[IC] GMK Sumi | GB live! | 15th July to 15th August

[Ryukote]

I would like to join.

[FaKe_VirTual]

I would like to join.

You can join it if you follow this link: https://discord.gg/45GE9ug

[kiyoboard]

Love everything about this set. I will be in probably for everything other than 40s including deskmats. Especially awesome job with novelties and deskmats.

[rafamundez]

Will there be normal alphas by chance? With just normal letterings and no scripts?

[youreyesonly]

anyway you can add renders of the novelties on a keeb?

[PHRANKL1N]

Love the base kit, novelties and RAMA's.  I'd pick up a Bonsai and Ghost Koi mat as well.  In!

[dzbro]

Love everything in this set. Definitely in.

[Energieschleuder]

Very nice set indeed, my only gripe is to consider a R4 ろ instead of the む in the Yamato kit. Kana input users would definitely appreciate it

[konstantin]

Very nice set indeed, my only gripe is to consider a R4 ろ instead of the む in the Yamato kit. Kana input users would definitely appreciate it

Agreed. I think the corresponding key in the base kit should have a ろ sublegend as well.

[Missingnumber]

Very nice set indeed, my only gripe is to consider a R4 ろ instead of the む in the Yamato kit. Kana input users would definitely appreciate it

Do you know of any boards or PCBs that are MX and JIS compatible? I saw on your Masterpiece page that you got the KBDFans Tofu most of the way there with the む and ろ, but it's missing the space bar / 変換 button changes. I built an ANSI style 3 key split space bar board recently to try to imitate the 変換/無変換 functionality, but I'm sure it could be better. And I can't seem to get the QMK 変換 and 無変換 buttons to work so I'm making do with Enter and Space.

I'm sure I could improve my Japanese typing skills, but my reason for doing this is that my pinky was getting tired from hitting the Enter key so much.

[FaKe_VirTual]

anyway you can add renders of the novelties on a keeb?

Oh, I did. Ontop of the AKI-S and soon on a milk RAMA U80!

Very nice set indeed, my only gripe is to consider a R4 ろ instead of the む in the Yamato kit. Kana input users would definitely appreciate it

I think I will be able to change that!

[Energieschleuder]

Very nice set indeed, my only gripe is to consider a R4 ろ instead of the む in the Yamato kit. Kana input users would definitely appreciate it

Do you know of any boards or PCBs that are MX and JIS compatible? I saw on your Masterpiece page that you got the KBDFans Tofu most of the way there with the む and ろ, but it's missing the space bar / 変換 button changes. I built an ANSI style 3 key split space bar board recently to try to imitate the 変換/無変換 functionality, but I'm sure it could be better. And I can't seem to get the QMK 変換 and 無変換 buttons to work so I'm making do with Enter and Space.

I'm sure I could improve my Japanese typing skills, but my reason for doing this is that my pinky was getting tired from hitting the Enter key so much.

I know a PCB indeed. Take a look at the MJ65, it's even open source. The whole build guide is on japanese though.

So, when does your GB start? 

[Missingnumber]

Very nice set indeed, my only gripe is to consider a R4 ろ instead of the む in the Yamato kit. Kana input users would definitely appreciate it

Do you know of any boards or PCBs that are MX and JIS compatible? I saw on your Masterpiece page that you got the KBDFans Tofu most of the way there with the む and ろ, but it's missing the space bar / 変換 button changes. I built an ANSI style 3 key split space bar board recently to try to imitate the 変換/無変換 functionality, but I'm sure it could be better. And I can't seem to get the QMK 変換 and 無変換 buttons to work so I'm making do with Enter and Space.

I'm sure I could improve my Japanese typing skills, but my reason for doing this is that my pinky was getting tired from hitting the Enter key so much.

I know a PCB indeed. Take a look at the MJ65, it's even open source. The whole build guide is on japanese though.

So, when does your GB start? 

Ok, cool. Thank you for telling me about it! The MJ65 is very close to what I had in mind.  I looked through his github repo and build guide, and it all looks very straightforward. The build guide wouldn't be hard to translate, and the author already has QMK files for a number of layouts.

