[IC] Wave (Seigaiha) Deskmat - Groupbuy Live! Ends in 7 days!

[Bobatype]

Hello Geekhack!
This is an unnecessarily long interest check for the “Wave” (Seigaiha) Deskmat Series. And no, it’s not a repeating Wi-Fi symbol .
 

Seigaiha (青海波) is a pattern of overlapping concentric circles creating arches/scales, and it is a historical motif that was used to illustrate seas and oceans on maps in Japan and China. It represents the water and waves, symbolic of power and resistance; and also surges of good luck! It dates prior to the 8th century, and is a traditional design (“wagara”) used to decorate Japanese garments (such as the kimono), homeware and fashion accessories.
 
Simple, but classy with a touch of culture, this will complement many setups easily.
 

 
This design would look quite familiar to many, as you would have seen variations of this pattern before as deskmats for GMK Bento and GMK Masterpiece. I simply wish to offer more colour variations and opportunities for users who may have missed out on those Group Buys. I also did check with their respective designers Biip and Energieschleuder, who voiced no issues with me running my own execution/colourways of the traditional Seigaiha design.
 
Price and Vendors to be confirmed, but all major regions will expect to be covered, and as it is afterall, a simple design. I will aim to price it at the lower range of typical deskmat price ranges.

 
As this pattern is over 1200 years old and in public domain, I don't claim ownership of Seigaiha. The sole purpose of this GB is to simply offer this classic design in multiple colourways, using a reputable deskmat manufacturer via known vendor links, with a QC sample process, so it's all pain-free. This design was in fact originally meant for KAT Great Wave, however due to an excessive number of desk mat options, I’ve decided to run it as a deskmat-only groupbuy. I also wanted faster production (who wants a mat delivery tied to a keycap set delivery date), and also have versatile mats to complement other keycap sets (i.e. Blue for GMK Mizu/GMK Striker/KAT Atlantis, Black for GMK Bleached/BoW sets etc.).
 

Colourways
 
To keep it simple, for the first round, we're offering the 5 most popular/requested colourways. If there's future interest another round, I could perhaps switch up some colourways to alternates that missed cut (i.e. red/purple).
 

 
Black - Shike (時化) //Stormy Weather (at sea)
 

 
Dark Blue - Ai (藍) // Indigo


 
Green - Kaiso (海藻) //Seaweed
 

 
Lavender - Fuji (藤) //Wisteria
 

 
Gray - Hai (灰) //Ash
 
Old alternate colourways

More

Samurai Blue (サムライ・ブルー)


 
Medium Blue - Umi (海) //Ocean
 

 
Purple - Beni Imo (紅芋) //Purple sweet potato
 

 
Red - Chi (血) //Blood


Pink - Sakura (桜) //Cherry Blossom
 

 
Lightest Blue - Mizu (水) //Water



Cream - Nikko (日光) //Sunshine

IC Poll/Feedback Form

Specifications
900x400x4mm
Stitched Edging
Rubber non-slip bottom
 
Vendors & Price

Region	Vendor	Price
US	Mechs&Co	$19 USD
Canada	KumaMech	$25 CAD
Europe	Keygem	€18 EUR
UK	Prototypist	£17 GBP inc VAT
Oceania	Dailyclack	$27 AUD
China	zFrontier	¥120 CNY
SE Asia	iLumkb	$26 SGD
Ukraine/BEL/RU	Funkeys	₴800 UAH
Korea	Swagkeys	₩23,000 KRW

 
Timeline
Groupbuy Period: 20th April 2021 - 18th May 2021
Turn-around: ~Q3 2021

Comparisons to Previous
The GMK Bento deskmat comes with Kanji for Bento in the bottom right corner. The pattern also features much larger waves. The lines of the wave are darker than the in-fill colour. The center of the pattern has a circle. The red variant is also much lighter in colour too than the one being offered here.
The GMK Masterpiece ウェイブ desk mat features a shade of blue that is not covered here, and the pattern appears more geometrical with a thicker line width.

Samples

Scroll down to bottom of this thread to see a comment where I list more images. Apologies for potato quality photos with my phone. The lavendar is actually not as light as it is depicted in this photo. It's a really nice shade and has more colour to it whilst still remaining subtle and gentle. I couldn't just work out how to capture it sorry. Also note that unlike the renders, I've decided to run with the design overlapping the edge stitching as it makes sense with a repeating pattern of waves to 'overflow'. If you get what I mean.

