[IC] GMK Masterpiece | May 1st - June 2nd!

[Energieschleuder]

Hello everyone, I'm excited to introduce
GMK Masterpiece マスターピース

Group Buy thread is up HERE

Inspiration



The inspiration for this set comes from the Japanese high quality craftsmanship. Japanese craftsmanship is handmade and created by people using skills passed down for generations to ensure only the best quality product - a true masterpiece. With that spirit in mind I designed a keycap set, capturing the unique aesthetics of the Japanese culture. The Katakana legends will give the set a very unique look, paired with a beautiful rich blue.


Design

This will be the very first GMK set with Katakana only alphas and mods. So new molds will be created for this set. Because of GMK's limited offering of stock blue colours, this set will be using a custom blue (RAL). The Katakana legends are as you noticed not narrow as the Hiragana mono/sublegends and Katakana sublegends. Instead, the Katakana monolegends are wider to offer a similar look to the latin/cyrillic counterpart. They look like they came straight from GMK. The Katakana-only mods are completely new, my own creation, and were inspired by various old boards. I wanted a more consistent look for the keyset as a whole as the Kanji were left out completely. The keyset has traditional icon mods and text+icon mods, and I think this solution will satisfy nearly every person. I also included all keys for a true ISO and proper ISO Japanese layout (R4 ロ) unlike past sets with japanese legends. The layout was designed on the basis of today's Mac keyboards in Japan but without the JIS bottom row.
Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4


Kits

バリュー　ＶＡＬＵＥ



クラリティ　ＣＬＡＲＩＴＹ



プレサビング　ＰＲＥＳＥＲＶＩＮＧ



ウェスト　ＷＥＳＴ




Renders

J80 by jer








KBDfans KBD19x






RAMA Koyu






KBDfans Tofu




HEX.3C https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=104597.0



Deskmats

ウェイブ　ＷＡＶＥ



エンドゲーム ＥＮＤＧＡＭＥ



スクウェア　ＳＱＵＡＲＥ




Collaborations

RAMA x Masterpiece

ナイフ　ＫＮＩＦＥ

Get the tools of traditional japanese craftsmen on your keyboard made of finest brass. The shape is reminiscent of a tried and tested blade, or a chisel. You decide.

Gold PVD brass





Black PVD brass





マスター　ＭＡＳＴＥＲ

Get yourself the spirit of a true skilled master on your keyboard.

Gold PVD brass





Zeuscables x Masterpiece

ライト　ＬＩＧＨＴ

More

ダーク　ＤＡＲＫ

More

https://www.zeuscables.store/masterpiece


Group Buy

• https://store.projectkeyboard.com for US
• https://mykeyboard.eu for Europe
• https://deskhero.ca for Canada
• https://ilumkb.com for Asia
• https://www.switchkeys.com.au for Australia/Oceania

Group Buy thread is up HERE


Pricing



Group Buy goes live May 1st!



A Discord channel is available for feedback and further discussion here https://discord.gg/xBUCEgq

Thank you for your attention!

Support the project by adding this banner to your signature

Code: [Select]

[url=https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=103111.0][img width=301 height=120]https://imgur.com/KYJEEwO.png[/img][/url]

[dexie]

Rad

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

[Rensuya]

Very nice, I'll be 100% in on this

[senryo]

I think adding white accents into tradition kit would be nice as the sole purpose of it is to replace the icon mods in the first place; or correct me if I’m wrong.

[KingOfMemes]

Count me in

[Mcnos]

    

[nguyenhimself]

Nice to see GMK stepping up with pure-Katakana mods now that EnjoyPBT Kuro/Shiro is shipping soon.

That said, you might want to consider:
1. Keep the "num + symbol" row in tact. Many people will have problem typing the symbols.
2. Considering how text mods have always been more popular than icon mods, you might as well put the Katakana mods in the base kit and make a separate icon mod kit.
3. How about going the last extra mile and use Katakana for the rest of the keys (Enter, nav cluster, etc) like Kuro/Shiro?
4. One selfish thing: No numpad in base kit please and thank you?