The biggest problem which the author even calls out is that the default layout uses a 3.5u space bar, which looks very rare. Also, the ten buttons they have to the right of the microcontroller above the 60% board are really odd. The top plate designs don't include them, so they look naked. Even the author's example photo has them empty.

Doing a group buy could be fun. I wonder how much interest there would be. I wish the design were a bit better though.

[stevenT]

Can you add more symbols to novelties, maybe less japanese letters

[kidviddy]

I love love love these colours but I'd like to add my voice to the users saying please add JIS R4 ろ and R1 ー keys to the hiragana set! I actually touch-type using kana input in Japanese, so any set that doesn't include these is almost unusable for me :-(

This is my first post -- I signed up to geekhack to say this -- but now I'm here I hope to be more active and to lend my voice to the minority of actual JIS users who want to type in Japanese! よろしくお願いします！

[FTR_Beat]

You may want to consider putting the 6.25 white spacebar in the base kit. I think this is pretty standard.

And when is the GB again? =)

[stevenT]

You may want to consider putting the 6.25 white spacebar in the base kit. I think this is pretty standard.

And when is the GB again? =)

nah, the alpha color is black, if another spacebar could be added to base kit, it should be in accent color(a.k.a red)

[kidviddy]

I love love love these colours but I'd like to add my voice to the users saying please add JIS R4 ろ and R1 ー keys to the hiragana set! I actually touch-type using kana input in Japanese, so any set that doesn't include these is almost unusable for me :-(

This is my first post -- I signed up to geekhack to say this -- but now I'm here I hope to be more active and to lend my voice to the minority of actual JIS users who want to type in Japanese! よろしくお願いします！

Just took another look at the hiragana set and the R4 and R1 む seem to be there just to fill the gaps for ISO/ANSI users who want to fill the slot with some sort of kana (since JIS only requires む on R3).  I know that usually む goes on the key with ?/ on it, so it makes sense that an ISO user for example would want to put "that key" at the bottom-left -- but if any kana key would do why not replace it with ろ which would be correct for JIS users and still perfectly usable for ISO users?  Similarly for the R1 む which for JIS users should be ー.

I don't mind having both, but if you're looking to reduce overall number of keys it's just a thought to keep total key numbers down but still satisfy both sets of users.  Would that work?

[konstantin]

but if any kana key would do why not replace it with ろ which would be correct for JIS users and still perfectly usable for ISO users?  Similarly for the R1 む which for JIS users should be ー.

I don't mind having both, but if you're looking to reduce overall number of keys it's just a thought to keep total key numbers down but still satisfy both sets of users.  Would that work?

This approach makes sense, and I wish that sets running hiragana (sub)legends would adopt it.

[phinix]

This set is growing on me every day.
I like the dark, but not black alphas and bright, but not white mods.
I need dark alphas and light mods set in my collection.

I think I'll pick it up once its on.
Definitely will take deskmat for my daughter, she loves sakura.

[FaKe_VirTual]

The Final Update is Live!!!

[3tonjack]

Text mods are a pass for me. 

[FTR_Beat]

Awesome, I am in!

Really would have liked to have the white 6.25u added to the base as standard. Any chance for that?

[FaKe_VirTual]

Awesome, I am in!

Really would have liked to have the white 6.25u added to the base as standard. Any chance for that?

Kits are set, so there won't be changes to them anymore.

[noodleman]

love the updates on the novelty kit.  sad to see the 1.5u super go but overall much improved!

[Missingnumber]

Congrats on getting everything finalized!  I think there were a ton of good changes since the original. I still would prefer a version without sublegends or hiragana, but I know the majority prefer them.

I'm 100% in for the base kit and space bars. That 1u 無 and the enso keys in particular look great to me, so I'll probably end up getting the novelties as well.

[ecbob]

Not a big fan of the small boxed Japanese characters on the deskmats. The deskmats look really good though

[foysauce_]

Not a big fan of the small boxed Japanese characters on the deskmats. The deskmats look really good though

That's a "hanko" stamp, and it's used as the artist's signature on Japanese ink paintings. Personally I think it's a pretty necessary and nice touch because you always see it on real sumi paintings.

