[IC] GMK Shanshui 山水 - Pricing and Final Kits

[grundlemere]

GMK Shanshui 山水

The long path home.

Coming New Years Day 2021 from vendors everywhere.





Note: new renders featuring retooled legends coming soon.

Jagged peaks rise like the teeth of some long-fallen colossus from the horizon, worn to harmlessness by water, foliage, and time. A placid thread of water weaves among them. For ages, the water has borne rafts carrying silent, wizened men and their gently chattering companions: great, fearsome waterfowl perched on long bamboo canes. They are ancient cormorants, eyes smoldering like lanterns. Part duck, part eagle, part feathered hunting dog, they slip beneath the currents with hush and speed and return with throats full of wriggling fish, dutifully disgorging their catch for a treat and a gentle stroke.

In few places does man live in such harmony with nature; in few places is man so noble an animal. For those who have been to the Li River (Lijiang in Chinese), it’s unforgettable. For those who have not, they have surely seen the ghosts of the mountains and water conjured from memory and ink. Perhaps no other subject is depicted so often in shanshuihua, the Chinese style of ink painting perfectly suited to capture the layered depth of the South China Karst and the reflections off the tranquil waters of the Lijiang. Literally “mountain-water-painting” in the Chinese, these words are immortalized in the local slogan of this stretch of the Lijiang between Guilin and Yangshuo: 山水甲天下, “the best landscapes under heaven.”


About the set

GMK Shanshui is a white-on-black Cherry profile keycap set designed to capture both the enduring shanshui images of the Lijiang and the essence of the uniquely Chinese artform of shanshuihua, practiced by artists in China and around the world. Designed by Grundlemere of Fort Stevens Mercantile, conceived and rendered by NathanAlphaMan of Alpha Design.

Base keys are molded in GMK stock CR black, with legends rendered in crisp stock WS1, matching existing WoB sets and kits, and compatible with other monochrome Cherry profile keys. The base kit offers sublegends in Cangjie, while modifiers are rendered in both Simplified and Traditional Chinese + icons—the first GMK legends in true Chinese characters.

Complete the Interest Check form to make this set a reality

See a full gallery of board and scene renders

Follow me on IG @grundlemere for photos and project updates, and feel free to reach out on Discord at grundlemere#1126 with questions or to say hello. New: join my Discord server for updates!


Updates

• September 12: IC posted
• September 14: GB Date set and new collab partners added
• September 17: Minor updates on process and more collabs
• September 19: GMK Shanshui x RAMA artisans posted
• September 25: Deskmat renders posted
• October 12: Kit changes posted
• October 20: Posted collab wrist rests
• November 21: Posted retooled legend map
• December 4: Added new collab partners
• December 9: Added new collab partner and project update
• December 24: Posted pricing, final kits, and other details

Vendors

Available from these vendors for group buy January 1, 2021.

US: Cannonkeys
China: Zfrontier
SE Asia: iLumkb
Europe: CandyKeys
Australia: Daily Clack
Canada: Deskhero.ca
UK (non-EU): Prototypist.net


Kits

Inkstone 砚台: the Simplified Chinese base kit


The Simplified Chinese base kit offers sublegends in the Cangjie Chinese typing system, while modifiers are rendered in Simplified Chinese + icons—the first GMK legends in true Chinese characters. Designed to cover a wide range of layouts. Included numpad is rendered in Chinese financial numerals as monolegends. Alphas include basic special Chinese punctuation sublegends.

Old Path 旧路: the Traditional Chinese base kit


The Traditional Chinese base kit offers sublegends in the Cangjie Chinese typing system, while modifiers are rendered in Traditional Chinese + icons—the first GMK legends in true Chinese characters. Designed to cover a wide range of layouts. Included numpad is rendered in Chinese financial numerals as monolegends. Alphas include basic special Chinese punctuation sublegends.

Clear Water 清水: the Cangjie monolegend alphas kit


A complete alphanumeric kit with Cangjie Chinese character monolegends, and duplicate modifiers and spacebars to assist base kit buyers in covering a second board if desired. Includes both Simplified and Traditional Chinese character alpha supplements and east/south/west/north Chinese character arrow keys. Recommended for compatibility with GMK WoB, Minimal, and other monochrome sets.

Lijiang 漓江: the novelties kit


Novelties feature images, real and imagined, of the Li River between Guilin and Yangshuo, China, in Guangxi Province amid the world-famous South China Karst geologic formations. Novelty icons include:

• Nighttime scenes of the local mountain and river landscape (shanshui),
• the famous Moon Hill (a karst mountain with an enormous hole through the base, famed for rock climbing),
• the fishing cormorant,
• the ubiquitous “phoenix tail” bamboo that lines the banks of the Lijiang,
• the traditional lantern hung on the eaves of the winding streets of Yangshuo,
• a vignette of local South China architecture,
• alternate BoW Esc/Enter keys in TC and SC.

Negative Space 留白: the spacebars kit


Includes non-traditional spacebars and spacekeys, as well as variant WS1 bars for a distinctive touch.


Pricing

Cannon.keys (prices in USD)
Inkstone 砚台: the Simplified Chinese base kit (154pcs)     134.99
Old Path 旧路: the Traditional Chinese base kit (154pcs)     134.99
Clear Water 清水: the Cangjie monolegend alphas kit (66pcs)     79.99
Lijiang 漓江: the novelties kit (23pcs)     44.99
Negative Space 留白: the spacebars kit (13pcs)     27.99
   
Zfrontier (prices in RMB)
Inkstone 砚台: the Simplified Chinese base kit (154pcs)     968.00
Old Path 旧路: the Traditional Chinese base kit (154pcs)     968.00
Clear Water 清水: the Cangjie monolegend alphas kit (66pcs)     544.00
Lijiang 漓江: the novelties kit (23pcs)     302.00
Negative Space 留白: the spacebars kit (13pcs)     184.00
   
iLumkb (prices in SGD)
Inkstone 砚台: the Simplified Chinese base kit (154pcs)     180.00
Old Path 旧路: the Traditional Chinese base kit (154pcs)     180.00
Clear Water 清水: the Cangjie monolegend alphas kit (66pcs)     106.50
Lijiang 漓江: the novelties kit (23pcs)     60.00
Negative Space 留白: the spacebars kit (13pcs)     37.50
   
CandyKeys (prices in EUR)
Inkstone 砚台: the Simplified Chinese base kit (154pcs)     129.99
Old Path 旧路: the Traditional Chinese base kit (154pcs)     129.99
Clear Water 清水: the Cangjie monolegend alphas kit (66pcs)     75.00
Lijiang 漓江: the novelties kit (23pcs)     42.00
Negative Space 留白: the spacebars kit (13pcs)     28.00
   
Prototypist.net (prices in GBP)
Inkstone 砚台: the Simplified Chinese base kit (154pcs)     119.00
Old Path 旧路: the Traditional Chinese base kit (154pcs)     119.00
Clear Water 清水: the Cangjie monolegend alphas kit (66pcs)     69.00
Lijiang 漓江: the novelties kit (23pcs)     39.00
Negative Space 留白: the spacebars kit (13pcs)     25.00
   
Deskhero.ca (prices in CAD)
Inkstone 砚台: the Simplified Chinese base kit (154pcs)    177.00
Old Path 旧路: the Traditional Chinese base kit (154pcs)    177.00
Clear Water 清水: the Cangjie monolegend alphas kit (66pcs)    105.00
Lijiang 漓江: the novelties kit (23pcs)    59.00
Negative Space 留白: the spacebars kit (13pcs)    37.00
   
Daily Clack (prices in AUD)
Inkstone 砚台: the Simplified Chinese base kit (154pcs)     178.00
Old Path 旧路: the Traditional Chinese base kit (154pcs)     178.00
Clear Water 清水: the Cangjie monolegend alphas kit (66pcs)     105.00
Lijiang 漓江: the novelties kit (23pcs)     59.00
Negative Space 留白: the spacebars kit (13pcs)     37.00



Retooled Legends

After submitting the original renders and legends to GMK, we were expecting some notes on necessary adjustments to meet their mold tooling specs, but were told, basically, try again. I've spent the last couple of weeks completely overhauling the legends to meet the specs: adding cutaways to minute interior spaces, broadening strokes, narrowing and straightening negative space, rounding corners, and in a few cases, simplifying elements altogether.

