Author Topic: [IC] GMK Sakura Retro (Color sample update on Feb 6!) (Read 19161 times)

Drive · « **on:** Wed, 30 January 2019, 12:23:08 »

Hi friends!
It's almost my first post here, though I've been a keyboard freak for about two years mainly on r/mk as u/okaboni.

Here I introduce a new keyset plan,

GMK Sakura Retro

Living in Japan, I really love to see pale pink cherry blossoms (sakura) and some fresh green leaves together on their tree. Combined with OG Cherry and GMK Classic Retro's colorway, these moderate colors express peaceful mood in spring. Antique pink like GMK 3C is called "sakura-iro", color of cherry blossom in Japan, so this pink is featured this time.

Colors

Colors are all GMK stock colors (L9 beige, U9 grey, 3C pink and AE green) to keep MOQ and prices low.

The pics were taken under cloudy sky and an incandescent lamp respectively.

Keys (v1.1)

Base kit

Supports standard ANSI, WKL, HHKB, 65%, 75%, 1800 and ISO UK for now.

Hiragana kit

Japanese sublegends kit which supports both ANSI and ISO.

Novelties

Details are coming soon!

Please kindly fill in this IC form and leave a comment below to let me know your thoughts! -> https://goo.gl/forms/gLsZWzTzoVip2Upj2

TBD

Logo design
Key layout and kitting
Accessories
Vendors
Pricing

Thanks for stopping by!

quaddepos · « **Reply #1 on:** Wed, 30 January 2019, 12:24:39 »

Cool set, happy to help out with the graphics :-)

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk

19MODL · « **Reply #2 on:** Wed, 30 January 2019, 12:28:12 »

Absolutely love Sakura-themed color schemes, but not a fan of the gray mods. ): will come up with suggestions as soon as I can think of some!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

gasp · « **Reply #3 on:** Wed, 30 January 2019, 12:36:36 »

I'm diggin it. I'm worried the pink might be a little too salmon and saturated- it could lean towards essentially 9009 if you aren't careful. but other than that loooove it.

mrpetrov · « **Reply #4 on:** Wed, 30 January 2019, 12:43:42 »

Very nice, a couple of comments:
- Grey mods seems a bit drab with the pink and lime to my taste
- Will there be sufficient contrast between the lime and white legends irl?

zekkin · « **Reply #5 on:** Wed, 30 January 2019, 13:00:11 »

Looks pretty cool, I'd be careful about the contrast of 3C/L9 and AE/U9 though -- it may be very difficult to read/see the legends once produced.

etong415 · « **Reply #6 on:** Wed, 30 January 2019, 13:03:30 »

Looks great! I think if it's the retro look you're going for, the mods look fine.

LazerCat · « **Reply #7 on:** Wed, 30 January 2019, 13:06:22 »

Looks great!

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The_judge_168 · « **Reply #8 on:** Wed, 30 January 2019, 13:36:26 »

Like the color scheme. I think the legends on alphas might be a tad difficult to see but not really an issue for me.

Also please GMK and not ePBT

Drive · « **Reply #9 on:** Wed, 30 January 2019, 14:39:55 »

Thanks all! I understand the colors don’t have much contrast and some kits had contrast issues before, but I think GMK DS legends are crisp enough itself so colors don’t have to have so much gap.
I’ll make final decision on colors after receiving GMK’s stock color sample.

. · « **Reply #10 on:** Wed, 30 January 2019, 14:53:16 »

I really like beige sets so this would be very nice if the colours came out well. Count me interested! I also like the ISO compatibility on this one, well done.

Drive · « **Reply #11 on:** Thu, 31 January 2019, 02:16:48 »

Quote from: mrpetrov on Wed, 30 January 2019, 12:43:42

- Will there be sufficient contrast between the lime and white legends irl?

I’ve decided to change the legend color on green accents after the render was made. Now it’s beige and more consistent when put with pink accents.

As not few people are asking for Japanese sublegends, I’m planning to add Japanese hiragana alphabet kit. I'm also considering JIS adapter kit but maybe nobody here wants it...do you?

japanesehorrorwriter · « **Reply #12 on:** Thu, 31 January 2019, 03:09:47 »

Totally in for this.

tex_live_utility · « **Reply #13 on:** Thu, 31 January 2019, 11:49:53 »

I would be concerned about low contrast in this set for sure.

