(https://i.imgur.com/SGIeUgg.png)
Group Buy: February 1st to March 1st, 2021
Please visit the GMK Birch Group Buy thread (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=110992.msg3009109#msg3009109) for more details on pre-ordering GMK Birch.
Inspiration
My wife and I are expanding our home for our first child, and that means some interior design! The E N D G A M E for my home office would come from Knoll - particularly the classic work produced by Finnish designer Eero Saarinen for Knoll during the 1940s and 1950s.
(https://i.imgur.com/8kQjuvK.png)
The Lasurite blue used in this set reflects my favorite colorway for Saarinen’s womb chair. Keyboard collectors will undoubtedly see inspiration from other classic sources: original Cherry keysets and their descendents, like GMK 9009, as well as inviting modern sets like GMK Cafe, Solarized and GMK Firefly.
(https://i.imgur.com/EPhKppt.png)
Enjoy the creamy alphas and woody modifiers legended with blue-green for a warm, clean interpretation of OG Cherry sets. Add the Lasurite blue accents for some subtle character, similar to GMK Blue Alert. These RAL reference pictures may help visualize the set’s colors in full daylight.
More
(https://i.imgur.com/dhEyEFf.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/9YK70Wc.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/CZSWQjV.jpg)
Kits
GMK Birch has four kits for now: a base kit with numpad and basic ISO coverage, novelties inspired by Saarinen's work, a spacebar kit, and basic coverage for 40% layouts.
Base Kit
(https://i.imgur.com/wJEkB6B.jpg)
Spacebars
(https://i.imgur.com/hSPiVKy.png)
Novelties
These novelties reference some classic interior pieces from the 1940s and 1950s, like the womb chair, the tulip chair and table, the Eames lounge chair, and a healthy amount of cocktail glassware.
(https://i.imgur.com/LUU8j07.png)
Forties
This is an extremely light 40s kit, offered to help a few friends use Birch on their 40s.
(https://i.imgur.com/FHlyvKw.png)
RAMA
This is Rama Works's collaborative aluminum artisan for GMK Birch. It has two infill layers and two tiers. You can see those tiers in the isometric view. The birch-colored drink tier is the lowest tier, while the rocks glass outline sits above it. Both are engraved into the keycap, which is anodized to lazurite blue.
Thank you to Sour for the inspiration, through the incredible Rama for GMK Pono.
(https://i.imgur.com/gMhg06I.png)
Renders
Iron180 by Smith + Rune
With warm interior lighting.
(https://i.imgur.com/j4lknvw.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/6QeUIhi.png)
Dawn, by crykn / Finite Design
(https://i.imgur.com/zBEuH76.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/jiOKZFT.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/gw5UxQn.png)
Fjell by Mechanisk
(https://i.imgur.com/UUwP54U.png)
KFE CE by bisoromi + beamingrobot
(https://i.imgur.com/ffeq4RI.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/UYk0ZbM.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/O5uugLB.jpg)
Anubis, by nerdy
Join Nerdy's server (https://discord.gg/Sk6Zdtk5) for more details.
(https://i.imgur.com/purnQVu.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/X9lOBVw.png)
J-02, by Jae
(https://i.imgur.com/A0pB0GD.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/HcE1LFH.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/uLlwETO.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/xgtL8BE.png)
Collaborations
Artisans
Some of you have heard me claim that I “quit” artisans. You never really quit artisans, though, am I right? So I’m excited that some of my favorite artisans have agreed to collaborate on this set:
Prime Caps
Sodie Caps
Destroyer Caps
TRMK Caps
Latrialum
deagcaps
Bad and Booj Keys
Mastonon Designs
Phage Caps
Deskmat and Banderole
I’ll also announce some other nice collaborations soon.
Interested?
If you’d like to see this set on your desk, please fill out this Interest Check Survey (https://forms.gle/V3DHHVMpWv8aRNtE7).
For dad jokes and some behind-the-scenes news, join my Discord server (https://discord.gg/P9A84dw).
You can also find me on Discord (break#8888) or Reddit (u/breakbeatzors).
Vendors and GB Date
GMK Birch will open for group buy at these vendors during February 2021.