This represents my best efforts to adhere to the integrity of the written Chinese language and to create a consistent typography that will serve not only this set but all sets that will use these legends to come. These legends are essentially as detailed as GMK's machining will allow while maintaining consistent character size with conventional mod and alpha legend sizing. I hope you are as pleased with how they've turned out as I am, and most of all, I'm looking forward to seeing them in the next round of NathanAlphaMan's kit renders, which we're hoping will be done over the US Thanksgiving break. Special thanks to A.Jakkkke for his final review of the character forms and his extremely helpful suggestions.



Here's a link to download a full-size image and see all the detail


Keyboard renders











See a full gallery of keyboard renders


Collaborations



Digital Carpentry for custom branded rare wood wrist rests
Luxe Cables for a set-matched aviator cable
RAMA WORKS for metal artisan keycaps
Salvun for artisan keycaps in bronze
Latrialum for collab artisan keycaps in resin
DE∆Gcaps for a collab artisan keycap in resin
Sodie Caps for collab artisan keycaps in resin
Destroyer Caps for collab artisan keycaps in resin
Bludgeoned Kaps for collab artisan keycaps in resin
Rascal Caps for collab artisan keycaps in resin
Frumpzkeys for collab artisan keycaps in resin
Fraktal Kaps for collab artisan keycaps in resin
Rejeck Kaps for collab artisan keycaps in resin
Froue Loop for a collab multimedia artisan keycap

If you’re a maker or artisan, I’d love to work with you to develop an exclusive collaboration for GMK Shanshui or a future set. Please get in touch!


RAMA WORKS artisan keycaps


All three GMK Shanshui x RAMA artisans


The Shan cap, in anodized black aluminum and white enamel fill, with the character 山 (“mountain”) in ancient Liushutong script


The Shui cap, in e-white aluminum and black enamel fill, with the character 水 (“water”) in Liushutong script


The Chop cap, rendered in deep red enamel on black PVD brass, displaying my adopted Chinese surname 魏 in a yin seal script imprint with a slight off-axis tilt.


Deskmats


Rafts 钓鱼筏 deskmat: An ink painting of traditional fishing rafts afloat on the Li River beneath the leaning phoenix tail bamboo, emblazoned with the Shanshui logo chop at bottom left. Based on artwork by Baoyan.


Karst 岩溶 deskmat: an ink painting of the South China Karst seen through the mist with the inscription, "best scenery under heaven" (山水甲天下), an unofficial local slogan of the Li River area. No seal for users who prefer a completely monochrome look. Based on artwork by Elina Li.


Relationship to GMK Houhai

GMK Shanshui is the predecessor set to GMK Houhai, enabling the molds for Houhai, a far more complicated and prohibitively expensive set, to be produced using stock colors at an attractive price point. In the wise words of one vendor with far better business sense than most designers, “you can have 80+ new molds, or you can have seven custom RAL colors, but you can’t have both.” Hence, the long path home.

If you are a Houhai supporter, the best way you can help make that set possible is to support this set, and to let our existing vendors know that you want GMK Houhai to follow shortly on the heels of GMK Shanshui.


Sharing the Cangjie legends

Designers interested in using the Chinese-language legends we’ve created are welcome and encouraged to reach out for design files to use in their renders, free of charge.

This is likely my last set design to use Chinese character legends—I don’t want to get typecast as the Chinese keycap guy! But I hope that other designers will take up the mantle and use these legends to produce beautiful work, as others have with Hiragana and Hangul legend designs.


Acknowledgements

This design goes to the great people of China, the Chinese-speaking world, and the Chinese diaspora, who contribute so much to our community through their creativity, passion, knowledge, and work. You changed my life and I’ll never be the same. Also,

NathanAlphaMan for the incredible collaborative partnership, the initial idea to do Houhai as a WoB set, the gorgeous renders, and the critical feedback
Michael at Digital Carpentry, for being my first partner, my biggest sounding board, and my unrelenting critic
Exclusive, for the cultural translation help and his friendship
Alex, for the kernel of the idea of what Shanshui would become
Upas, for taking a chance on this set, and his important advice
Louis, for his kindness, his passion for my work, and his partnership
Jae, for his honesty and sense, and for the use of his beautiful J-01 and J-02 models
LBaron and the S+R team, for making their gorgeous Iron165 and Iron180 models available
A.Jakkkke for helping me make this set as good as it can be.


Thanks for reading this far and thank you for your feedback.

Show your support for GMK Shanshui with this signature banner!

Code: [Select]

[url=https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=108587.0][img]https://i.imgur.com/uf2jvDn.png[/img][/url]

[grundlemere]

Reserved

[yoot]

I've been waiting for this. Hype!

[ttom]

Lovely. Looking forward to this one.

[grundlemere]

I've been waiting for this. Hype!

You really were quick on the trigger. Thanks for your support!

[NathanAlphaMan]

Damn, there goes my chance to say first.

Loved working on this with you man <3

[SpinningHook]

Digging the base and the novelties.

[grundlemere]

Damn, there goes my chance to say first.

Loved working on this with you man <3

I know you would have done a combo breaker on my reserved reply! Loved working with you. Thanks for the wonderful idea!

[7empest]

uWu I am liking this one!

Another wallet drainer for me

[frostfiree]

Finally a set with chinese sublegends of some kind. I'm in.

[phylogenyhkg]

Traditional Chinese should be the base.

[Suavity]

Traditional Chinese should be the base.

I second this. Great set though!

[grundlemere]

Traditional Chinese should be the base.

I second this. Great set though!

Please tell us in the interest check form! We are polling worldwide on the demand for SC vs. TC, and we need your data to make any kitting changes.

[dak148]

Lovely set!

[Hesi]

Traditional Chinese should be the base.

I second this. Great set though!

I'm interested (in-laws from Guilin) but also ^

Will be clicking on the IC form!

[Bitmxp]

While this has no practical use in typing Chinese...

It's gorgeous, and I need it!

[mustardgreens]

Love! Thank you for doing this.

Sent from my LG-M703 using Tapatalk

[SxM Designs]

Looks so nice and quite refreshing because of the new sublegends.

[grundlemere]

While this has no practical use in typing Chinese...

It's gorgeous, and I need it!

That’s mostly the goal! But, you can use this to type in pinyin or Cangjie.

[Pach]

Traditional Chinese should be the base.

I second this. Great set though!

I'm interested (in-laws from Guilin) but also ^

Will be clicking on the IC form!

I fourth this! WoB is a great colorway for minimal legends.

[psxndc]

Given how many Japanese kanji are derived from Chinese characters, this totally does it for me. I'm in.

[KurageOuji]

im so glad this finally has an IC, ive been hyped for this ever since i saw this in houhai, (still hyped for that too). really nice looking set, i'll definitely pick up every kit

[baobaozi]

Gotta have both this and Houhai!

[kw88]

very nice

[kidviddy]

Yesssssss, it's here at last!  Looks great, very excited.  I've filled in the form; my main request is either to break the numpad out into a separate kit or include the full numpad in the traditional mods kit.  I'd like to be able to build a fully monolegend kit, with monolegend cangjie and monolegend financial numerals on the numpad, using traditional Chinese characters, and it's a shame to have to buy the full base kit with its simplified Chinese mods and sublegend alphas just to get at the seven or so number keys I'd be missing.

EDIT: Is there a reason why there are so many 火 keys in the cangjie monolegend kit?  I count four...
EDIT EDIT: Oh, I see!  I didn't realise the simplified form of 火 is different from traditional.  For anyone else puzzled, the angle of the two little dashes either side of the 人 is different (and 火 is located where the F key goes so you need homing and non-homing for each of simplified and traditional variants, so four in total).

[NathanAlphaMan]

EDIT: Is there a reason why there are so many 火 keys in the cangjie monolegend kit?  I count four...

I can answer this!

火 goes where F would go on a Latin layout, so you already have two versions of the key: one scooped and one barred.

Then there's a slight stroke difference between the SC and TC versions of 火, hence the need for two more keys, one scooped traditional and one barred traditional.

EDIT: I see you figured it out before I finished typing this comment 

[emerge]

Amazing set, filled the form too. Looking forward to this!

[grundlemere]

Yesssssss, it's here at last!  Looks great, very excited.  I've filled in the form; my main request is either to break the numpad out into a separate kit or include the full numpad in the traditional mods kit.  I'd like to be able to build a fully monolegend kit, with monolegend cangjie and monolegend financial numerals on the numpad, using traditional Chinese characters, and it's a shame to have to buy the full base kit with its simplified Chinese mods and sublegend alphas just to get at the seven or so number keys I'd be missing.

