[IC] GMK Coral R2 - benefiting the Coral Reef Alliance (GB: 6/22 - 7/15)

[HoodrowThrillson]

GMK Coral R2
GMK Cherry Profile
Benefiting the Coral Reef Alliance

GB Date: 6/22 - 7/15


Matrix Vita - White Coat - GMK Coral R1 (Base + Novelties)

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Donation?
Similar to last time (which can be seen here), I will be donating a portion of my own take home share to the Coral Reef Alliance.

Here are the donation percentage numbers (of my take home share)

Base, Coral Relief, Novelties, Bars - 25%
All orders through Daily Clack - 100%

Transparency will work the same as last time, I will make the donation and share a screenshot (I am a man of my word).

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Colors

Color matched to GMK Coral R1 (no long lead times due to color matching!)

Pantone 16-1546 TCX - Living Coral
Pantone 13-4810 TCX - Limpet Shell
GMK Stock Color - CP

Photos taken around the house

More

Right by the window in my childhood bedroom at my parent's house

I think this was the bathroom?

Master bedroom I'm pretty sure

Bonus room with the blinds barely opened?

Definitely taken at my childhood desk with a LED lamp that's set to "neutral white" ymmv

I hope this is enough pictures

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Vendors? Pricing?

NA: Mekibo
CA: Apex Keyboards
EU: MyKeyboard
UK: Prototypist
Asia: zFrontier
OCE: Daily Clack



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Kits?






Color matched to the best of our ability with keycaps sent to pwade.

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Collabs?

Hibi

Resin Party

Winnie

Sodiecaps

CYSM

I have sent keycaps to Resin Party, Winnie, and CYSM. Sodiecaps has access to a set of GMK Coral R1. These artisans will be matched as closely as they can to the colors. Please note that matching these colors are extremely difficult. If you have a round 1 set, you know that photographing it is difficult. I will be working with Hibi to color match colors as accurately as we can with anodization.

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Deskmat?


Prototype deskmat

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"Renders"
Literally just pictures I took next to my bedroom window over a span of 2 hours in the afternoon.
You can see which ones I took earlier in the afternoon, it also got slightly overcast towards the end of the shoot.
I'm also not an amazing photographer so please forgive me.

Photos have been (hopefully) white balanced to a certain degree, to the best of my ability. I am using a monitor that hasn't been properly calibrated, you're probably viewing this on a monitor with no calibration, etc. etc. YMMV.

Also I'm missing my F10 key because I think I sent it to pwade to color match for the kit renders.

Taken on a A7III + Tamron 28-75 f2.8

Mimi - 6 photos

More

Matrix 2.0add X-Mas Starry Night - 6 photos

More

Matrix Vita White Coat - 14 photos

More

RS - 3 photos

More

Matrix 1.2og Living Coral - 3 photos

More

I went kind of ham on the photos, I'm truly sorry. I just wanted people to see some of the different combinations with the different colored cases.

For you photo nerds, here are the RAW files in case you wanna color correct it better than I did and see what the colors might look like? Link right here!

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[HoodrowThrillson]

I'm truly sorry for the incredible amount of photos

Edit: I'd like to add this prologue to anyone reading this.

I originally created (""created"" I mean all I did was pick 3 colors and say this is neat!) GMK Coral in August with the IC for the original round going live on August 8th, 2019 with the GB running in October of 2019. I remember when the GB went live, getting weekly updates and talking to Mekibo (then TX Keyboards) on a daily basis, biting my nails since I wanted this set to hit MOQ. Mekibo and myself have come a long way from our first set (Mekibo reached out and wanted to be the NA vendor, this was their first keyset GB). Back in 2019, a lot of keyset ICs were merely just concepts with renders from free sources (I used free renders then got some made from Janglad and Kingk22), I knew nothing about designing kitting or anything.

I wanted to rerun this, not because it was popular or is considered a hype set, but because the hobby has grown since 2019 and I wanted to reintroduce the set to the newer folks.

Do y'all also remember all my reddit posts being instantly demolished to negative points? That was a fun time. I still never learned who was behind it or why. kekw

I'm genuinely proud of what was accomplished with this set.

I could ramble on and on about "how it used to be", how much I've grown as a """designer""" (I don't like this term) and as an adult, how pre-covid times were, etc. etc. but I'll stop here.

