[IC] GMK Iconographic: GB now live! Runs January 8th through February 5th

[lys.nordique]

I really like the set. I'm just affraid it will not look this good in real life... Like we saw with 8008 and other...

[therealemanuelmartinez]

Floral Shoppe and the vaporwave aesthetic uses Katakana legends. I have never seen any vaporwave artist use hiragana.

It’s honestly a deal breaker for me. I was never going to buy a GMK set, I can’t justify the cost for having OEM profile, but this one really had me thinking I’d pull the trigger. I hope that if this gets enough interest you’ll consider adding Katakana as an option since it’s the most true to the genre.
 
As someone who enjoys the scene themselves I appreciate your inspiration from one of the most iconic pieces of music in vaporwave, it’s even a part of meme culture now. There’s no better way to communicate vaporwave aesthetic than the Floral Shoppe album.

[konstantin]

Floral Shoppe and the vaporwave aesthetic uses Katakana legends. I have never seen any vaporwave artist use hiragana.

It’s honestly a deal breaker for me. I was never going to buy a GMK set, I can’t justify the cost for having OEM profile, but this one really had me thinking I’d pull the trigger. I hope that if this gets enough interest you’ll consider adding Katakana as an option since it’s the most true to the genre.
 
As someone who enjoys the scene themselves I appreciate your inspiration from one of the most iconic pieces of music in vaporwave, it’s even a part of meme culture now. There’s no better way to communicate vaporwave aesthetic than the Floral Shoppe album.

Agreed. Unfortunately, GMK's katakana monolegend molds are not available for free use (they are owned by the designer of GMK Masterpiece, who hasn't released them for others to use). Consider replacing hiragana monolegends with the excellent new katakana sublegends introduced by GMK Mecha-01, which are available.

[wil]

base kit renders are astoundingly good. a little sad that the colors became colder, but i'm still in.

Floral Shoppe and the vaporwave aesthetic uses Katakana legends. I have never seen any vaporwave artist use hiragana.

It’s honestly a deal breaker for me. I was never going to buy a GMK set, I can’t justify the cost for having OEM profile, but this one really had me thinking I’d pull the trigger. I hope that if this gets enough interest you’ll consider adding Katakana as an option since it’s the most true to the genre.
 
As someone who enjoys the scene themselves I appreciate your inspiration from one of the most iconic pieces of music in vaporwave, it’s even a part of meme culture now. There’s no better way to communicate vaporwave aesthetic than the Floral Shoppe album.

Agreed. Unfortunately, GMK's katakana monolegend molds are not available for free use (they are owned by the designer of GMK Masterpiece, who hasn't released them for others to use). Consider replacing hiragana monolegends with the excellent new katakana sublegends introduced by GMK Mecha-01, which are available.

would love katakana to be revisited now that masterpiece GB has happened and those molds will be created now. the only thing OP could do is reach out and ask ultimately. i do think GMK Mecha-01's new katakana sublegends are something to look at as well OP. but really, even hiragana monolegends are incredible and are not a compromise that breaks the theme for me.

can't wait to see this get an eventual GB date

[i luv chuletas]

I'm honestly hoping it stays hiragana, I like the rounded edges of the characters more than the 'edgier' katakana legends. I'm in for either, but I'm all for the direction its headed right now.

[therealemanuelmartinez]

Floral Shoppe and the vaporwave aesthetic uses Katakana legends. I have never seen any vaporwave artist use hiragana.

It’s honestly a deal breaker for me. I was never going to buy a GMK set, I can’t justify the cost for having OEM profile, but this one really had me thinking I’d pull the trigger. I hope that if this gets enough interest you’ll consider adding Katakana as an option since it’s the most true to the genre.
 
As someone who enjoys the scene themselves I appreciate your inspiration from one of the most iconic pieces of music in vaporwave, it’s even a part of meme culture now. There’s no better way to communicate vaporwave aesthetic than the Floral Shoppe album.