EDIT: Is there a reason why there are so many 火 keys in the cangjie monolegend kit?  I count four...

Thanks! And we will be thinking on a way to satisfy your kitting needs. It might be tough considering that only some users will want full mono, but we'll see what we can do.

By way of explanation on the 火 character, and why there are a few stray numpad keys in the trad mods kit: There are a few characters used in the legends that are aaaaalmost the same in Traditional as they are in Simplified...but they're not the same. 火 is a good example. If you look closely, the left "flame" stroke is oriented differently depending on the character style: northeast to southwest in the Simplified; northwest to southeast in the Traditional. It's a small but important difference. All of the supplemental Traditional keys to the right are the same: an additional jag before a downward stroke, a missing flick at the end, or an angled stroke instead of a flat one. There are four 火 keys because 火 happens to be a homing key. There are two Traditional and two Simplified: one each barred and scooped as preference dictates.

[grundlemere]

Looks like we all rushed in like a bunch of nerds to answer this critical question. 

We both put a lot of care into these legends, as you can see!

[kidviddy]

Looks like we all rushed in like a bunch of nerds to answer this critical question. 

We both put a lot of care into these legends, as you can see!

Haha, thanks for your answers!  After I noticed the difference in the 火 character I started looking at the others and realised just how much effort you guys put in!  I knew about some of the obvious differences between traditional and simplified characters, like the line vs dashes at the bottom of 級 (which is different again in Japanese!), but details like the fact that the downward stroke in 女 extends above the horizontal line in traditional and only meeting it in simplified... wow. I can see why this took a while to pull together -- you guys definitely took the time to dot the 'i's and cross the 't's (as it were)! Excellent work.

EDIT: Grammar

[totalemon]

This is so gorgeous. Can't wait for the GB next year!

[phat schlong]

Definitely in. This is so nice

[FootFingers]

Really is looking good, will keep an eye on it.

[atlanticise]

great, now i have to prep my wallet for BOTH shanshui and houhai. collect them all, amirite.

[HungHingDaiLo]

in,
GLWGB on 2021!

[santela]

Nice, definitely in! Been waiting for this since Houhai.
I would like to suggest some white keycaps for esc and enter, since there is white spacebar, I think having some accent colors that pop would be nice.

[grundlemere]

Nice, definitely in! Been waiting for this since Houhai.
I would like to suggest some white keycaps for esc and enter, since there is white spacebar, I think having some accent colors that pop would be nice.

We'll think on how to do it! The name of the game at the moment is to try to get the cost of the kits down, but perhaps we can see what a quote on adding more caps would be.

[dvorcol]

Great set.  I applaud how much time you spent to perfectly represent both traditional and simplified Chinese characters.

One niggling comment about the OP: could you revise the large-font "Coming in winter 2021" at the top?  This technically could be Q1 or Q4.  I found "Available from these vendors for group buy in Q1 2021, aiming for February" lower down, but was initially confused.

[grundlemere]

Great set.  I applaud how much time you spent to perfectly represent both traditional and simplified Chinese characters.

One niggling comment about the OP: could you revise the large-font "Coming in winter 2021" at the top?  This technically could be Q1 or Q4.  I found "Available from these vendors for group buy in Q1 2021, aiming for February" lower down, but was initially confused.

A compromise: "early 2021." Glad you like the set, and look forward to getting it to market to you!

[SnowyMinion]

I'm in!

[DJSwayde]

ngl this is dope.

[MIXO Cables]

I am definitely interested... but would be better with accent colours

[grundlemere]

Good news this morning: RAMA WORKS is on board for artisan keycaps! Perhaps that will help some folks add some accent color to their boards. Looking forward to seeing what they can do.

[grundlemere]

More updates:

We are all set for a New Years Day launch. GMK Shanshui will be available for group buy January 1, 2021 from vendors around the world.

We have also added Latrialum as a partner for collab keycaps. Her style is one of our absolute favorites and should express beautifully alongside GMK Shanshui.

More updates always on the way...

[ZongZiWang]

老铁 666 Nice to see Chinese keycaps set as an option!

Having white accent keys like GMK WoB would definitely my recommendation, so it won't look like those cheap OEM keyboards with Chinese print on them.

[Disintro]

Love this keyset! More money out of the wallet for me.

[PotatoTM]

Always a fan of different alphas, hope this isn't too expensive given the amount of new moulds, looking forward to it!

[santela]

Great set.  I applaud how much time you spent to perfectly represent both traditional and simplified Chinese characters.

One niggling comment about the OP: could you revise the large-font "Coming in winter 2021" at the top?  This technically could be Q1 or Q4.  I found "Available from these vendors for group buy in Q1 2021, aiming for February" lower down, but was initially confused.

Awesome!

Looking forward to the artisans as well!

[alezsun]

Looks great! Love the traditional Chinese characters instead of simplified. I’m in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[whirlwind]

Great set, definitely interested

[perry4761]

Another banger collaboration by Nathan. I didn’t think I would be joining any GMK set until Polybius, yet here we are! Amazing set, props to both of you for this. I will definitely be in on this!

[Ulliam]

Finally <3 This set couldnt be more perfect.

[violeaf]

The set itself looks great, I'd join the GB just for the Chinese legends.

However when making the connection to Chinese watercolour art, it feels slightly forced to me I'm afraid. The art is characterised by the gradient of colours and impressionism (especially landscape), solid dark doesn't say that for me.

I'd say it could be more associated with Chinese calligraphy if anything

[grundlemere]

Couple of minor updates:

• Artwork submitted to Rama. They're checking the detail on one imprint to make sure their system can handle the detail and then we're ready to rock. I think you'll love them.
• We're pleased to add Sodiecaps, Fraktal Kaps, and newcomer Froue Loop to the mix as artisan collabs. (Check out @froueloop on IG when it's not down )
• Luxe and I are working on a really unique cable concept. I'm mailing him some stuff for a prototype. Can't wait to show you.
• I want to post deskmats, but I'd also like to wait to do so until we can use them in some scene renders. Trying to decide but it will be next week at the earliest. I think you'll dig them.
• Nathan is hard at work on scene renders, including those with deskmats. However, I think he deserves a break and a little time to bask in the glory of GMK Ursa, his own debut keyset, shipping. It's an absolutely gorgeous set. Even better than the renders. I'll see you on the battlefield as we all hunt extras from Kono and Candykeys.
• I miiiiiiight be working on a Discord server (?)

That's it love Grundle

[grundlemere]

Finally <3 This set couldnt be more perfect.

That means a lot coming from you, brother. Blacklight is NUTS! I love the deskmats Sour did too.

[SMOKEY]

Hey bro.
You already know I love these awesome pieces of plastic.
Post the Mats here, they are literally perfect.
Cheers

[grundlemere]

Hey bro.
You already know I love these awesome pieces of plastic.
Post the Mats here, they are literally perfect.
Cheers

I wanna! But I want to finish board renders with the mats first. Hey, how about Ramas? Y’all wanna see those?

[leexy]

very nice. i'm in.

[grundlemere]

Just got the RAMAs in, everyone. Took a little while to do a simple scene render on parchment and brand them and here they are. Go check the start of the thread for details on all three caps.

[Hesi]

If/When this is up I'm at minimum in for 2/3 Ramas (山, 水) and novelties. looking good!

[seulji]

Soooo good. Those monolegends are very clean.

[santela]

Wow the chop artisan looks great, and perfect for a Chinese theme. I love the idea but I wish you would have adopted a different Chinese last name, such as mine: 曹 lol so I can have my own last name on an artisan. I can only imagine how cool that would be.

[santela]

Something I have noticed is that the traditional mod still uses 《》, but if I'm not mistaken, I think traditional users (mostly Taiwan HK and Macau) do not use these signs? They are specifically for book or article titles, and in traditional Chinese I think they all use 『』instead. I don't know where these two go on a board (for Japanese they are the same keys as the bracket keys), and it is probably better to check with a traditional Chinese typist, but just thought that might be something to be considered in order to be more functional with the traditional set.

[grundlemere]

Something I have noticed is that the traditional mod still uses 《》, but if I'm not mistaken, I think traditional users (mostly Taiwan HK and Macau) do not use these signs? They are specifically for book or article titles, and in traditional Chinese I think they all use 『』instead. I don't know where these two go on a board (for Japanese they are the same keys as the bracket keys), and it is probably better to check with a traditional Chinese typist, but just thought that might be something to be considered in order to be more functional with the traditional set.