I just want y'all to know that I'm thankful for this weird community where we obsess over metal rectangles and expensive plastic.

[Kokaloo]

pog

[Nuclear Nachos]

gl, a great cause to support and very fleshed out ic, also a cool guy


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[matthewdias]

ily. pls consider r2 1u accent novelty

[white_rabbit]

ily. pls consider r2 1u accent novelty

^

Very happy to see this set run again!

[densus designs]

very nice, im down

[spaceballstheusername]

Shame about the Coral Relief kit, I love a nice monocolor set.

[fruitykeeb]

awww yeah!

[IOVERCALLHISTIOCYTES]

Love my r1, as you’ve got the novs now in for 2 sets to load up on turtles.

Two things:
1. Caps lock nov?
2. Hibi? Dunno if the design was unique to villanelle and happy to hear from Tom/Kate/you that this was a bad idea…but could the shape of that Hibi get paired w a color from this set?

[LightningXI]

Taking a fresh look at this set and seeing IRL pics is nice. It's a set with nice contrast and the compatibility in base is pretty comprehensive.

[Zanhana]

pls no purse caps lock

or at least a novelty replacement option

[HungHingDaiLo]

This is fantastic. GLWGB!

[paperassgasket]

I know it's a long shot but I would LOVE a R2 1u novelty and maybe even a 1.5u R3 novelty.

[Bachoo]

Yes.

[Dyto69]

Nice kitting, i like the real life Photos a lot. I really like this IC

[darthcapn]

I've waited too long  for this

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[dingusxmcgee]

Yes please. Been looking forward to this!

[KuroTheCrazy]

Not going to make the mistake of sleeping on this set again.

[HoodrowThrillson]

First and foremost, thank you all to have commented and give some input. I will be addressing some of those here.

1) R2 1U accent novelty, R2 1U accent, R3 1.5U novelty (anything regarding adding keys to essentially make the 3 key 40s into a 4 key 40s) - no, simply because it's kind of a slippery slope and usability outside of 40s. Accent novelty, what layout other than a 40 (think bigger boys like 60s, 75s, TKL, etc. etc,) would be able to utilize it on a large scale? My guess is very low. The death of the 40s kit, due to the extremely low attachment rate (common with GMK), I have opted to include 3 keys. Why 3 keys? Because I removed the 3 key UK ISO keys based off the theory that more 40s users are purchasing the base kit than UK ISO users (there is no hard statistic for this, just a theory based off of past GBs and talking with other people about the idea).

TLDR: adding more niche keys that don't have greater usage outside of the 40s or small board user base doesn't seem logical and rather just a slippery slope.

2) Caps lock nov, no I think it's ugly

3) Hibi and the design from villanelle, I heard that the design from villanelle is Hibi's (I don't know a better term to use so please let me know) stock(?) design. Meaning it's like their signature shape keycap that anyone can use? I will consult (yes there will be a Hibi cap or caps) and let y'all know.

4) Purse lock, *looks at Coral R1* *sees it has purse lock* *look at name of IC, "GMK Coral R2"* :thinking: Purse lock is cool for icon sets, because I hate the look of a downward arrow above the upward arrow, it's like its pointing at the gap in between caps lock and shift and saying "hey look at how many brain cells you have left"

[Fraaaan]

Great kitting. Any chance for an ISO enter novelty?

GLWIC!

[neon_tom]

4) Purse lock, *looks at Coral R1* *sees it has purse lock* *look at name of IC, "GMK Coral R2"* :thinking: Purse lock is cool for icon sets, because I hate the look of a downward arrow above the upward arrow, it's like its pointing at the gap in between caps lock and shift and saying "hey look at how many brain cells you have left"

Purse lock is best lock

[Hawkenfreude]

Missed R1 by weeks, and have been dreading the idea of paying r/mm prices to get this for the wife. Happy to see such a quick turnaround on R2.

[konstantin]

You can drop 1.75c space from the spacebars kit. This size is not used outside of a very limited number of 40s boards, and this set doesn't have the compat needed for those layouts in the first place, so the 1.75c spacekey serves no real purpose.

Numpad 00 can probably be removed from the base kit as well.