[depletedvespene]

I love love love these colours but I'd like to add my voice to the users saying please add JIS R4 ろ and R1 ー keys to the hiragana set! I actually touch-type using kana input in Japanese, so any set that doesn't include these is almost unusable for me :-(

This is my first post -- I signed up to geekhack to say this -- but now I'm here I hope to be more active and to lend my voice to the minority of actual JIS users who want to type in Japanese! よろしくお願いします！

Just took another look at the hiragana set and the R4 and R1 む seem to be there just to fill the gaps for ISO/ANSI users who want to fill the slot with some sort of kana (since JIS only requires む on R3).  I know that usually む goes on the key with ?/ on it, so it makes sense that an ISO user for example would want to put "that key" at the bottom-left -- but if any kana key would do why not replace it with ろ which would be correct for JIS users and still perfectly usable for ISO users?  Similarly for the R1 む which for JIS users should be ー.

I don't mind having both, but if you're looking to reduce overall number of keys it's just a thought to keep total key numbers down but still satisfy both sets of users.  Would that work?

I think a big part of the problem is ignorance and lack of documentation — something I've tried to fix (with the knowledge I have). It'd be great if you, Konstantin and I gathered together and produced a document that keycap set designers could use as their main reference.

[kidviddy]

I love love love these colours but I'd like to add my voice to the users saying please add JIS R4 ろ and R1 ー keys to the hiragana set! I actually touch-type using kana input in Japanese, so any set that doesn't include these is almost unusable for me :-(

This is my first post -- I signed up to geekhack to say this -- but now I'm here I hope to be more active and to lend my voice to the minority of actual JIS users who want to type in Japanese! よろしくお願いします！

Just took another look at the hiragana set and the R4 and R1 む seem to be there just to fill the gaps for ISO/ANSI users who want to fill the slot with some sort of kana (since JIS only requires む on R3).  I know that usually む goes on the key with ?/ on it, so it makes sense that an ISO user for example would want to put "that key" at the bottom-left -- but if any kana key would do why not replace it with ろ which would be correct for JIS users and still perfectly usable for ISO users?  Similarly for the R1 む which for JIS users should be ー.

I don't mind having both, but if you're looking to reduce overall number of keys it's just a thought to keep total key numbers down but still satisfy both sets of users.  Would that work?

I think a big part of the problem is ignorance and lack of documentation — something I've tried to fix (with the knowledge I have). It'd be great if you, Konstantin and I gathered together and produced a document that keycap set designers could use as their main reference.

Funny you should mention that -- I started writing a document soon after making this post!  I think you're right, as evidenced by the fact that people have been really receptive to this sort of feedback when I've given it (including this kit, which replaced the R4 む with ろ within 24 hours of my suggesting it!).  I'd like to try and distil the various considerations that keycap designers and keyboard builders might want to bear in mind into a single post (or set of posts) which we could link to in our sigs to raise awareness across the board.  I think it'd be really helpful!  Perhaps we should begin a thread somewhere to pool ideas?

EDIT: I see Energieschleuder suggested replacing R4 む with ろ a couple of posts before I did, so I can't take full credit for the suggestion!  Still, the point still stands that this set was updated to include that change shortly after it was initially requested :-)

[depletedvespene]

…
Funny you should mention that -- I started writing a document soon after making this post!  I think you're right, as evidenced by the fact that people have been really receptive to this sort of feedback when I've given it (including this kit, which replaced the R4 む with ろ within 24 hours of my suggesting it!).  I'd like to try and distil the various considerations that keycap designers and keyboard builders might want to bear in mind into a single post (or set of posts) which we could link to in our sigs to raise awareness across the board.  I think it'd be really helpful!  Perhaps we should begin a thread somewhere to pool ideas?

I'll PM you so we can talk over the details.

[ecbob]

Is the first deskmat based off the Sun or the Moon?

[FaKe_VirTual]

Is the first deskmat based off the Sun or the Moon?