Thanks for pointing that out, and someone in the IC form also told us so. It's only because I'm ignorant of Traditional Chinese punctuation as I learned in the mainland. It's fortunate because these legends are actually set on different keys, so we will plan to update the legends to include them appropriately, among other kit changes we plan to make after collecting feedback. You're the first person to bring it up on the forum, though, so here's a note to anyone wondering! Yes, we will add 「 」TC quotation marks to the [] keys.

And as far as a RAMA for your surname...if you can get MOQ together for a RAMA order, go for it!

[santela]

Something I have noticed is that the traditional mod still uses 《》, but if I'm not mistaken, I think traditional users (mostly Taiwan HK and Macau) do not use these signs? They are specifically for book or article titles, and in traditional Chinese I think they all use 『』instead. I don't know where these two go on a board (for Japanese they are the same keys as the bracket keys), and it is probably better to check with a traditional Chinese typist, but just thought that might be something to be considered in order to be more functional with the traditional set.

Thanks for pointing that out, and someone in the IC form also told us so. It's only because I'm ignorant of Traditional Chinese punctuation as I learned in the mainland. It's fortunate because these legends are actually set on different keys, so we will plan to update the legends to include them appropriately, among other kit changes we plan to make after collecting feedback. You're the first person to bring it up on the forum, though, so here's a note to anyone wondering! Yes, we will add 「 」TC quotation marks to the [] keys.

And as far as a RAMA for your surname...if you can get MOQ together for a RAMA order, go for it!

Haha, that probably means I'll have to buy all the MOQ myself 

[phat schlong]

Love the Rama cap designs

[grundlemere]

Thanks for the thoughs on the RAMA caps, everyone. Looking forward to getting those in hand.

Up today we're sharing the deskmats. Nathanalphaman is hard at work getting the mat under some board renders so you can envision your Shanshui setup, but for now, here are the deskmat renders.


Rafts 钓鱼筏 deskmat: An ink painting of traditional fishing rafts afloat on the Li River beneath the leaning phoenix tail bamboo, emblazoned with the Shanshui logo chop at bottom left. Based on artwork by Baoyan.


Karst 岩溶 deskmat: an ink painting of the South China Karst seen through the mist with the inscription, "best scenery under heaven" (山水甲天下), an unofficial local slogan of the Li River area. No seal for users who prefer a completely monochrome look. Based on artwork by Elina Li.


Also, we met this week to talk through your feedback from the IC form and make some changes to kits. I will walk you through those once they're finalized and re-rendered.

[grundlemere]

One last thing: There's news on GMK Houhai.

Look to that thread later today. 

[elisyan]

I didn't even know I needed more deskmats..

[grundlemere]

I didn't even know I needed more deskmats..

Are there ever really enough?

[anhthao88]

The deskmat renders look dope! Will the deskmat be available for purchase separately from the keyset?

[psxndc]

Just realized: no 40s/ortho kit? I get it may be tough to make MOQ, just wondering if that's the reason.

[grundlemere]

The deskmat renders look dope! Will the deskmat be available for purchase separately from the keyset?

Absolutely, as always!

[anhthao88]

The deskmat renders look dope! Will the deskmat be available for purchase separately from the keyset?

Absolutely, as always!

That's great. I'll def join for the novelties kit & the mat.

Sent from my LM-V350 using Tapatalk

[grundlemere]

Just realized: no 40s/ortho kit? I get it may be tough to make MOQ, just wondering if that's the reason.

Lot of 40s compatibility in the base, and ortho with a little creativity and willingness to use wrong legends. Given that this set had to focus on availability of both Traditional and Simplified Chinese legends, we opted not to doubly replicate kits for uncommon layouts.

[slyr586]

Okay, I NEEED one of these mats. Yes please.

[tofulo]

deskmat pls

[chris_1865]

Finally a GMK changje input keycap...Hope the base kit include TC instead of SC

---

Edit for second inpression(?) of the TC kit

It's a little weird to see SC words straightly convert to TC imo since TC's translation words may be different from SC (e.g. Print Screen is better translate into 截圖/擷圖). It would be better to let TC & SC have its own translated words. AFAIK the translation of ins/del/PgUP/Pgdown/Home/End is both correct in TC or SC, and menu may be better translate into 功能 in TC

btw the 「柳」 problem in numpad happened again lol. 6 should be 「陸」.

[depletedvespene]

…

Show Image

Rafts 钓鱼筏 deskmat: An ink painting of traditional fishing rafts afloat on the Li River beneath the leaning phoenix tail bamboo, emblazoned with the Shanshui logo chop at bottom left. Based on artwork by Baoyan.

Set or no set, I am totally getting this deskmat.


Also, take a wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiild guess as to which one keycap bothers me. ;-)

[dak148]

I have one deskmat and never thought about getting more but these are really nice...Going to have to get one.

[IMZO]

Great set! Great Novelties and great deskmats!

Ticks all the box.. totally in!

[chnhngxn]

桂林人表示很赞


从我的 iPhone 发送，使用 Tapatalk

[grundlemere]

Finally a GMK changje input keycap...Hope the base kit include TC instead of SC

---

Edit for second inpression(?) of the TC kit

It's a little weird to see SC words straightly convert to TC imo since TC's translation words may be different from SC (e.g. Print Screen is better translate into 截圖/擷圖). It would be better to let TC & SC have its own translated words. AFAIK the translation of ins/del/PgUP/Pgdown/Home/End is both correct in TC or SC, and menu may be better translate into 功能 in TC

btw the 「柳」 problem in numpad happened again lol. 6 should be 「陸」.

Thanks friend, we’ll get these legends fixed. If you have any other translation fixes for TC, please share them with me at grundlemere#1126 on Discord and we will run them through a couple of our partners. Want to make sure they are right.

Ugh sorry about the numpad, not sure how that one slipped by us again but you’re the first person to notice it. I even know that character means “willow.” We’ll add both these points to the kit changes for next round.

[grundlemere]

桂林人表示很赞


从我的 iPhone 发送，使用 Tapatalk

哪里，我表示桂林人很棒！多谢朋友！

[AvoidingYou]

I'm here from the Houhai thread, seeing that this will be first. I am not a huge fan of WoB sets, but I will consider supporting to help Houhai come to fruition 

[leavenember]

Really cool set! Nice homage, and really like the novelties. However, some of the novelties might need a little refinement(?)
The ISO enter, with the tree/branch almost looked like some sort of creature with horns waving....
I think the rendition/drawing of your idea could be better.
Overall will be following, also glad you cleared up new years day as Jan 1. not sometime in February

[gbenz]

Really cool set! Nice homage, and really like the novelties. However, some of the novelties might need a little refinement(?)
The ISO enter, with the tree/branch almost looked like some sort of creature with horns waving....
I think the rendition/drawing of your idea could be better.
Overall will be following, also glad you cleared up new years day as Jan 1. not sometime in February

I don't think that's a tree or a branch LOL. It's probably something like this: https://imgur.com/a/kYOU1Rc

[treeleaf64]

Can't say I love it , but I think it's pretty cool.

[gilbert]

Such a clean set

[ddrfraser1]

All in

[grundlemere]

One of the many changes we're making based on your IC feedback: BoW accent keys.



Stay tuned for more.

[santela]

One of the many changes we're making based on your IC feedback: BoW accent keys.

Show Image

Stay tuned for more.

Nice!

[leexy]

sweet

[Cubic // esc lab]

One of the few, if not only, Chinese keycap set that does Chinese culture justice.

[grundlemere]

Everyone, thanks so much for your feedback on the IC form! We've made our final changes to the kits based on your feedback and have submitted our art and designs to GMK for a quote.

Here are a list of the changes that we made by kit:

TC mods kit:

• Menu corrected to 功能 per TW convention (remains 菜单 in base per Mainland convention)
• Moved up/down/left/right Chinese arrows to this kit from alt alphas

Base kit:

• Incorrect numpad 6 corrected to 陆

Spacebars kit:

• added 2x 3u space support for newer split space layouts

Novelties kit:

• Added TC and SC WoB accent Esc and Enter

All kits:

• Print translation improved to 截圖/截图
• Added「 TC quote bracket to [ key
• Added 」TC quote bracket to ] key

Bonus:

• Created concept merged TC mods/monolegend alphas alternate base kit for GMK quote. Can't promise anything but we'll look into it.