Agreed. Unfortunately, GMK's katakana monolegend molds are not available for free use (they are owned by the designer of GMK Masterpiece, who hasn't released them for others to use). Consider replacing hiragana monolegends with the excellent new katakana sublegends introduced by GMK Mecha-01, which are available.

I was not aware of that! I thought I remembered Katakana being used on the GMK Samurai sets from Drop but that was just bad memory and wrong. GMK samurai uses hiragana.

I’m not familiar with the mold ownership by GMK Masterpiece’s designer. Is it because they’re still manufacturing the sets or is there some way we can acquire a license for a mold? It’s probably out of my budget to purchase a license for use in creating Iconographic if the author of this interest check is interested, but it couldn’t hurt to know. I know the molds themselves apparently cost a fortune but maybe if a temporary license is like $500 or less I’d be more than happy to acquire one to make it happen.


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[konstantin]

I’m not familiar with the mold ownership by GMK Masterpiece’s designer. Is it because they’re still manufacturing the sets or is there some way we can acquire a license for a mold? It’s probably out of my budget to purchase a license for use in creating Iconographic if the author of this interest check is interested, but it couldn’t hurt to know. I know the molds themselves apparently cost a fortune but maybe if a temporary license is like $500 or less I’d be more than happy to acquire one to make it happen.


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There are two options that GMK offers when it comes to new legend molds:

• The designer/vendors pay for the molds in full (ballpark: a couple of hundred € per mold). GMK produces the molds, but they remain the designer/vendor's property. They cannot be used in other sets without approval from the owner(s). This is usually what happens for thematic icon novelties, such as those seen in this set.
• For general-purpose legends (usually new legends for languages), GMK offers to cover half of the cost themselves, but the molds become generally available and any future sets can use them freely.

The former is what happened with the katakana monolegend molds created for Masterpiece, since its designer and Project Keyboard paid for the molds in full.
The latter is what's happening with the new katakana sublegend molds created by MiTo and others for Mecha-01.

[Lil]

I agree that Katakana is more thematically relevant. I've spoken to Energie about the Katakana mono-legends:



I have also spoken to 159 who runs Project Keyboard but I think they would need to see a certain amount of google form fill outs before they are prepared to run the set



I've made an IC form a few days ago and about 40 people have filled it out so far, which is a good start. Energie said they had 110 responses for Masterpiece for reference. I am confident more people would be interested than have filled it out, when it comes to group buy, sufficient to make moq. I think it's more the fact of creating an IC form at such an advanced stage is naturally going to generate less responses than a new IC freshly posted.

That means that Kata mono-legends in the basekit are possible if enough people fill out the IC form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSepLyvdaCbPg94R71glzIAK2saQGG9vZCzJdTJASVUP8jPWig/viewform
Please do so, since it's helpful in discussing things with Vendors and allowing them to be confident in the general interest in the set.

In the meantime, I will try to get renders done of the set with katakana mono and sub-legends to facilitate some decision making and for some visual comparison. I will also try to contact vendors from other regions to progress things along. I had some correspondence with Hisui about a potential deskmat design about a month ago but I haven't heard from them since then.

I personally would feel good about running the set with Katakana monolegends with Projectkeyboard or otherwise if that doesn't come to be, putting it up for a vote between Kata sublegends and Latin legends

Thanks everyone, I will try to build momentum and move things along from here


         

[i luv chuletas]

Hey, just filled it out, but as a heads up there is no mention of changes to basekit to be mono katakana/hiragana, or anything on katakana as a whole, in the IC!

Glad this is picking up steam!

[Lil]

Vendors confirmed for all regions barring North America:


 Mykeyboard confirmed as EU Vendor
 Dailyclack confirmed as Oceania Vendor
 Monokei confirmed as South East Asia Vendor
 Deskhero confirmed as Canadian Vendor
 Zfrontier confirmed as China's Vendor

[therealemanuelmartinez]

i rather dislike the change to icons, even if they are OG. vaporwave would embrace the odd contradiction of having hiragana alphas with traditional gmk icon + text mods. i'm glad you kept the beige though. it's amazing how so many people do not actually understand vaporwave's original aesthetic (including 90s pc/mac gui) and think it's only pink and neon green.