Stay Up to Date
 
via Discord Server
(#wave-deskmats for updates)
 
via Email
Drop your email address in our feedback form if you’d like to be sent a quick message about the GB date, reminders upon the commencement
 
Reddit IC (r/mm)
 

Other Socials

Instagram: @boba.kinks

Discord DMs:  BobaSweatandTears#1659

 

Thanks
- Biip (GMK Bento) and Energieschleuder (GMK Masterpiece) for being chill with me running this deskmat design
- Dudeship for renders with the Argyle
- Seoulcialite for use of Argyle keyboard model for renders
- Alpine Mech (formerly divinitydeskmats) for being chill with this being titled so similarly to their own deskmat design series
- Elmo for model of GMMK Glorious Pro for render purpose

Stay wavy

BobaSweatandTears

More

For making it to the end of an excessively long post for a simple deskmat, here's a teaser for other deskmats planned for 2021:
 ‘Sol’:

More

Umbra variant

 ‘Singularity’:

More

As part of KAT Space Dust. May run separately in Q3

[elmo]

Nice Bento deskmat

[Bobatype]

Nice Bento deskmat

Yes, the design is called Seigaiha, not Bento though. As I explained, this is the same/similar pattern as the deskmats for GMK Bento and GMK Masterpiece (and I think there's another keycap set that also features this). There are some differences between this and 'Bento', i.e  the fact that this does not have the kanji for Bento on it, and the density of waves is far higher here.
 
Not pretending I'm doing anything groundbreaking, I just wanted to see if there were other people interested in other colours like I am; or missed out on those GBs and wanted something similar.

[elmo]

Nice Bento deskmat

Yes, the design is called Seigaiha, not Bento though. As I explained, this is the same/similar pattern as the deskmats for GMK Bento and GMK Masterpiece (and I think there's another keycap set that also features this). There are some differences between this and 'Bento', i.e  the fact that this does not have the kanji for Bento on it, and the density of waves is far higher here.
 
Not pretending I'm doing anything groundbreaking, I just wanted to see if there were other people interested in other colours like I am; or missed out on those GBs and wanted something similar.

Show Image

All good was just joking around :D

I saw that you got permission from them.

Really like the design ;D

[Bub]

Solid color deskmats surprisingly hard to come buy. I'm in!

[thoughtworth123]

Definitely in! Getting the lightest blue - mizu to match my Aurora x Mizu!

[halocantkb]

hi, please consider completing one ic before running 5 more, thanks

Sent from my ELE-L04 using Tapatalk

[NovaRMK]

Would cop.

[Slayer77]

That Green's hot!

Sent from my GM1911 using Tapatalk

[Bobatype]

All good was just joking around

I saw that you got permission from them.

Really like the design

Thanks! Hahah, I just get easily triggered when it's called a Bento deskmat, when the pattern is super ancient and called Seigaiha (although I do respect that GMK Bento popularized the design in this community)

Would cop.

Solid color deskmats surprisingly hard to come buy. I'm in!

That Green's hot!
Sent from my GM1911 using Tapatalk

Glad to see others are interested in some neutral-looking desk mat designs 
Yeah green (seaweed) colourway is a personal favourite of mine as well.

hi, please consider completing one ic before running 5 more, thanks

This is really just a simple deskmat IC. Not a keyboard or keycap set design. Given the design is finalised and I've made contact with vendors, I don't think it requires that much more to see this through if there is some demand for it. (FYI: The only two active ICs I'm co-running are KAT Space Dust and Great Wave which now have vendors and GB dates set [the latter is scheduled all the way to June]).

[yh]

Damn bobas your deskmat designs are coming along nicely very poggers if i would say so myself. The kat spacedust one has caught my notice!!! Hehe

[Bobatype]

Vendors confirmed thus far:
OCE: Daily Clack

EU: Keygem
UK: Prototypist
Ukraine/Belarus/Ru: Funkeys

CN: zFrontier
SEA: iLumkb
South Korea: Swagkeys

NA pending. So as soon as I can confirm them, we can get to GB (aiming for a mid-March date).

Damn bobas your deskmat designs are coming along nicely very poggers if i would say so myself. The kat spacedust one has caught my notice!!! Hehe

thanks! this is super simple, and I wanted to wet my feet with the deskmat groupbuy process before I release some other designs later this year

[Bobatype]

Next up is confirming vendor for Canada, finalising the number of colourway options available, and setting a GB date with prices.
Please vote in the feedback form your favourite versions!

I've also explored another shade of blue that is titled "Samurai Blue (サムライ・ブルー)" that I'm personally interested in, but am mindful of the fact that there are multiple blue variants, and something will likely have to give. I was recently inspired by a set that had a 'striking' shade of blue, which is, if you can't tell, my favourite colour.