The Bonsai deskmat is based of the iconic red sun.

[Q_]

Love this set, definitely will grab the base set, spacebar and Bonsai mat to round out the desk look.

[KRY2SOON]

Japan!

[CrlaoSvloadr]

What a beautiful set! Definitely going to be following-
Fantastic work.

[D3LTA]

I have been following this set for a while. I love that a Hiragana only alphas kit is included. For a user of a non-qwerty layout (colemak), I prefer using different language alphas over the standard qwerty alphas. With that said, I find it a bit odd to offer the Hiragana alphas without icon mods. Something about a board with English text mods & hiragana alphas just doesn't look right to me. I may very well be in the minority here but I would like to see an icon mods kit if possible.

[konstantin]

Some feedback on the kits after the latest update:

• The second 1u Alt in the base kit isn't required since there are no 1.5u Super keys. You can either remove it outright, or move it to the 40s kit if you want to support ortho layouts that use 2× 1u Alt.
• 1.75u space keys are only used on 40% boards. You should at the very least move them from the spacebar kit to the 40s kit, or you can even remove them altogether (according to the 40% Discord, they're only used on three boards in total: Vortex Core, Daisy and JD40/45).
• I would also suggest including some other space keys in the 40s kit, otherwise 40% users are forced to buy the spacebar kit as well.
• See how GMK Deku did its hiragana sublegends for the R1 \| and ISO keys.
  
  • R1 \|む should be changed to \|ー (the sublegend character is a kana, not a regular dash).
  • R3 \|む should be changed to #~む　or　R4 \|ろ should be changed to <>ろ.
  • In short, this makes the sublegends compatible with Japanese layouts, and also avoids duplicate \| legends for ISO people (i.e. it makes Jae happy).
• Some keys have quaternary (top right) sublegends: 、。・「」, while others, like those on the num row, don't. If you don't like the double sublegends, you should remove them from all of the keys.
  
• Speaking of hiragana, see how GMK Oni did its monolegends kit.
  
  • You're missing a R1 ー key: again, this is for compatibility with Japanese layouts (more details here).
  • However, what this set does better than GMK Oni is it includes spacebars, which makes this kit viable as a standalone purchase.
• I personally don't think you need numpad 00, but it's cool if you decide to leave it in.
• Just to make sure, is the blank R1 alpha character meant just as a replacement for F13?

[CrazyAssMonkey]

Some feedback on the kits after the latest update:

• The second 1u Alt in the base kit isn't required since there are no 1.5u Super keys. You can either remove it outright, or move it to the 40s kit if you want to support ortho layouts that use 2× 1u Alt.
• 1.75u space keys are only used on 40% boards. You should at the very least move them from the spacebar kit to the 40s kit, or you can even remove them altogether (according to the 40% Discord, they're only used on three boards in total: Vortex Core, Daisy and JD40/45).
• I would also suggest including some other space keys in the 40s kit, otherwise 40% users are forced to buy the spacebar kit as well.
• See how GMK Deku did its hiragana sublegends for the R1 \| and ISO keys.
  
  • R1 \|む should be changed to \|ー (the sublegend character is a kana, not a regular dash).
  • R3 \|む should be changed to #~む　or　R4 \|ろ should be changed to <>ろ.
  • In short, this makes the sublegends compatible with Japanese layouts, and also avoids duplicate \| legends for ISO people (i.e. it makes Jae happy).
• Some keys have quaternary (top right) sublegends: 、。・「」, while others, like those on the num row, don't. If you don't like the double sublegends, you should remove them from all of the keys.
  
• Speaking of hiragana, see how GMK Oni did its monolegends kit.
  