US: CannonKeys.com
SEA: Monokei.co
EU: MyKeyboard.eu
UK: Prototypist.net
CA: DeskHero.ca
AU: DailyClack.com
CN: zFrontier.com
Special Thanks
My endless gratitude to
- Walker (https://discord.gg/vvrus9C) for renders, kitting discussion and guiding me through my first IC
- Manzel for additional amazing renders
- various amazing designers for thoughts and answers to random questions: tom, pwade, crykn, Emir
- the Florida (Mech)Keys and Keycap Designer communities for all of their support and suggestions
- my brother, redtens, for graphic design mentorship (endless chair revisions!) and very constructive feedback
- last but not least: to my wife for endless discussions about furniture, colors, and keycaps, and her constant support for my interest in this kitschy little hobby
I think this would look amazing on the LeandreN's (Mekanisk) ultramarine color boards.
I think so too!
The blue looks quite a bit darker in the renders than the RAL swatch. Interested to see some samples in plastic.
I think this would look amazing on the LeandreN's (Mekanisk) ultramarine color boards.
Something like this ultramarine Fjell?
Show Image
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/583334128989110285/729348892923265045/image0.jpg)
Yep! I just got a spot for an ultramarine Tind, too! We gotta get this set in the queue asap :)
I've been sharing some ongoing work into both novelties and deskmats on my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/break.mk/). Here's a low-res, super-rough cut of a deskmat idea.
Houndstooth has been around for centuries, but became especially popular as a men's suiting pattern during the 1930s. After finding this Knoll ad from 1965,
(https://designinbold.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/knoll-ad.jpg)
I felt inspired.
(https://scontent-mia3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-15/e35/107958174_961485910963432_44083790253022024_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-mia3-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=104&_nc_ohc=elPjAJWbWVEAX8ZoOS9&oh=b1a47c3a531585480954bb3b2c5d9f5b&oe=5F371100)
The R1 "Scroll" from GMK is a little messed up right now. The ll is tilted to the right. It looks like Scro//. I would recommend switch to "Lock" if GMK doesnt fix their molds. GL
Thanks for this suggestion! I'll consider it.
I've been sharing some ongoing work into both novelties and deskmats on my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/break.mk/). Here's a low-res, super-rough cut of a deskmat idea.
Houndstooth has been around for centuries, but became especially popular as a men's suiting pattern during the 1930s. After finding this Knoll ad from 1965,
Show Image
(https://designinbold.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/knoll-ad.jpg)
I felt inspired.
Show Image
(https://scontent-mia3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-15/e35/107958174_961485910963432_44083790253022024_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-mia3-1.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=104&_nc_ohc=elPjAJWbWVEAX8ZoOS9&oh=b1a47c3a531585480954bb3b2c5d9f5b&oe=5F371100)
Been a geekhack guest for the last few months.. Made an account just for this! The set is an instant buy for me, and the pattern for a deskmat is perfect!! Love the set, great work
Hey, thank you so much! I've added a variant of this deskmat design which matches more traditional high-contrast houndstooth patterns. What do you think?
(https://i.imgur.com/GcUxoBS.jpg)
I’ve started working on deskmats to take a break from a particularly challenging chair novelty. Vintage Knoll ads have provided lots of inspiration for these. I came across this ad and thought it was lovely - captures the curves of their landmark furniture really well.
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/717119502357364837/736028693880766504/image0.jpg)
So it’s serving as my inspiration for a second mat.
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/717119502357364837/736028694153265242/image1.jpg?width=1812&height=1026)
What do you think?
Gorgeous! I'm definitely in if there's a Canadian proxy. Pretty please!
Thank you! Let me look into it. :)
I'm in! This is beautiful..
Thank you so much!
Barring any issues in rendering, the novelty update is done. Damn, that was tiring. Here's a sneak peak:
(https://i.imgur.com/bwHA8Dz.png)
I'll be quiet for the next week or so - need a break between this and GMK Red Alert. Catch you all soon!
All right gang, the August update will be delayed by a few weeks now that I'm also working on GMK Red Alert (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=107649.0) for the end of 2020.
In the larger August update, you can expect:
- a reworked Novelty kit, as well as render updates
- updates to the Spacebar kit: offering 1u and 1.25u spacebar, offering split alpha-colored bars.