I've placed the renders next to each other in the imgur album (https://imgur.com/a/zOSRAxA) for better comparison between the other blue options.

[Bobatype]

Updates:
To keep it simple, colourway options have been culled down to 5 of the most popular. Sorry if you were interested in others; maybe if there's a future round we can swap in red and/or purple which just missed the cut-off.

US vendor will be Mechs&Co - Price $19 USD
Canada vendor will be Kumamech

Groupbuy date aiming for is 1st April 2021 - 1st May 2021. But might be pushed back a week or two depending on samples arrival to check colours.

I will update other regions' pricing when I get further information

[Bobatype]

Hi all,

Due to a slight vendor change, samples were re-ordered leading to a brief postponement with the GB date commencing approx week later.

GB date start: April 12th (awaiting samples)

Confirmed final list of vendors and prices:

Region	Vendor	Price
US	Mechs&Co	$19 USD
Canada	KumaMech	$25 CAD
Europe	Keygem	€18 EUR
UK	Prototypist	£17 GBP inc VAT
Oceania	Dailyclack	$27 AUD
China	zFrontier	¥120 CNY
SE Asia	iLumkb	$26 SGD
Ukraine/BEL/RU	Funkeys	₴800 UAH
Korea	Swagkeys	₩23,000 KRW

[Pawl]

Looking forward to these! Any sneak peek on the final colors? 

EDIT: Never mind, I see they were updated in the original post!

[Bobatype]

Samples have finally arrived, and took some photos with my smartphone in various lighting conditions:






Unfortunately I couldn't really capture the Lavender properly (it's not as washed out as these photos under the sunlight, it's a really nice shade)

GB date commences on 20th April and will go on until 20th May.

[Pawl]

Wow these look great! Will be difficult to decide between black and blue. Thanks for running this mate!

[Anthixious]

Not gonna lie, these look pretty good, might pick up a black one. 

[Bobatype]

GROUPBUY STARTS TODAY!

Majority of vendors direct URLs are live and linked in the below table.
Korea vendor Swagkeys too will put have an active link later today

Vendors & Price

Region	Vendor	Price
US	Mechs&Co	$19 USD
Canada	KumaMech	$25 CAD
Europe	Keygem	€18 EUR
UK	Prototypist	£17 GBP inc VAT
Oceania	Dailyclack	$27 AUD
China	zFrontier	¥120 CNY
SE Asia	iLumkb	$26 SGD
Ukraine/BEL/RU	Funkeys	₴800 UAH
Korea	Swagkeys	₩23,000 KRW

Hehe, subtle promotion of this deskmat may have worked: (https://old.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/mu51kt/what_white_ice_should_look_like/)

Wow these look great! Will be difficult to decide between black and blue. Thanks for running this mate!

No problems. 3 second video response:

But no seriously, either will be a good decision.

Not gonna lie, these look pretty good, might pick up a black one. 

Thanks <3

Also if you didn't realise, there are amateur photos of the samples in my previous comment.
Apologies for potato quality photos with my phone. The lavendar is actually not as light as it is depicted in this photo. It's a really nice shade and has more colour to it whilst still remaining subtle and gentle. I couldn't just work out how to capture it sorry (going to ask others to take a photo for me). Also note that unlike the renders, I've decided to run with the design overlapping the edge stitching as it makes lots of sense with a repeating pattern of waves to 'overflow'. I personally usually prefer a solid colour stitching for majority of deskmats, but for this design, given it's pattern, it actually works out better this way in my opinion.

[Bonta]

Man you're killing me here. I've already decided to get the Space Dust and Great Wave from you and now this!

Just take my money 

[Tiff0]

Man you're killing me here. I've already decided to get the Space Dust and Great Wave from you and now this!

Just take my money 

Ikr? We just need to start wiring directly to Boba.

[RoyalOak88]

Man you're killing me here. I've already decided to get the Space Dust and Great Wave from you and now this!

Just take my money 

Ikr? We just need to start wiring directly to Boba.

Same boat here 
Already have 2 deskmats on the cart. Just going to wait for Space Dust GB and make a full order

[Bobatype]

Here's some shots by a local enthusiast who takes significantly better photographs than I can (https://www.instagram.com/oziiiobsessions/):





The groupbuy is still ongoing!

[Bobatype]

GROUP BUY ENDS 18th MAY

#notarender
Here are some more stunning photos of the prototype samples complementing some pretty keyboards courtesy of @Oziiiobsessions