Most of these changes are minor but important to ensure the legends are as correct as possible to Chinese convention in various territories. However, the additions to the Novelties kit to add BoW accent keys is much more apparent.



Please also see the new deskmat scene renders created by Nathanalphaman.

Complex scene renders to come.

[BapoDonu]

Really like the enter key

[konstantin]

Out of curiosity, what's the 、-looking legend on the backslash keys for?

Edit: Oh (and I believe I've seen this asked before somewhere in the Houhai thread, but I can't remember the answer), what's the R2 1u Home (行首) key for?

[noodleman]

quick question, are the artists you took the artwork from involved in these deskmats?  Are they aware of the changes you've made to their art?

https://www.art.com/products/p48208011469-sa-i10827985/baoyan-chinese-landscape-watercolor-painting.htm?upi=Q1AMEO20&PODConfigID=4986602&sOrigID=965450

https://elinali.com/ink-1

[Audiobs]

Nice set! Excited to see a full Chinese GMK set. But why bother with just a few Simplified Chinese characters in the base mods, especially if there is going to be a Traditional Chinese mods kit? It's costly and inconsistent.

[grundlemere]

quick question, are the artists you took the artwork from involved in these deskmats?  Are they aware of the changes you've made to their art?

https://www.art.com/products/p48208011469-sa-i10827985/baoyan-chinese-landscape-watercolor-painting.htm?upi=Q1AMEO20&PODConfigID=4986602&sOrigID=965450

https://elinali.com/ink-1

So that’s an interesting way to frame a question. I purchased the artwork from them, and I purchased it with an enhanced license that allows commercial reuse and merchandising.

[grundlemere]

Nice set! Excited to see a full Chinese GMK set. But why bother with just a few Simplified Chinese characters in the base mods, especially if there is going to be a Traditional Chinese mods kit? It's costly and inconsistent.

To get the molds made to add to the GMK library for posterity, mostly, and because SC users outnumber TC users about 25:1.

[noodleman]

I'm sorry I sounded accusatory.  I re-read my post and it sounded pretty bad.  But you gave me the answer I wanted to know.  You're doing things right

quick question, are the artists you took the artwork from involved in these deskmats?  Are they aware of the changes you've made to their art?

https://www.art.com/products/p48208011469-sa-i10827985/baoyan-chinese-landscape-watercolor-painting.htm?upi=Q1AMEO20&PODConfigID=4986602&sOrigID=965450

https://elinali.com/ink-1

So that’s an interesting way to frame a question. I purchased the artwork from them, and I purchased it with an enhanced license that allows commercial reuse and merchandising.

[grundlemere]

I'm sorry I sounded accusatory.  I re-read my post and it sounded pretty bad.  But you gave me the answer I wanted to know.  You're doing things right

quick question, are the artists you took the artwork from involved in these deskmats?  Are they aware of the changes you've made to their art?

https://www.art.com/products/p48208011469-sa-i10827985/baoyan-chinese-landscape-watercolor-painting.htm?upi=Q1AMEO20&PODConfigID=4986602&sOrigID=965450

https://elinali.com/ink-1

So that’s an interesting way to frame a question. I purchased the artwork from them, and I purchased it with an enhanced license that allows commercial reuse and merchandising.

I appreciate you walking that back a little. I do understand why it’s critical to ensure that artists are fairly compensated for their art. I would be furious if someone used my work without agreement.

Ideally, of course, I would have commissioned original work just for the deskmats, but these pieces are just as beautiful as any I could have commissioned, and the artists were fairly compensated, while still retaining rights to sell them again. Of course, I would love to have done it myself, but I’m not much of a Shanshui painter... 

[ZongZiWang]

Love the accent keys! But really wish it’s in the base kit or corresponding kit rather than in the novelties kit..

[hottrout]

Those desk mats are sublime.

[grundlemere]

Out of curiosity, what's the 、-looking legend on the backslash keys for?

Edit: Oh (and I believe I've seen this asked before somewhere in the Houhai thread, but I can't remember the answer), what's the R2 1u Home (行首) key for?

That punctuation mark is the Chinese equivalent of a serial comma. Modern Chinese uses western commas too, but this one is particularly used to separate items or actions in a series.

The R2 home key is total personal preference. Those of us who do a lot of text editing may prefer to have their delete key across from backspace, and their home/end keys on r2 and r3 below it. I tend to use a lot more home/end than pg up/dn, so I have the latter on a layer. 65s are sort of the most common form factor at the moment, and the nav cluster is small so the keys you choose matter most. It’s just an option I don’t see often enough and because I’m the designer and it’s my preference, I’ve included it.

[konstantin]

That punctuation mark is the Chinese equivalent of a serial comma. Modern Chinese uses western commas too, but this one is particularly used to separate items or actions in a series.

The R2 home key is total personal preference. Those of us who do a lot of text editing may prefer to have their delete key across from backspace, and their home/end keys on r2 and r3 below it. I tend to use a lot more home/end than pg up/dn, so I have the latter on a layer. 65s are sort of the most common form factor at the moment, and the nav cluster is small so the keys you choose matter most. It’s just an option I don’t see often enough and because I’m the designer and it’s my preference, I’ve included it.

Sounds good, thanks for the explanation and the clarification. By the way, the Drop ALT, which is arguably the most common 65% board out in the wild, also has Home on R2 by default (together with R3 PgUp, R4 PgDn), so in doing this you're also covering users of that layout.

[Audiobs]

Nice set! Excited to see a full Chinese GMK set. But why bother with just a few Simplified Chinese characters in the base mods, especially if there is going to be a Traditional Chinese mods kit? It's costly and inconsistent.

To get the molds made to add to the GMK library for posterity, mostly, and because SC users outnumber TC users about 25:1.

Right of course. So why not make it SC? Why only a few characters in SC? I am just trying to understand since I don't know how to type in Chinese, not being critical of your design. Thanks!

[chris_1865]

Finally a GMK changje input keycap...Hope the base kit include TC instead of SC

---

Edit for second inpression(?) of the TC kit

It's a little weird to see SC words straightly convert to TC imo since TC's translation words may be different from SC (e.g. Print Screen is better translate into 截圖/擷圖). It would be better to let TC & SC have its own translated words. AFAIK the translation of ins/del/PgUP/Pgdown/Home/End is both correct in TC or SC, and menu may be better translate into 功能 in TC

btw the 「柳」 problem in numpad happened again lol. 6 should be 「陸」.

Thanks friend, we’ll get these legends fixed. If you have any other translation fixes for TC, please share them with me at grundlemere#1126 on Discord and we will run them through a couple of our partners. Want to make sure they are right.

Ugh sorry about the numpad, not sure how that one slipped by us again but you’re the first person to notice it. I even know that character means “willow.” We’ll add both these points to the kit changes for next round.

oh sh!t I haven't seen this reply until now coz I didn't check geekhack everyday… Seems I'm late. I guess I'd rather put some opinions here instead.

Glad to see the translation improvement! (Especially the numpad 6 lol) However I still find something looks like haven't been translate yet in TC numpad part. The capital number letter of 2, 3& 6 are different between sc & tc, which should be 貳/叄/陸 instead of the sc one. Also is there any reason for both tc & sc numpad have the same numpad 7 key? I don't see any needs for 2 numpad 7 key imo……
 

[grundlemere]

Nice set! Excited to see a full Chinese GMK set. But why bother with just a few Simplified Chinese characters in the base mods, especially if there is going to be a Traditional Chinese mods kit? It's costly and inconsistent.

To get the molds made to add to the GMK library for posterity, mostly, and because SC users outnumber TC users about 25:1.

Right of course. So why not make it SC? Why only a few characters in SC? I am just trying to understand since I don't know how to type in Chinese, not being critical of your design. Thanks!

According to our IC responses and market insights from our partners in Asia, there's strong demand for both, and we expect for there to be strong demand for both in future GBs.

[Makish]

Oh man, I think I might actually buy every kit with this one. Good luck!

[Firebear31]

Nice set! Excited to see a full Chinese GMK set. But why bother with just a few Simplified Chinese characters in the base mods, especially if there is going to be a Traditional Chinese mods kit? It's costly and inconsistent.

To get the molds made to add to the GMK library for posterity, mostly, and because SC users outnumber TC users about 25:1.

Right of course. So why not make it SC? Why only a few characters in SC? I am just trying to understand since I don't know how to type in Chinese, not being critical of your design. Thanks!

According to our IC responses and market insights from our partners in Asia, there's strong demand for both, and we expect for there to be strong demand for both in future GBs.