[Bub]

Also I'm missing my F10 key because I think I sent it to pwade to color match for the kit renders.

this made me laugh lol

GLWIC

[popkorn62]

Do not take the purse away from me kthx

[paperassgasket]

You can drop 1.75c space from the spacebars kit. This size is not used outside of a very limited number of 40s boards, and this set doesn't have the compat needed for those layouts in the first place, so the 1.75c spacekey serves no real purpose.

Numpad 00 can probably be removed from the base kit as well.

seconding this. I don't really care if you keep or yeet the 00, but I can't think of a single case where that 1.75u is usable.

First and foremost, thank you all to have commented and give some input. I will be addressing some of those here.

1) R2 1U accent novelty, R2 1U accent, R3 1.5U novelty (anything regarding adding keys to essentially make the 3 key 40s into a 4 key 40s) - no, simply because it's kind of a slippery slope and usability outside of 40s. Accent novelty, what layout other than a 40 (think bigger boys like 60s, 75s, TKL, etc. etc,) would be able to utilize it on a large scale? My guess is very low. The death of the 40s kit, due to the extremely low attachment rate (common with GMK), I have opted to include 3 keys. Why 3 keys? Because I removed the 3 key UK ISO keys based off the theory that more 40s users are purchasing the base kit than UK ISO users (there is no hard statistic for this, just a theory based off of past GBs and talking with other people about the idea).

yeah the enter is a real stretch.
But... if you added a R2 1u novelty then all you'd have to do is add a R3 1u novelty to get a fully sculped macro column :wink:

[Puddsy]

Do not take the purse away from me kthx

purse supremacy

[rikercd]

Coral is one of my all time favorite sets. I daily drive it on my PC Tengu with the Coral Relief kit. Super happy this is coming back, but it's too bad the relief kit isn't making a return. I feel like people are way more into mono sets than they used to be, I know I am.

[HoodrowThrillson]

Novelty ISO key, I will consider. I have liked that idea in the past and will try to come up with something.

40s enter, I heard that accent enter is preferred according to some research done recently on a poll. I too am torn on this.

Additionally, on the IC form, I have added a section about rerunning the Coral Relief Kit (with a question regarding about whether to make it a full on base kit or an alpha + other keys like R1)

[UberPlatypus]

YES!

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[mymeepo]

So happy this is returning. +1 for ISO novelty enter. I think the 1.5 accented 40s enter is perfect. Any chance for an accented R2 novelty? Could work on 40s ESC or 65s PgUp

[hkhawk]

Hoodrow, would you please consider putting the second B in the spacebar kit for people who purchased R1? Coral R1 is one of my favorite sets and I run it in Alice so being able to get Spacebars and the second B together would be amazing.

[Puddsy]

Hoodrow, would you please consider putting the second B in the spacebar kit for people who purchased R1? Coral R1 is one of my favorite sets and I run it in Alice so being able to get Spacebars and the second B together would be amazing.

second b in spacebar kit is better anyway since most alice users will probably also want bars as well

[Nonnegaard]

I could ramble on and on about "how it used to be", how much I've grown as a """designer""" (I don't like this term) and as an adult, how pre-covid times were, etc. etc. but I'll stop here.

No, no, go on.

[ARSLOCK]

Looks great, +1 for a second monotone base kit

[jagger27]

purse supremacy

no need to fight over purses and down arrows when r3 control is actually useful :^)

Shame about the Coral Relief kit, I love a nice monocolor set.

yeah rip. I'm only interested in the solid coral

[HoodrowThrillson]

I could ramble on and on about "how it used to be", how much I've grown as a """designer""" (I don't like this term) and as an adult, how pre-covid times were, etc. etc. but I'll stop here.

No, no, go on.

Maybe in the future, I'll start dumping some thoughts on the state of the mechkeys community.

So happy this is returning. +1 for ISO novelty enter. I think the 1.5 accented 40s enter is perfect. Any chance for an accented R2 novelty? Could work on 40s ESC or 65s PgUp

I will consider

Hoodrow, would you please consider putting the second B in the spacebar kit for people who purchased R1? Coral R1 is one of my favorite sets and I run it in Alice so being able to get Spacebars and the second B together would be amazing.