This is an old comment, but this sums up what I wanted to say from skimming the first couple pages. Tones of older storage solutions and personal computers/peripherals are prominent in the genre. It’s worth noting this is an inspired set and a lot of people would be coming in for the color scheme and novelties themselves which are unique, it won’t necessarily always be the love for the genre or the Floral Shoppe album inspiration itself. I hope that this gets enough interest to where Latin, Hiragana, and Katakana might be able to all run together.


That being said, there’s a big difference between:

Outrun (an alternate reality retrofuturistic 80’s timeline capable of being manifested in a gridline simulation). GMK Laser communicates this very well.

...

and Vaporwave (defined as nigh satirical symbolism of technological evolution in capitalism... personally I see it as less comedic and more philosophical). Search “neo batavia” on YouTube for a somewhat obscure but interesting mixtape. I have yet to see a good set besides Iconographic that communicates the quintessence of vaporwave, because it is inspired by one of the most popular albums. Whether or not you consider Floral Shoppe to be pioneering, it’s still a big player. Some of the Saint Pepsi/Skylar Spence music videos communicate the other aspects of vaporwave very well. Infomercials, product placement, Japanese nationalism communicated by retro international commercials and old TV shows. One popular concept which is arguably the main point that vaporwave speaks a lot about is us currently approaching the final frontier, the art is a form of all of us coping to the eventual reality which is this communicated by this quote:

“Global capitalism is nearly there...”, “...at the end of the world there will only be liquid advertisement and gaseous desire. Subliminated from our bodies, our untethered senses will endlessly ride escalators through pristine artificial environments... consuming and consumed by a relentlessly rich economy of sensory information, valued by the pixel. The Virtual Plaza welcomes you, and you will welcome it too.”

It has nothing to do with politics in my opinion, it’s more about thinking how technology is constantly evolving, being popularly traded, that it always has been and will be for the foreseeable future. Take a look at net neutrality for example. That is a considerable step towards this seemingly fictitious “Virtual Plaza” described above.


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[justinm]

somehow the colours seem to work out even though they might not seem to go together well at first glance

definitely watching!

[KMPLSV]

omg if the pink and green were inverted i'd be sooooo down.

[ZoomBoy]

Anything new regarding this set?

[therealemanuelmartinez]

I keep coming back to this set. Have you considered some kind of LED cutout for caps/num lock like the Dolch R5 set which ran recently?

If this set was represented in katakana with neutral legends, pink base, and teal extensions it could generate more discussion, when combined with the LED cutout suggestion. Maybe RAMA can be commissioned to manufacture a ballin’ GID Helios cap for the non-ISO users.


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[peachie]

oh my, another vaporwave-themed set. Can't even keep track of how many of those we have now.

..........that said, I totally love this? Highly likely to get in, depending on the GB dates :0c

[Alchemist Keyboards]

Having alpha-coloured XT keys is always welcome, we need more of this in the hobby in my humble opinion 

[mutthunt]

Still eagerly waiting this one to go further, its a beautiful set and I need that novelty ISO enter alongside it too

[Lil]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it. In the poll 78% of people voted for Katakana over hiragana:



With that in mind, renders are in the works, with some revisions to the kits which are currently planned to be:

.Katakana mono-legend basekit, meaning the alphas will have the same legends as GMK Masterpiece/GMK Mecha-01
.Latin alphas kit [aiming to retain current Latin compatibility, and add a 4$€ key for example. There won't be spacebars in this kit]
.Spacebars kit, [leaving only 6.25u and 7u spacebars in the basekit] featuring 2x 6u, 3u, 2.75u, 2.25u, 2u, 1.75u, 1.5u, 1.25u, 2x 1u bars. Separate kit means more spacebars of different sizes can be included within the keyset.
.Novelties kit [remains unchanged thusfar]

Hope to update the thread with the changes soon

[diymkb]

I've been following this IC for some time and the new colors are great.