Drive · « **Reply #14 on:** Sun, 03 February 2019, 10:47:07 »

Hi all, I've been working on the colors and trying to figure out how much their contrast will be. There's also an update on kits, so let me share.

Here is a simple image of AE green letters on U9 grey. Of course the colors are generated from RGB values and not very accurate, but just show their contrast better than previous renders.

IMO the contrast is just enough to distinguish the legends, what do you think?

Also let me show you a comparison of GMK stock greens.

I definitely like AE as it implements my concept the best, but some of you would prefer N7 for higher contrast. Which do you like?

And I'm willing to add Japanese sublegends kit asked by many of you!

Tell me your thoughts or suggestions in comments or the IC form (it's ok to send your answer twice or more

) -> https://goo.gl/forms/DA8E0qQVm5tKIz432

Thanks!

sl70309 · « **Reply #15 on:** Sun, 03 February 2019, 19:40:15 »

any estimated date for GB?

Drive · « **Reply #16 on:** Mon, 04 February 2019, 03:16:06 »

Quote from: sl70309 on Sun, 03 February 2019, 19:40:15

any estimated date for GB?

Not yet, as there are several big ICs going on out there. Hopefully I want to run gb in four months or so, but anyway more interests and suggestions are needed. Help me plz!

Drive · « **Reply #17 on:** Tue, 05 February 2019, 22:34:58 »

Thanks so much for your feedback! Now I'm answering your comments.

Quote from: zekkin on Wed, 30 January 2019, 13:00:11

Looks pretty cool, I'd be careful about the contrast of 3C/L9 and AE/U9 though -- it may be very difficult to read/see the legends once produced.

First off, many people are concerned about the contrasts and I'm considering it. I received color samples from GMK yesterday, so here I show them.

Honestly I can't say they're 100% good or bad in terms of contrast of brightness, the only thing sure is the pink and green are vivid enough to stand out on their base. I really appreciate your feedback on this matter.

Quote from: 19MODL on Wed, 30 January 2019, 12:28:12

Absolutely love Sakura-themed color schemes, but not a fan of the gray mods. ): will come up with suggestions as soon as I can think of some!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm considering some other sakura themed colorways in parallel, so please suggest if you've got a nice idea!

Quote from: boop on Wed, 30 January 2019, 12:36:36

I'm diggin it. I'm worried the pink might be a little too salmon and saturated- it could lean towards essentially 9009 if you aren't careful. but other than that loooove it.

I just realized how big this matter is yesterday. In Japan, antique pinks like 3C is regarded as "sakura-iro", the color of cherry blossom, but maybe it's just a salmon-like, antique or saturated pink to people around the world. I need to spread the concept of sakura-iro from now on.

Quote

IMO, the accent colors are too saturated. Maybe tone it down a bit?

I see your point, but using different shades on accent keys are difficult as I want to keep the whole set consistent.

Quote

Novelties

I definitely want to do. Currently I'm planning hiragana "sakura", kanji "sakura" and some petals of cherry blossom. Only thing I'm wondering about is the tooling cost. I'll do some research but please tell me if one of you know something.

That's all for now. I'm also updating OP with sample photos.

Lastly, If you've got something to suggest or comment, please leave a comment here along with the IC form so that I can easily quote and reply to your suggestion or question. Thanks!

Puddsy · « **Reply #18 on:** Tue, 05 February 2019, 22:56:06 »

love the alphas, not sold on the green mods

vicissitude · « **Reply #19 on:** Sat, 09 February 2019, 11:22:25 »

Pink hiragana kit is so lovely.

It would go well with other pink keysets.

sl70309 · « **Reply #20 on:** Mon, 18 February 2019, 12:34:01 »

any update?

xef · « **Reply #21 on:** Mon, 18 February 2019, 14:09:51 »

in for the hirigana kit and probably novelties if this happens, also not a fan of the green mods

megaforce · « **Reply #22 on:** Mon, 18 February 2019, 14:30:56 »

Quote from: Puddsy on Tue, 05 February 2019, 22:56:06

love the alphas, not sold on the green mods

Same here -- love the concept, but the seeing the green text on the beige mods might be a little rough.