I just asked my GF and she is typing in Pinyin (like myself). She's from Guangdong. There's an even harder version of typing than cangjie which is by strokes instead of radicals. I meanif people are used to write like this okay but for me it's hard to think of like writing the word I guess, instead of just typing the pinyin and picking the right word. But it still looks cool   Can't imagine writing latin letters by strokes xD Then we could make 30% keyboards with all functions I suppose.

Would be curious what the average age is of the people "demanding it". I guess the young are more used to pinyin now due to mobile phones.

[konstantin]

Negative Space 留白: the spacebars kit

Show Image

Includes non-traditional spacebars and spacekeys, as well as variant WS1 bars for a distinctive touch.

I'm not sure that the inclusion of white 3u and 2u spacekeys is a necessity. Users would probably get more mileage out of a second black 3u space (for split 3u+3u or 3u+1u+3u setups), and the white 2u space can probably be removed outright seeing as ortho support in base is incomplete, and there is already a black 2u space in the kit.

On a separate note, you can probably remove the second R4 1u Ctrl key and R1 1u Backspace from the base kit.
Two 1u Ctrl keys are not used on any modern ≥60% boards, only ortho 40%. I believe users (especially in China) would get a lot more mileage out of a R4 1u Shift key, which (together with 2u Shift) is used by the GK64 and similar 60% layouts with arrows, which are very popular in the East.
As for 1u Backspace, not very many boards at all use this size. A notable one is Minila, but this set lacks a couple of keys to be able to support that layout (R4 1.75u Control, R4 1u Shift, among others).

[santela]

Negative Space 留白: the spacebars kit

Show Image

Includes non-traditional spacebars and spacekeys, as well as variant WS1 bars for a distinctive touch.

I'm not sure that the inclusion of white 3u and 2u spacekeys is a necessity. Users would probably get more mileage out of a second black 3u space (for split 3u+3u or 3u+1u+3u setups), and the white 2u space can probably be removed outright seeing as ortho support in base is incomplete, and there is already a black 2u space in the kit.

On a separate note, you can probably remove the second R4 1u Ctrl key and R1 1u Backspace from the base kit.
Two 1u Ctrl keys are not used on any modern ≥60% boards, only ortho 40%. I believe users (especially in China) would get a lot more mileage out of a R4 1u Shift key, which (together with 2u Shift) is used by the GK64 and similar 60% layouts with arrows, which are very popular in the East.
As for 1u Backspace, not very many boards at all use this size. A notable one is Minila, but this set lacks a couple of keys to be able to support that layout (R4 1.75u Control, R4 1u Shift, among others).

I think the 1u backspace is a good thing to have, since some 60% board users use them. I guess most can replace it with the delete key, but it's not exactly the same. Rama is the worst offender here, their 60% and 65% hotswap pcbs all have 1u backspace (which I hate, but some people might still need them)

[santela]

Nice set! Excited to see a full Chinese GMK set. But why bother with just a few Simplified Chinese characters in the base mods, especially if there is going to be a Traditional Chinese mods kit? It's costly and inconsistent.

To get the molds made to add to the GMK library for posterity, mostly, and because SC users outnumber TC users about 25:1.

Right of course. So why not make it SC? Why only a few characters in SC? I am just trying to understand since I don't know how to type in Chinese, not being critical of your design. Thanks!

According to our IC responses and market insights from our partners in Asia, there's strong demand for both, and we expect for there to be strong demand for both in future GBs.

I just asked my GF and she is typing in Pinyin (like myself). She's from Guangdong. There's an even harder version of typing than cangjie which is by strokes instead of radicals. I meanif people are used to write like this okay but for me it's hard to think of like writing the word I guess, instead of just typing the pinyin and picking the right word. But it still looks cool   Can't imagine writing latin letters by strokes xD Then we could make 30% keyboards with all functions I suppose.

Would be curious what the average age is of the people "demanding it". I guess the young are more used to pinyin now due to mobile phones.

I can answer this. What your girlfriend is talking about is called WuBi, and it's a pretty old typing method, I remember it being fairly popular in the 90's in mainland China, but it's something you actually have to learn how to use and remember which strokes go with which keys. There are keyboards out there with WuBi legends on them, but they look very busy and not aesthetically pleasing at all, also pretty much impossible to make as doubleshot keycaps. I'm sure there are probably people still using it but I honestly don't know anyone who actually does anymore. Even my relatives who are 70 years old use pinyin exclusively, since everyone is typing on their phones nowadays and pinyin is just much easier. I've heard people say typing on WuBi can be a lot faster than using pinyin once you are proficient, but I am pretty skeptical about that. There is also another typing method called ZhengMa, which nobody uses and I have zero knowledge of.

Here's a picture of the WuBi keycaps atrocity:

[wynects]

Hey dude, both of the deskmats look sooooooo sick! Definitely will get them! 等不及了！

[prizeS]

Hey dude, both of the deskmats look sooooooo sick! Definitely will get them! 等不及了！

在等多一年吧  )

[snelltrail]

Nice set! Excited to see a full Chinese GMK set. But why bother with just a few Simplified Chinese characters in the base mods, especially if there is going to be a Traditional Chinese mods kit? It's costly and inconsistent.

To get the molds made to add to the GMK library for posterity, mostly, and because SC users outnumber TC users about 25:1.

Right of course. So why not make it SC? Why only a few characters in SC? I am just trying to understand since I don't know how to type in Chinese, not being critical of your design. Thanks!

Just wanted to add in answer to this question: some characters are the same in traditional and simplified. That's why only some of the characters are different between the simplified and traditional mod base kits.

[boneandbee]

The desk mats and novelties on this are exquisite! So beautiful!

[grundlemere]

Thanks to everyone for the positive (and constructively critical) feedback! We are rocking and rolling on getting our quotes and art checks for doubleshot mold machining from GMK via Cannonkeys.

Latest thing I wanted to show off is our GMK Shanshui x Digital Carpentry wrist rest prototypes. Michael has been my partner and sounding board since the very beginning, and I’m super happy with his work as always. (I think I have 8 wrist rests from him!?) He will offer as always a range of rare woods, shapes, and custom sizes bearing the Shanshui chop, with an optional red enamel or resin fill. We’re still working out the details but I can’t wait to get the fill work finalized and show you some of our other collabs. The filled one now is intentionally bumpy, as we used a different, more textured version of the art that left some areas unburnt by the engraving laser, but likely the final version will be the cleaner version of the art you see on the darker wood.





Full gallery of shots of both prototypes here

[Orca Builds]

100% in amazing work

[boneandbee]

Those wrist rests are amazing!

[Firebear31]

damn, those wristrests!
Will there be ebony or other dark wood ones?

[DigitalCarpentry]

Those wrist rests are amazing!

Thanks! It helps when someone takes good photos of them too...

[DigitalCarpentry]

damn, those wristrests!
Will there be ebony or other dark wood ones?

I do have some darker woods such as Wenge and that Peruvian Walnut. They would need to have the enamel/paint fill to show up well against the wood. Ebony would only be a option if someone was willing to pay up front for it seeing as the wood itself is so expensive.

[hottrout]

OK now in for deskmats and the wrist rests.

[grundlemere]

Glad y'all like the wrist rests! R2 proto of the enamel fill incoming. Want to clean up a little bit there.

Also, happy Friday, just wanted to share something I thought was cool. Now that Graen is a confirmed Iron180 color, this is a real thing that I will have on my desk someday in 2021.



It's the little things in life. Can't wait for either GB.

[kokugatsu]

The quote 「山水甲天下」 on Karst doesn't really make sense linguistically, I get the inspiration behind it but it would just look like a misquote to a native speaker? Not a complete deal breaker and probably won't matter to the western audience anyway.

Big fan of the Rafts deskmat btw

[grundlemere]

The quote 「山水甲天下」 on Karst doesn't really make sense linguistically, I get the inspiration behind it but it would just look like a misquote to a native speaker? Not a complete deal breaker and probably won't matter to the western audience anyway.

Big fan of the Rafts deskmat btw

It might not be apparent to everyone but that’s actually a common slogan for the people of Guilin and the Li River. Google image search it and see what comes up.

[CobraLi]

I can't wait for this groupbuy cause I need some Chinese keycaps for another keyboard and these look great! Saving up for them!

[grundlemere]

I can't wait for this groupbuy cause I need some Chinese keycaps for another keyboard and these look great! Saving up for them!