1. Will the novelty kit be the only kit with keycaps with 3385C as the background color? Like the Enter key in the early Alice renders?
2. Is there any possibility of accent kits/alternate modifier kits with 3385C as the background color of the keycaps?

I love the set as it is though and I'm excited for the GB.

[Lil]

I've been following this IC for some time and the new colors are great.

1. Will the novelty kit be the only kit with keycaps with 3385C as the background color? Like the Enter key in the early Alice renders?
2. Is there any possibility of accent kits/alternate modifier kits with 3385C as the background color of the keycaps?

I love the set as it is though and I'm excited for the GB.

Thank you. Yes the novelties will be the only accent colour keys - this was a compromise between my intention to not include accent keys in the basekit, to streamline and simplify the kits, and to provide accent colours to those who liked it originally.

[Lil]

I have updated the OP with the new kits, with a change to Katakana mono-legends for the basekit, the addition of a spacebar kit, and a Latin Alphas kit
I plan to supply some updated board renders with Katakana legends soon
Thank you to everyone that is following the progress of the set, and also to Pikku-allu for the great renders.
Please fill out the IC form to help bring this set to reality, if you haven't already: Here

[Dazon]

can we get a second tab in either the base kit or latin alphas kit to cover two boards with the extra alphas? I'm loving the katakana in base kit.

[mutthunt]

Still looking fantastic! Just still crossing my fingers that the novelty ISO survives to the GB

[Lil]

can we get a second tab in either the base kit or latin alphas kit to cover two boards with the extra alphas? I'm loving the katakana in base kit.

Thanks for your feedback. I have updated the Latin alphas kit with a tab key:

[Sandy]

lol this is a great concept hope to see it succeed

[Lil]

Small update:
. Added a second 3u spacebar to the spacebar kit
. Updated kit titles
. Please note: the mod colour in the renders, since the previous kitting update also been amended to better reflect how the RAL colour reference looks in real life

[srslyshinobi]

Saw this set and my jaw dropped. The kind of thing I really love. I already own vaporwave, can't get hold of Analog Dreams.

My only comments that are probably too late now are that I'd have liked to have seen double legends instead of a choice between the two. Of course, this means I personally have to buy both sets.

The colourway is amazing and seeing the album inspiration - incredible.

[srslyshinobi]

Also, the novelties don't tie in together with the theme and the justification seems a rather big reach.

[therealemanuelmartinez]

Also, the novelties don't tie in together with the theme and the justification seems a rather big reach.

The right eye is a token of Ra which is the prophetic sun god of Egypt, who can be noted as the inspiration of the classical Greek Helios (note the bust of Helios on the album) and Roman Apollo which were also prophetic sun gods. As for the others (besides the Helios ISO novelty), I'd like to hear the inspiration of those. It reminds me of reeds and cranes from the nile, paired with the winged snakes I think there was an Egyptian inspiration, which I can personally appreciate.


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[shamlessburrito]

my eyes

[qluboards]

I feel like grey and pink is one of those things that always looks good in concept but is tough to replicate in real environments. Might be a bit better with a darker gray so there's more contrast?

[srslyshinobi]

Also, the novelties don't tie in together with the theme and the justification seems a rather big reach.

The right eye is a token of Ra which is the prophetic sun god of Egypt, who can be noted as the inspiration of the classical Greek Helios (note the bust of Helios on the album) and Roman Apollo which were also prophetic sun gods. As for the others (besides the Helios ISO novelty), I'd like to hear the inspiration of those. It reminds me of reeds and cranes from the nile, paired with the winged snakes I think there was an Egyptian inspiration, which I can personally appreciate.


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I think they are beautiful novelties in these colours. I really do. I just don't think they work as a package, that's all.

[lakeboredom]

Staring at these renders and pantones everyday, still think the green is too bright. Feels like a 70's diner, not aesthetic. Of course people are going to pick the more vibrant color, theyre probably on TN panels with the contrast set too high.

