to his hobby of making keycaps. At first, his plans to make keycaps was undermined within the Korean keyboard community but that did not stop him, instead it motivated him. With a background of working with precious metals, he applied that skill for his desire for making custom keycaps for himself. So began his journey.
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(Jewelry work of GirlDC)
What is GirlDC. GirlDC used to enjoy skateboarding before a car accident that severely restricted his love for skating. Those familiar with skating might have heard of the skateboard companies, Girl skateboards and DC shoes. Those were GirlDC's favorite brands, so he combined the two names, Girl-DC.
Due to the fact that GirlDCs day job requires him to work around his customers' specifications, his keycaps revolved around his own personal preferences. Specifically, his favorite comics/mangas. Even then, he would be making 4~6 different variations of the same model until it met his qualifications as a presentable keycap. Collectors aware of his work knows, how detailed GirlDC caps are and how attractive they are. Yet he still strives to improve his work, promising me that his work will only get better with higher quality.
A recent post from him stated his plans to work with a gallery in Singapore. GirlDC has explained that a lot of places, including Geekhack and other galleries, initially wanted a higher pricetag for his work. His motives were not to make money but to make affordable high-end keycaps, which led him to lose money on a lot of his previous projects. Fortunately, due to an increasing demand in Asian countries, such as China and Singapore, he is able to increase the price of his work without losing demand. However, his true goal to make affordable keycaps for the mass remains. GirlDCs current plan is to differentiate his work into two product lines, plastic keycaps for the mass and precious metal keycaps for those who are willing to pay a premium.
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(Prototype of GirlDCs painted keycaps)
With such differentiation, GirlDC also wants to include a special version of the plastic keycaps, a hand painted version. Initially GirlDC focused on practicality, limiting creativity, but he claims that his view for his own work changed recently. As stated on his other post, he wanted to make keycaps that people "want to collect" instead of "want to buy." Hence, the painted keycaps, which cant be practically used since the paint might wear off but remains collectable for being one-of-a-kind. As of now, he has no plans of selling the painted versions because it takes a huge chunk of his time. He plans to make them available through giveaways, raffles or hidden surprises for a small number of customers. Hearing that, I floated the idea of holding a giveaway for those who show support on this support thread to gain more attention for his prohibition, but he did not want to be misunderstood. GirlDC was against the idea of "support me to get a chance to win something". But the idea remains to show gratitude for those who supported his "freedom" here on Geekhack if his prohibition is lifted.
Meeting face to face, I can say his sincerity is real. Seriousness aside, GirlDC is also humorous. A funny idea he told me was for the windows key. GirlDC and a friend of his was discussing how dangerous the windows key is for gamers, very true. Their stoner-like resolution? a covered flip switch just for the windows key with a hazardous symbol on the top. Personally, that cracked me up. Although, this is one example of the ideas GirlDC has in mind, there are much more creative ideas he has planned and shared that I believe others here will enjoy. Hopefully, we can actually see his ideas come to life.
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(Example flip switch)