[Vigrith]

How close is the blue here to the one from Space Cadet? Just curious because from the renders it looks fairly similar (this is not criticism, I think the blue from SC is lovely).

Great set!

[Poesjuh]

If many people have problems typing symbols in the numrow, they’ll need to learn step up their keyboard game


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KingOfMemes]

If many people have problems typing symbols in the numrow, they’ll need to learn step yo their keyboard game


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is some pretentious, neckbeard, gatekeeping ****. And I stand behind it entirely

[Fnzzy]

Swap base mods for tradition kit and you got yourself a winner.

[adxlk]

let me know if you want to work on deskmats for this set
adxlk | git.dracula#3587

[orim23]

If many people have problems typing symbols in the numrow, they’ll need to learn step yo their keyboard game


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is some pretentious, neckbeard, gatekeeping ****. And I stand behind it entirely

yes. all in or nothing at all!

[Energieschleuder]

I think adding white accents into tradition kit would be nice as the sole purpose of it is to replace the icon mods in the first place; or correct me if I’m wrong.

I could consider that if the demand is there. They won't affect the price much.

How close is the blue here to the one from Space Cadet? Just curious because from the renders it looks fairly similar (this is not criticism, I think the blue from SC is lovely).

Great set!

Thanks for the compliment! I appreciate it
I personally do not own a GMK Space Cadet set. And since this set was matched to a Signature Plastic SA set, I can't compare Space Cadet's blue to this blue tone. But I do own GMK Striker and it will be brighter and less purple than Striker's blue.

2. Considering how text mods have always been more popular than icon mods, you might as well put the Katakana mods in the base kit and make a separate icon mod kit.
3. How about going the last extra mile and use Katakana for the rest of the keys (Enter, nav cluster, etc) like Kuro/Shiro?
4. One selfish thing: No numpad in base kit please and thank you?

Swap base mods for tradition kit and you got yourself a winner.

I have already tested it putting on Katakana font onto a 1u key. The problem here is you can't insert more than 4 Katakana characters on the little 1u key if you want to keep the same font size as of the rest of the set. E.g. the page down translation into Katakana would be ペジダウン. That's already 5 characters and it would be 1 too much to fit onto the 1u key. If you compare the コード keys from the Enjoypbt Kuro Shiro set, you can clearly see different font sizes were used. He cheated a little bit for the コード to fit in. That's the main reason why I didn't include 1u Katakana keys therefore I can't use Katakana on the Nav Cluster. Priority is consistency, otherwise it would look weird. I have tested it on many renders before.

I could offer a 60% compatible base kit with Katakana only but this would cut half of the market off and it wouldn't include 1u mod keys. So rather a complete set then with icon mods.



And btw Enjoypbt Kuro Shiro Nav Cluster consists mostly of Kanji (Chinese Symbols) and not Katakana

[depletedvespene]

I'm generally not into Japanese legends, but I will make an exception for a set that goes "all icons" and then GOES "all icons".

My only gripe would be that the Backspace symbol is a left-pointing arrow instead of the ⌫ symbol (while Delete IS ⌦ ).

Heck, I could buy two sets of the "value" kit and then sell off the alphas from one, so I'll get a full set of mods...

[ja.ze]

I've always been bothered by the F row being totally out of place with the rest of the characters, but that seems to be the case with most Hiragana/katakana sets.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[psxndc]

This is slick. Totally in on all kits.

[hansikhouse]

A stunner. This might be my first monochrome set 

[depletedvespene]

I've always been bothered by the F row being totally out of place with the rest of the characters, but that seems to be the case with most Hiragana/katakana sets.