  • You're missing a R1 ー key: again, this is for compatibility with Japanese layouts (more details here).
  • However, what this set does better than GMK Oni is it includes spacebars, which makes this kit viable as a standalone purchase.
• I personally don't think you need numpad 00, but it's cool if you decide to leave it in.
• Just to make sure, is the blank R1 alpha character meant just as a replacement for F13?

oh no its the keycap police 


 

[FaKe_VirTual]

Some feedback on the kits after the latest update:

• The second 1u Alt in the base kit isn't required since there are no 1.5u Super keys. You can either remove it outright, or move it to the 40s kit if you want to support ortho layouts that use 2× 1u Alt.
• 1.75u space keys are only used on 40% boards. You should at the very least move them from the spacebar kit to the 40s kit, or you can even remove them altogether (according to the 40% Discord, they're only used on three boards in total: Vortex Core, Daisy and JD40/45).
• I would also suggest including some other space keys in the 40s kit, otherwise 40% users are forced to buy the spacebar kit as well.
• See how GMK Deku did its hiragana sublegends for the R1 \| and ISO keys.
  
  • R1 \|む should be changed to \|ー (the sublegend character is a kana, not a regular dash).
  • R3 \|む should be changed to #~む　or　R4 \|ろ should be changed to <>ろ.
  • In short, this makes the sublegends compatible with Japanese layouts, and also avoids duplicate \| legends for ISO people (i.e. it makes Jae happy).
• Some keys have quaternary (top right) sublegends: 、。・「」, while others, like those on the num row, don't. If you don't like the double sublegends, you should remove them from all of the keys.
  
• Speaking of hiragana, see how GMK Oni did its monolegends kit.
  
  • You're missing a R1 ー key: again, this is for compatibility with Japanese layouts (more details here).
  • However, what this set does better than GMK Oni is it includes spacebars, which makes this kit viable as a standalone purchase.
• I personally don't think you need numpad 00, but it's cool if you decide to leave it in.
• Just to make sure, is the blank R1 alpha character meant just as a replacement for F13?

First, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to write this comment.
Regarding your advices: 1. You're right with this, I think I will remove it from the Base kit. There might also be a last minor change, because I've gotten some messages regarding the JIS-Layout compatibility and I wanted to include it with my set. I think the change will also complement issues 4., 5. and 6.
And for clarifiaction the Blank key comes into place as a neutral key that can either be used as F13 key or as replacment for " - " if you decide to use R2 " - ". (Also I wanted a reference of RAL 5004 so I did also include it for that purpose )

[mvkoto]

This Keyset is FIREEEE

[SxM Designs]

You son of a *****, I am in!

[konstantin]

oh no its the keycap police 


 

First, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to write this comment.
Regarding your advices: 1. You're right with this, I think I will remove it from the Base kit. There might also be a last minor change, because I've gotten some messages regarding the JIS-Layout compatibility and I wanted to include it with my set. I think the change will also complement issues 4., 5. and 6.
And for clarifiaction the Blank key comes into place as a neutral key that can either be used as F13 key or as replacment for " - " if you decide to use R2 " - ". (Also I wanted a reference of RAL 5004 so I did also include it for that purpose )

Sounds good

[Keltop]

Wtf I want this whole set, the keycaps, deskmats, everything!

[FaKe_VirTual]

I just added the JIS-Layout compatibility to the Set for those who asked for it.

This did also fix some aestethical problems.

[CrazyAssMonkey]

I just added the JIS-Layout compatibility to the Set for those who asked for it.

This did also fix some aestethical problems.

Dude your set is gorgeous, plus it perfectly fits into my constitution which makes it almost a certain buy.

[kidviddy]

I just added the JIS-Layout compatibility to the Set for those who asked for it.

Thanks for this!  The addition of the R1 ー key makes this set perfect for kana input, and puts this set into the top tier in terms of JIS support.

Looking forward to the GB in August!

[__init__]

Novelties and mats are L I T! I best be saving for August!

[konstantin]

I just added the JIS-Layout compatibility to the Set for those who asked for it.

This did also fix some aestethical problems.

Looks great. Also looks cleaner now without the extra sublegends. Although I noticed you've kept the top-right sublegends on the ,<, .>, /? keys. Was this intentional?

[FaKe_VirTual]

Although I noticed you've kept the top-right sublegends on the ,<, .>, /? keys. Was this intentional?

Yes that was intentional, because for them function went over form in my opinion.