Thank you! Just waiting to hear from GMK on pricing and legends. Really excited to bring this to users in China, HK, TW, and everywhere around the world!

[konstantin]

Negative Space 留白: the spacebars kit

Show Image

Includes non-traditional spacebars and spacekeys, as well as variant WS1 bars for a distinctive touch.

I'm not sure that the inclusion of white 3u and 2u spacekeys is a necessity. Users would probably get more mileage out of a second black 3u space (for split 3u+3u or 3u+1u+3u setups), and the white 2u space can probably be removed outright seeing as ortho support in base is incomplete, and there is already a black 2u space in the kit.

On a separate note, you can probably remove the second R4 1u Ctrl key and R1 1u Backspace from the base kit.
Two 1u Ctrl keys are not used on any modern ≥60% boards, only ortho 40%. I believe users (especially in China) would get a lot more mileage out of a R4 1u Shift key, which (together with 2u Shift) is used by the GK64 and similar 60% layouts with arrows, which are very popular in the East.
As for 1u Backspace, not very many boards at all use this size. A notable one is Minila, but this set lacks a couple of keys to be able to support that layout (R4 1.75u Control, R4 1u Shift, among others).

Have you had a chance to take a look at this post?

[Ulliam]

Looking forward to this set and have been for a minute, I wish the novelties we're a little more inspired tho, and I'd love to know what extent "based on the works of" means in the deskmats.

[grundlemere]

Negative Space 留白: the spacebars kit

Show Image

Includes non-traditional spacebars and spacekeys, as well as variant WS1 bars for a distinctive touch.

I'm not sure that the inclusion of white 3u and 2u spacekeys is a necessity. Users would probably get more mileage out of a second black 3u space (for split 3u+3u or 3u+1u+3u setups), and the white 2u space can probably be removed outright seeing as ortho support in base is incomplete, and there is already a black 2u space in the kit.

On a separate note, you can probably remove the second R4 1u Ctrl key and R1 1u Backspace from the base kit.
Two 1u Ctrl keys are not used on any modern ≥60% boards, only ortho 40%. I believe users (especially in China) would get a lot more mileage out of a R4 1u Shift key, which (together with 2u Shift) is used by the GK64 and similar 60% layouts with arrows, which are very popular in the East.
As for 1u Backspace, not very many boards at all use this size. A notable one is Minila, but this set lacks a couple of keys to be able to support that layout (R4 1.75u Control, R4 1u Shift, among others).

Have you had a chance to take a look at this post?

We've made all the kitting changes we plan to make at this point, unless there's a dramatic need to cost-cut depending on the quote from GMK. We included two 3U spacebars and two 2u spacebars, one in black and one in white, to give users some options for an accent space (in the case of the 2u) and for a design flourish to include one of each in white and black for users of 3U+3U setups.

I have personally owned or built two different compact full-size boards that use or can use two 1U spacerow mods including CTRL. R1 1U backspace is used by some who prefer a split BS layout, or for ortho 40s.

The R4 1U shift key is a good point, but we are past adding new keys to the kits, this post of yours being the only such request during the IC period. In any case, while it's not a perfect solution, the novelties add support for rare layouts.

[grundlemere]

Looking forward to this set and have been for a minute, I wish the novelties we're a little more inspired tho, and I'd love to know what extent "based on the works of" means in the deskmats.

I sent you a DM on Discord. Happy to discuss anything that didn't get covered in this IC thread about the deskmats.

[Glenn315]

Everything about this set looks amazing. Looking forward to New Years!

[MilkTea_QAQ]

I can't wait for this groupbuy cause I need some Chinese keycaps for another keyboard and these look great! Saving up for them!

Thank you! Just waiting to hear from GMK on pricing and legends. Really excited to bring this to users in China, HK, TW, and everywhere around the world!

Nowadays, only HK and TW uses 倉頡, I really don’t understand why TC is not the basic set instead of SC. 倉頡 can only type with TC

[cbbplanet]

Just submitted IC for this. gluck! we need more chinese keysets

but yeah agreed.. changjie is really for traditional chinese only. i might just do mods for this in traditional chinese and hopefully get on the gmk zhuyin alphas

[grundlemere]

Hey everyone, updates are going to be a little slow in coming as we are reworking the legends to meet GMK specs. The incredibly fine details, especially of TC characters on mods, is proving tough to meet GMK's specs for their mold machining equipment. It will work, it's just going to take a lot of very fine adjustment.

I'm hoping this work will be done within a couple of weeks, then back to GMK for quotes and pricing. Will update you on that. Hoping also to have some collab prototypes or other partner stuff to share in the meantime. Thanks for your patience!

[Masticccc]

Is there a possible for Chinese numpad for Clear water kit also? I was planning to make full Chinese monolegend keyboard with Old Path + Clear Water and now I see the numpad on base kit also. It would be really painful for me to buy the base kit just for the Chinese monolegend numpad lol.

[noodleman]

i'm sure this was asked before but I can't seem to find the post.  Is there a reason why the old path kit isn't just a seperate base kit?

[maxohmax]

One of the best kits I've seen in a while. Definitely getting the base.

[forevermadrigal]

Wish the monolegends were in the base kit kinda like masterpiece, but regardless this looks like a must buy

[sirm1ster]

Is there also plans to create white colored caps with black characters? I'm not a big fan of black colored caps, but this set seems to look amazing!

[grundlemere]

Hey everyone, making great progress on adjusting the legends by hand to meet GMK's specs. Should be done this month to include at least one new board render.

Kits are not likely to change at this point, though we are getting a quote for an alt TC base kit to see how that works out. Explanation is that our main goal here is to get all molds made, and with all the interest in TC, SC might not get made at all. Shanshui is both a labor of love and a means to an end to get GMK Houhai produced, as well as kits planned by four other designers who want to use the Chinese legends.

With regards to BoW, I would like to tentatively plan on that happening for r2 of this set if it's a successful GB, but there are no guarantees of that and it's likely a long way off given that I plan to run at least two more GBs before that happens. It would be a fantastic look for sure.

[Perch]

The deskmats really make this set special. I love it <3

[santela]

Hey everyone, making great progress on adjusting the legends by hand to meet GMK's specs. Should be done this month to include at least one new board render.

Kits are not likely to change at this point, though we are getting a quote for an alt TC base kit to see how that works out. Explanation is that our main goal here is to get all molds made, and with all the interest in TC, SC might not get made at all. Shanshui is both a labor of love and a means to an end to get GMK Houhai produced, as well as kits planned by four other designers who want to use the Chinese legends.

With regards to BoW, I would like to tentatively plan on that happening for r2 of this set if it's a successful GB, but there are no guarantees of that and it's likely a long way off given that I plan to run at least two more GBs before that happens. It would be a fantastic look for sure.

Since the cangjie inputting method isn't used in mainland, TC actually makes more sense. But right now some of the modifiers and some legends are mostly using mainland translations, which do not make much sense in TC. Examples being 《》 should probably be omitted as they are not really used in regions that use TC. The enter key should also probably be translated to 輸入 instead, as 回车 isn't really used in TC. Like you said you are not planning to change the kit at this point, which means sticking to SC is probably less headache and more accurate.

[donny_pete]

This is super hype

[grundlemere]

Hey everyone, making great progress on adjusting the legends by hand to meet GMK's specs. Should be done this month to include at least one new board render.

Kits are not likely to change at this point, though we are getting a quote for an alt TC base kit to see how that works out. Explanation is that our main goal here is to get all molds made, and with all the interest in TC, SC might not get made at all. Shanshui is both a labor of love and a means to an end to get GMK Houhai produced, as well as kits planned by four other designers who want to use the Chinese legends.

With regards to BoW, I would like to tentatively plan on that happening for r2 of this set if it's a successful GB, but there are no guarantees of that and it's likely a long way off given that I plan to run at least two more GBs before that happens. It would be a fantastic look for sure.

Since the cangjie inputting method isn't used in mainland, TC actually makes more sense. But right now some of the modifiers and some legends are mostly using mainland translations, which do not make much sense in TC. Examples being 《》 should probably be omitted as they are not really used in regions that use TC. The enter key should also probably be translated to 輸入 instead, as 回车 isn't really used in TC. Like you said you are not planning to change the kit at this point, which means sticking to SC is probably less headache and more accurate.