[Lil]

I have talked to Konstantin who has given me some valuable feedback on the kitting, so I will be making some amendments to that, along with trying to tune the renders to more accurately represent the pink and green colours of the set.
These colours are difficult to render true to life, but I want it to be the best representation of the final product it can be.
In real life the green pantone isn't that bright, I think the picture I previously posted wasn't the best, but the fujifilm colour profile makes things difficult in terms of taking photographs of the colour references.

Once the new renders are done, it will be submitted for quotes with GMK and you can expect an announcement for the GB date to follow

Thanks everyone

[Lil]

I am happy to announce that the GB date has been scheduled for January with Mechs & Co as the main vendor.

Final kitting changes to follow; we are getting quotes from GMK for two versions of the kits - one with accents and the alternative without. Once we have been quoted, at that point pricing and a definite GB date will be announced.
Renders of the updated kits and board renders with Katakana legends are in the works.

I am also happy to say that Artkey are collaborating with the set, to bring you an artisan raffle in the colours of GMK Iconographic, planned to be in November. I will share more information and pictures once things have been finalised.

[ZoomBoy]

Amazing. Can you post in THIS thread once the GB is live, too? I was part of an IC thread for Mecha-01 from GMK  and the OP never posted the GB was live in the IC thread and I almost missed it.

[Lil]

Amazing. Can you post in THIS thread once the GB is live, too? I was part of an IC thread for Mecha-01 from GMK  and the OP never posted the GB was live in the IC thread and I almost missed it.

Yes, in January I will link the GB thread when it goes live before locking the IC

[wil]

excited to see this go to GB!

[aldrinosawr]

really can't wait for this one!!!! reserved!

[Lil]

[Artkey] x [Iconographic]

// Cotton Candy Sirius, Felix and Ursa / 25 Nov 9:00 AM ICT / Form stays open for 6 hours

// Cotton Candy Bull V2 & Devourer / 28 Nov 9:00 AM ICT / Form stays open for 6 hours

Link:https://www.instagram.com/p/CH-k3lwBAv_/

[bloboeggy]

if we could have regular alphas and sub legends together id defo buy

[iinko_mk]

damn, that artkey tho

[saltimate]

damn, kinda wish this set was pbt... imo would suit the aesthetic better
looking forward to see the final colours though, might still consider

[Lil]

Final Kits posted, US pricing announced, along with some new board renders featuring the Katakana legends. Pricing from other vendors TBA. GB start date expected to be the second week of January.

Basekit $134.99
Spacebars $24.99
Latin alphas kit $59.99
Novelties $49.99

[srslyshinobi]

if we could have regular alphas and sub legends together id defo buy

Same.

[gleneston]

Beautiful set. 195$ minimum entry for English legends is out of my price range however.


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[Vellioh]

Really....really burns the eyes...in a good way.

[Lil]

GB runs from January 8th through February 5th.

Once the GB post has been approved I will link it here and lock the thread

[Lil]

An unfortunate update on pricing

When we were quoted by GMK for the set, it was mid November and the exchange rate from the dollar to euro was .85; this was when the US pricing was decided
Since then the exchange rate has fallen to .81, which follows that there is currently a deficit of 6 euros per basekit on the US pricing versus in November, and means we would be losing money per unit sold at the current pricing @250 moq
To clarify: in mid November 135 dollars equalled 115 euros, whereas it now equates to 109 euros. GMK is a German company and invoices the cost of production in euros. This means to break even at a 250 moq we will have to raise the US pricing.
In addition, with the current global situation shipping costs to Australia and other regions further from the EU are now higher than anticipated

Apologies

Basekit:   $145 USD/ equivalent to 117 euros [Previously 135USD or 115 euros]
Novelties: $52.99 USD [Previously 50USD]
Alphas:     $64.99 USD [Previously 60USD]
Spacebars $24.99 USD [Price unchanged]