Perhaps the F1..F12 legends could be replaced with circled numbers (①②③④⑤⑥⑦⑧⑨⑩⑪⑫ — see Unicode U+2460 through U+246B ); that way, no single Latin letter would remain in the keycap set.

[chanzjj]

I find it odd that the number row uses katakana legends but the numpad uses arabic numerals. Is it possible for numpad to use katakana legends as well?

[switchnollie]

Those mods are out of this world

[eas]

I love this.

And I'd also love a kit for Preonic support

[Vigrith]

Thanks for the compliment! I appreciate it
I personally do not own a GMK Space Cadet set. And since this set was matched to a Signature Plastic SA set, I can't compare Space Cadet's blue to this blue tone. But I do own GMK Striker and it will be brighter and less purple than Striker's blue.

Sounds about right - fantastic. Thanks clarifying!

[terrad]

Nice! I think it would look really good with "whiteout" alphas (basically if the alphas were the same as the white accents). Maybe that could be an additional kit?

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[harlekein]

Please add some 1u keys for ortho support.

[depletedvespene]

I find it odd that the number row uses katakana legends but the numpad uses arabic numerals. Is it possible for numpad to use katakana legends as well?

The Katakana legends on the number row correspond to letters, not numbers.

[rondg]

YES!!!

[NAV]

Holy ****, I ****ing love this.

[piit79]

Can we get an ortho kit with full Preonic support, please?

[Ensaum]

I like this. I too would like white accents in the tradition kit and it may look even better with pure katakana mods.

[psxndc]

Can we get an ortho kit with full Preonic support, please?

Seconded. Really need an ortho kit, even if they're just blanks.

[Solotov]

This is weeb af, and I love it! Can we go all the way and replace F1-F12 with Japanese characters?

[jebbra]

Count me in. Hopefully the blue is an old-washed-traditional-indigo like what I had in my head.

A suggestion about numpad (or any numbers): to keep the mood consistent—if no any representative character, how about using dots used on Carbon R2 Rolling Bones kit?

[Willhurt2008]

I'm buying this!

[orangesoh]

Will get this too

[architones]

That's a really nice and pleasant blue color. Definitely keeping an eye on this.

[slxdegrees]

All in.

[NotYeMK]

I really want to get this set. I hope the GB time starts before the end of november so I can get it before I ship out.

[TheAutoManCan]

All icon mod sets are the best but the mixed alignments are kinda meh. Continue with the 8008/9009 trend and use the fixed legends and also, if it's not too much trouble, fix the nav cluster legends as well.

[saint_james]

Looks great! Very interested.  Now I just need to find a similar set with Hiragana monolegends.

[Energieschleuder]

FAQ (from the feedback form)

Accent colors in the Tradition kit?
Yes they will be added soon

Alice support?
Yes, use the R4 ロ for the B and the R1 ー for the replacement of the R1 ロ

Dvorak, Colemak?
Yes, this is the perfect set for you since most people will touch type.

Colors?
Will be released when the group buy starts.

Ortho?
I am still considering about adding a little ortho kit. But I need the demand for this kit. Since a 100 MOQ is not easy to achieve.

How about GMK Triumph Adler numbers ①②③④⑤⑥⑦⑧⑨①②③④⑤⑥⑦⑧⑨⑩⑪⑫?
They exist only as R0 forms. Therefore, at least 12 new custom molds must be produced. However, I do not want to increase the price any further. If the set would look much better, that wouldn't be a problem, but i personally don't like these circled numbers paired with Katakana.

Replace F1 to F12 with Japanese characters?
Japanese mainly use Arabic numerals, but Kanji exist for numbers. However, I would like to keep this key set Kanji free.

White alphas?
Tough question, maybe at a later point

Norde Kit?
Yes, it's included

[Energieschleuder]

All icon mod sets are the best but the mixed alignments are kinda meh. Continue with the 8008/9009 trend and use the fixed legends and also, if it's not too much trouble, fix the nav cluster legends as well.