Show Image

I will consider

Looks great, +1 for a second monotone base kit

I will consider

Hoodrow, would you please consider putting the second B in the spacebar kit for people who purchased R1? Coral R1 is one of my favorite sets and I run it in Alice so being able to get Spacebars and the second B together would be amazing.

second b in spacebar kit is better anyway since most alice users will probably also want bars as well

I will consider

purse supremacy

no need to fight over purses and down arrows when r3 control is actually useful :^)

Shame about the Coral Relief kit, I love a nice monocolor set.

yeah rip. I'm only interested in the solid coral

I will consider

[konstantin]

Nice kits! I'm going to have to grab Coral this time around, it's such a gorgeous set.

Any chance for R3 1.75U control with icon legend to match the surrounding icon modifiers?

+1

[mnguyen53]

Gorgeous set and love the cause. GL!

[HoodrowThrillson]

Good morning Geekhack, just wanted to drop in and let y'all know what I've been up to since it's been a while since I've posted here with an update.

Vendors are all locked and loaded (except for Asia, I have reached out to one and waiting to hear back, if that falls through, I have one other vendor I can ask).

In terms of the Coral Relief kit, I will be discussing with Mekibo to figure out if it is a viable option since there is overwhelming support for it. However, this support does not reflect if people will actually purchase it during the GB phase. Once we discuss this further, I will come back with either 1) a sorry message about how we aren't running it or 2) a base kit design.

In terms of other kitting changes, I have not read through them all yet so please give me some time to sift through the messages. My IRL job has been quite a handful since the New Year so please bear with me.

I did see something about "where is the 40s kit". Well to you specifically, the base kit for 3 key which was done with the removal of UK ISO. The only way I'd run a full 40s kit is a signed contractual obligation to buy out any remaining 40s kits we may have if we were to run one.

Side note, I have been in talks with some artisan makers who I am a fan of and have gotten a few of them onboard. If there are other makers y'all would like me to reach out to, please let me know.

That is all.

Hope y'all have a wonderful rest of the week.

[whee74]

love the set and the fact that you're helping out a good cause~

[HoodrowThrillson]

Update:

Working on getting render for Coral Relief Base Kit.

Now I've kind of run into a bit of a pickle.

With the addition of the Coral Relief Base kit, there might be a need for some coral colored spacebars. Where should these lie, within the base kit itself or in the spacebars kit?

Another potential solution is cutting out the numpad and adding spacebars to hopefully keep cost consistent with the regular base kit. I've looked at a few sets that have done 2 base kits and it seems to me that the spacebars are included in a 40s extension set or just don't exist. Although I love this set with my heart, this isn't necessarily a banger set like MoDo, Bento, Olive, Olivia, etc. that can have a 40s kit with the spacebars and B.

If anyone has suggestions, I am more than open to it. I'm going to have to do a lot of thinking since this is a complicated situation.

[asciisii]

I personally love numpad-less base kits with added spacebars, but I'm also not a user of larger keyboards at all.

[1017BirckenThot]

Please don't split out the numpad from the base kit.

[hello21]

There's no chance a coral-coloured numpad alone will pass MOQ, even less than a 40' kit.
Big big advocate of keeping numpad. Minibars can be replaced with shifts but numbers can't.
Perhaps add blue minibars in the spacebar kit so they can be used for both base kits?

[HoodrowThrillson]

I guess some of y'all misunderstood.

I was thinking about removing the numpad (and not offering at all) for ONLY the Coral Relief Base Kit.

The problem with the addition of blue mini bars is two fold. First, you're now adding extra spacebars increasing cost. Additionally, blue mini bars on a Coral Relief board might look dog.

Also, I will be reviewing the kitting (along with the comments from the IC form again). Next update I'll likely have final kitting.

[optimuspine]

Was in on the first round and love the set. Really recommend to pick up. Also a great cause.

[HoodrowThrillson]

Hello, kitting has been updated.

With the introduction of 2 base kits, it was a difficult thing to figure out how the spacebars kit would play and where to put certain things.

The decision to put 2u, 2.25u, 2.75u, and extra B in base was one that I thought about for a long time. Although I would have loved to have those in the spacebars kit, it just would have made the spacebars kit extremely large and inevitably made the spacebars kit more expensive.

I've also removed the 2u shift from both base kits because its not that common of a layout (if you use a 60% with arrows, just move to a 65 or use VIA to set WASD/HJKL as arrows my guy) and I think 60% with arrows is cursed (sorry not sorry).

Please feel free to offer more suggestions (primarily around the spacebar situation).

[kiwoli]

I dig the mono base, kitting looks to be very inclusive, good work!