Maybe instead of U9 for the mods just stick with L9 for the mods as well like the alphas.

Drive · « **Reply #23 on:** Mon, 18 February 2019, 19:42:25 »

Quote from: xef on Mon, 18 February 2019, 14:09:51

in for the hirigana kit and probably novelties if this happens, also not a fan of the green mods

Quote from: megaforce93 on Mon, 18 February 2019, 14:30:56

Quote from: Puddsy on Tue, 05 February 2019, 22:56:06
love the alphas, not sold on the green mods

Same here -- love the concept, but the seeing the green text on the beige mods might be a little rough.

Maybe instead of U9 for the mods just stick with L9 for the mods as well like the alphas.

Thanks for your comment!
Considering advices from y’all so far, now I’m inclined to change the mods’ base color to the same as alphas’. I still want to stick to L9 to retain its warmer, retro scent. I’m preparing updated layout images.

necchi · « **Reply #24 on:** Tue, 19 February 2019, 20:48:24 »

I'm really digging the style, especially with the hiragana sub legend. Count me in!

sl70309 · « **Reply #25 on:** Wed, 27 February 2019, 12:26:33 »

any update? bumping up this thread

Drive · « **Reply #26 on:** Fri, 01 March 2019, 11:19:41 »

Quote from: sl70309 on Wed, 27 February 2019, 12:26:33

any update? bumping up this thread

I'm sorry, couldn't come here as I've been really busy these days. Thanks for your bump :)

Quick update for new color scheme plan.

Here is L9 beige for both alphas and mods.

This alternative is not a serious plan but pretty cool imo, though the mods are similar to GMK Olivia.

Rayndalf · « **Reply #27 on:** Fri, 01 March 2019, 12:15:18 »

Have you considered making Hiragana alphas the default? I know it worked for Bento, and given the theme I think they fit really well

Drive · « **Reply #28 on:** Sun, 03 March 2019, 10:42:36 »

Quote from: Rayndalf on Fri, 01 March 2019, 12:15:18

Have you considered making Hiragana alphas the default? I know it worked for Bento, and given the theme I think they fit really well

Not yet but that makes sense.

dmxtrix · « **Reply #29 on:** Thu, 07 March 2019, 15:33:55 »

I think you could make the mods a darker grey to preserve the retro feel. I actually kind of dig the black mods tho

kevinzavier · « **Reply #30 on:** Thu, 07 March 2019, 16:49:06 »

Wow this looks really good. I think the pink but it has to be a bit softer (this is a good pantone https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/1895-C ) so it doesn't look like 9009 as someone else said. Other than that it looks really good, and japanese sublegends would fit well.

Drive · « **Reply #31 on:** Mon, 11 March 2019, 23:54:47 »

Sorry for my slow updates and thanks for comments!

Quote from: kevinzavier on Thu, 07 March 2019, 16:49:06

Wow this looks really good. I think the pink but it has to be a bit softer (this is a good pantone https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/1895-C ) so it doesn't look like 9009 as someone else said. Other than that it looks really good, and japanese sublegends would fit well.

Yeah that’s really nice! But this time I wanna stick to GMK stock colors.

Quote from: dmxtrix on Thu, 07 March 2019, 15:33:55

I think you could make the mods a darker grey to preserve the retro feel. I actually kind of dig the black mods tho

As I’ve got many comments from Japanese folks approving my initial “low-contrast” plan, I’m turning to U9-AE mods again. They represent my concept the most precisely.

Kits update
I’ve decided to add Ergodox/Ortholinear Kit, colored spacebars and some accent keys asked by many of you. Going to upload a layout image later!

Thanks everyone

xkhol · « **Reply #32 on:** Tue, 12 March 2019, 17:52:24 »

Have you considered adding mods with pink legends?

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gabbbe · « **Reply #33 on:** Tue, 23 July 2019, 15:41:55 »

When?

News:

Author Topic: [IC] GMK Sakura Retro (Color sample update on Feb 6!) (Read 19161 times)