- updates to the Base kit: physical ISO support, "Break" instead of "Pause".
Hopefully this news tides you over for now:
Still waiting on more survey feedback for 40s support and NorDe-UK. I'd love to offer both, but pricing needs to make sense. I don't want to ask vendors to buy out kits that fail to meet MOQ.
I've also secured vendors for US, SEA, UK and EU. I'll announce them soon. GB will likely run early 2021, but I don't have an exact date yet.
Lastly, here's another sneak peak at a new novelty.
(https://i.imgur.com/KQ154eP.jpg)
Hi folks! Have been swamped with work and fatherhood. That vacation was incredibly necessary.
Some progress to report: the novelty kit is now finalized.
(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/583334128989110285/765247163692220456/final_0_frame_0_0.png?width=1822&height=1025)
I have also updated the base and spacebars kit in the initial post.
I promise a much larger announcement with lots of news coming by mid November. Things have been moving along very very well, despite the lack of chatter on this thread. :)
This is aesthetic AF. I'm def in on this!
Hey, thank you so much! I've added a variant of this deskmat design which matches more traditional high-contrast houndstooth patterns. What do you think?
Show Image
(https://i.imgur.com/GcUxoBS.jpg)
WOW. You know I love houndstooth and this is going to be a fire deskmat
Thank you both!!
Have you considered enlarging the light fixture to better fit the cap? I'm not sure that much negative space works in this instance.
Thanks for the feedback Fredington. Love your sets. There's a reason for the seemingly-weird spacing on that lamp:
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/445580627920683019/765318739981369354/image0.jpg)
Base Kit looks great. Love the blue accent / woody mod combo. Definitely on my radar for February.
Three colors I never thought would go well together. Well done :thumb:
Thank you both!!
I don't think I've explicitly pointed this out, but one of the new renders shows a Dawn FE (by crykn of Finite Designs) in white. That Dawn is sitting atop the first confirmed deskmat design. :)
(https://i.imgur.com/zBEuH76.png)
More deskmat and aluminum artisan news soon.
Hi folks. We now have a Rama artisan for GMK Birch. It is dual infilled and two-tiered, inspired by Sour’s amazing Rama artisan for GMK Pono.
(https://i.imgur.com/Q5Fg68T.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/gMhg06I.jpg)
Kitting updates will be wrapped up early in the new year.
Hi everyone! I have finished updating kitting for GMK Birch. These updates have been submitted to GMK for quoting, and you can see them below.
The most notable change is the inclusion of an extremely light 40s kit (accents are even excluded, to bring the price down as much as possible), which is tentatively offered pending GMK quoting. I am concerned about not hitting 100 MOQ with this kit, but a lot of friends would like to use Birch with their 40% boards.
Anyway, this is the home stretch! Once GMK replies with quotes and kitting is confirmed, I will share pricing.
(https://i.imgur.com/wJEkB6B.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/hSPiVKy.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/sJhfUAc.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/FHlyvKw.png)
We are a little over one week away from the opening of GMK Birch for group buy! GMK continues to review kitting, and I will have a pricing update for you before February 1st.
One additional note: Forties Kit will run regardless of GMK quoting. Have received lots of positive feedback on it, and want to see it through for my 40% friends.
To reward your patience with pricing, I've asked Motohiro to render GMK Birch on a suave blue KFE CE by Biso and beamingrobot. The KFE CE GB is open on Monokei for a few more days. Hope this gives you an idea of how the keyset looks on navy blue. :)
(https://i.imgur.com/ffeq4RI.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/UYk0ZbM.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/O5uugLB.jpg)
Small update that I'm really excited to announce:
Mastonon Designs will collaborate with me on a GMK Birch raffle! You can find Mastonon on IG (https://www.instagram.com/mastonon.kaps/). Thumper Bumper is one of my favorite new artisan designs:
(https://i.imgur.com/mZeJip2.jpg)
Upas and I rejected the first round of deskmat samples, but I’ve worked with manzel to render the two designs in both full-size and mini-size (300x510mm). These will be available on Monday.
(https://i.imgur.com/vevyRAT.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/Chq8FC4.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZLJYCxT.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/4qz6AUC.png)