Yep, we had a long open period for asking the TC user community to share any changes they saw necessary, and most agreed that the legends were accurate in both TC and SC. We checked with TW and HK users, and checked the Microsoft TC translation manual. The challenge is that most keys have been rendered in English for so long, that very few users are really aware of a practical Chinese name, so we went with our best guess after consulting with many users and vendors in territories that use both systems. the other thing I learned is that TC is not monolithic, and that legends differ even among TW, HK, and areas within South China where TC is still used. Sorry we didn't get your feedback in that stage.

[donny_pete]

If money allows, will 100% get this set. It can literally go with any color keeb

[grundlemere]

Everyone! Wanted to make sure you saw the new retooled legends I created to meet GMK's machining specs. Kit and board renders will be out soon, but here they are:



Here's a link to download a full-size image and see all the detail

I've spent the last couple of weeks completely overhauling the legends to meet the specs: adding cutaways to minute interior spaces, broadening strokes, narrowing and straightening negative space, rounding corners, and in a few cases, simplifying elements altogether. More detail on the process in the main post.

[grundlemere]

If money allows, will 100% get this set. It can literally go with any color keeb

Thanks Donny! We're hopeful the stock colors will keep the price down despite the considerable cost of all the new legends. Certainly an R2 will be very affordable, but R1 still has to happen to make it so.

[ABABA]

Amazing! Really appreciate the work you put in to make cangjie sublegends a reality, can't wait to get this
I do have a question - I noticed that both 陸 and 貳 are in simplified rather than traditional on the numpads for the trad set, was that intentional? It seems a bit out of place to me.

[Digmo]

Looking good

[sup3r170va]

Love this set. Personally I think BoW would sell better, and fit the 山水 title better  )

[grundlemere]

Amazing! Really appreciate the work you put in to make cangjie sublegends a reality, can't wait to get this
I do have a question - I noticed that both 陸 and 貳 are in simplified rather than traditional on the numpads for the trad set, was that intentional? It seems a bit out of place to me.

Ah! Good catch. Looks like I will need to fix these on final round.

[grundlemere]

Love this set. Personally I think BoW would sell better, and fit the 山水 title better  )

I think this will happen in round 2! I generally agree, but the design happened before the theme, and our early supporters really preferred WoB. Once we get this set made, I would like to explore offering both in a second round.

[grundlemere]

Couple of fixes to the numpad to ensure correct Traditional Chinese financial characters are used, thanks to ABABA



link to full-size image

[MilkTea_QAQ]

Couple of fixes to the numpad to ensure correct Traditional Chinese financial characters are used, thanks to ABABA

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Why is the numpad enter different from the alpha’s enter? They should be the same right? Kinda weird if you ask me.

[grundlemere]

Couple of fixes to the numpad to ensure correct Traditional Chinese financial characters are used, thanks to ABABA

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Why is the numpad enter different from the alpha’s enter? They should be the same right? Kinda weird if you ask me.

Not in most cases according to the conventions that I extensively researched. Do you know the characters? It's like the difference between "return" and "enter". The return key 回车 is literally "return carriage," as on an old typewriter, while 输入  is "enter sum" as on a calculator.

[grundlemere]

Quick update: legend re-renders are in the works in the Alpha Studio laboratories as we speak. Looking forward to showing you the new kits ASAP.

[Crab2020]

Oh my god, it’s perfect

[grundlemere]

Oh my god, it’s perfect

Thank you! I can't wait to show everyone the new legends.  NathanAlphaMan says the alphas are done, now on to SC mods and TC supplements. Should be soon!

[kikichan86]

Definitely in for the deskmat at least..in particular because I need something on my desk that reminds me of The Untamed xDD

[grundlemere]

Definitely in for the deskmat at least..in particular because I need something on my desk that reminds me of The Untamed xDD

Is this...gay magical kung fu? Holy **** I'm in this looks amazing

[grundlemere]

Just had some great conversations with artisan makers yesterday, and I'm proud to add Destroyer Caps, Rascal Caps, Rejeck Kaps, and Frumpzkeys to the collab partnerships list! All will be making special runs of their super cool sculpts for GMK Shanshui, joining Deag, Sodie, Latrialum, and many of my other favorite makers to make something special for this set.

Still to come:

• new kit renders from NathanAlphaMan
• prototypes of the wrist rest from Digital Carpentry and the cable from Luxe
• pricing
• probably a few more collab partners

[CobraLi]

Couple of fixes to the numpad to ensure correct Traditional Chinese financial characters are used, thanks to ABABA

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link to full-size image

I am checking on this thread and ready for the groupbuy! Really want the traditional set!

[grundlemere]

Thank you, friend! I’m excited too, I can’t wait to make it real for you!

Couple of fixes to the numpad to ensure correct Traditional Chinese financial characters are used, thanks to ABABA

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link to full-size image

I am checking on this thread and ready for the groupbuy! Really want the traditional set!

[Bunn3y]

I noticed that the 難 alpha in the SC base kit is a TC character of 难, but I am not sure if that is intentionally left in or a mistake. Can you please clarify on that?
On another note, this set is looking great. GLWIC

[treeleaf64]

Interesting set. I like. Treeleaf approved

[grundlemere]

I noticed that the 難 alpha in the SC base kit is a TC character of 难, but I am not sure if that is intentionally left in or a mistake. Can you please clarify on that?
On another note, this set is looking great. GLWIC

Ah, yes! This is intentional. I made the decision to leave the TC character in the SC alphas, because after consulting with friends on the Mainland, they agreed that while Cangjie is not used frequently in Mainland China, the legends used there never employ simplified version of 難...it just wouldn't look right.

Thanks for your kind comment and your support!

Interesting set. I like. Treeleaf approved

Thank you! I'm really excited about it, and it's always nice to have some positive feedback!

[illuminarias]

pretty excited for this! Might be my first GMK set

[mustardgreens]

pretty excited for this! Might be my first GMK set

Might be my last 

[grundlemere]

pretty excited for this! Might be my first GMK set

Might be my last 

We all keep saying it, and yet...   

[Galakc]

Those deskmats are very interesting, looking forward to any sample of these

[foolish]

Goodness gracious this whole set is AWESOME. Especially those desk mats. If I don't end up getting the set I HAVE to have one if not both of those desk mats.

[ThomasTaiTai]

Why are the base kit mods simplified instead of traditional?

[14x71]

take my money

[thejuicebox]

count me in, this set is flawless from base to rama caps

[grundlemere]

take my money

count me in, this set is flawless from base to rama caps

Y'all gon make me cry 

[iinko_mk]

I'm all in for a Chinese set! Something that i can actually know what it means that isn't English

[grundlemere]

Really, really excited to add a collab artisan from Bludgeoned Caps during the GB period!

Even more excited to let you know that the hand adjustments to legends has been approved by GMK and this set is feasible! It took about 150 hours of work but they are beautiful and I can't wait to share renders. Everything is coming together very nicely.

[LightningXI]

Really, really excited to add a collab artisan from Bludgeoned Caps during the GB period!

Even more excited to let you know that the hand adjustments to legends has been approved by GMK and this set is feasible! It took about 150 hours of work but they are beautiful and I can't wait to share renders. Everything is coming together very nicely.

Both exciting news.

Blud Kaps has been putting some fire material out lately. Stoked.

[grundlemere]

Really, really excited to add a collab artisan from Bludgeoned Caps during the GB period!

Even more excited to let you know that the hand adjustments to legends has been approved by GMK and this set is feasible! It took about 150 hours of work but they are beautiful and I can't wait to share renders. Everything is coming together very nicely.

Both exciting news.

Blud Kaps has been putting some fire material out lately. Stoked.

Just awesome stuff. If jAnus was great before, 1.5 is mind-blowing. The Bubble Nebula is my absolute fave cw, so much weird depth and transparency and light tricks. Can’t wait to see what he’s cooking up for Shanshui. Still a surprise to me!

[atlanticise]

Super stoked. This is easily one of the most anticipated sets for me!!

[Daomington]

I can't wait for it

[MilkTea_QAQ]

Price?

[grundlemere]

Lot of news coming in the next couple of days, hoping for tomorrow, to include pricing and final collab. Couple of prototypes of accessories as well.

[grundlemere]

December 24 Updates

• Posted kit pricing for all seven global vendors
• Posted final kitting - we heard you, and decided to offer a full Traditional Chinese base kit instead of a mods-only kit!
• Announced final collaboration with Salvun for a bronze artisan keycap!

GB thread coming soon. Happy holidays, everyone! GB starts in one week!

[grundlemere]

GB thread is live: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=110355.0

[karateyes]

wish you guys offered a 65% version and N E W S directional arrow keys with mods