I understand your concerns about the mixed alignments. Though, most people are still used to the traditional icon position while not everyone agrees with the new 9009 icon position. If I would also fix the nav cluster that would be 11 new molds that GMK probably won't support. Getting quite expensive huh? Another reason is the misalignment from the arrow cluster. The ↓ is too low compared to the imaginary horizontal line in the bottom row. However, you can still use the icon+text shift and a 1u icon since 1u icons are centered if it bothers you.

This is weeb af, and I love it! Can we go all the way and replace F1-F12 with Japanese characters?

I'm glad you like it
Japanese mainly use Arabic numerals, but Kanji exist for numbers. Anyway, I would like to keep this key set Kanji free. Every modern japanese keyboard with a function row does have F1-F12. If you have a better idea let me know.

I've always been bothered by the F row being totally out of place with the rest of the characters, but that seems to be the case with most Hiragana/katakana sets.

Perhaps the F1..F12 legends could be replaced with circled numbers (①②③④⑤⑥⑦⑧⑨⑩⑪⑫ — see Unicode U+2460 through U+246B ); that way, no single Latin letter would remain in the keycap set.

Take a look at the FAQ

Count me in. Hopefully the blue is an old-washed-traditional-indigo like what I had in my head.

A suggestion about numpad (or any numbers): to keep the mood consistent—if no any representative character, how about using dots used on Carbon R2 Rolling Bones kit?

I will release colors when the group buy starts to assure you don't buy a keyset with a false impression.
Those dots don't really appeal me and they remind me of dominos. But thanks for your suggestion though. I appreciate it 

Please add some 1u keys for ortho support.

See FAQ

[jebbra]

Or how about just usual number for R1 numrow? Even when I do touchtype sometimes I lost in that top number lol. But if the real japanese keyboard use that numrow for typing katakana too, well that can’t be helped then.

All in all, this got me hooked already (ortho/dox kit will be huge plus tho)

This is just a general question: are there anyone beside me who use the left 2u/2.25u on alice as alt/ctrl/cmd instead of the usual spacebar (I place the spacebar on the right of it—1u/1.25u)?

[Bruzur]

This is brilliant. I'm definitely interested.
Not particularly crazy about the color choice, but I'll make it work.

[TheAutoManCan]

All icon mod sets are the best but the mixed alignments are kinda meh. Continue with the 8008/9009 trend and use the fixed legends and also, if it's not too much trouble, fix the nav cluster legends as well.

I understand your concerns about the mixed alignments. Though, most people are still used to the traditional icon position while not everyone agrees with the new 9009 icon position. If I would also fix the nav cluster that would be 11 new molds that GMK probably won't support. Getting quite expensive huh? Another reason is the misalignment from the arrow cluster. The ↓ is too low compared to the imaginary horizontal line in the bottom row. However, you can still use the icon+text shift and a 1u icon since 1u icons are centered if it bothers you.

Show Image

I can understand where you are coming from when it comes to mold costs. I do disagree in regards to you saying the arrows are misaligned in that pic, though there's not really a point in discussing that further if you as the designer don't like the look of the left-center aligned arrows.

[Energieschleuder]

I personally think that the discussion about traditional icon positions vs. new icon positions is a bit silly because the difference is marginal. I like the way they are now and at the same time I wanted to satisfy as many people as possible. I can't run 3 base kits like Oblitzky did with GMK Oblivion

[Rayndalf]

The "old" shift key icon locations match the placement of the alpha legends better (both are top left justified). OG icons are better thought out than people generally realize, but I'm glad designers are given more choices.

[norb]

japanese mods?

[KawabataLuis]

Really interested in this set. Can definitely count me in. There are several things people are commenting about, but the only thing I think I would ask is to put an accent colored enter key on the Tradition kit, not only the blue version.

[CodeMayhem]

could you add a r1 katakana key to the tradition set for esc so ppl can avoid using icon mods if they'd like