[IC] GMK CYL Modern Sono - Major Update

[Gtour]

IC Form | Discord


Update 1.0

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Front Print:

Based on people's feedback, I've updated the set to include almost all front print legends, just a few were excluded, here's a quick explanation of why:


Apart from the ''Home'' one, they don't properly fit the 1U front space without the font being too tiny.


There isn't much space on the bottom row to fit these in. The only option would be 1.25U/1.50U Fn, but as of right now, I decided to exclude them completely.


Based on my opinion and talking with a few people, I excluded the front print on the spacebars. This can be changed eventually.

Front Prints were all done by me: while I tried to be as accurate as possible, I'm an absolute newbie at Japanese, so if you notice some errors, feel free to point them out by contacting me on Discord (g_tour).


WS32 vs WS1:

My opinion on the matter was that WS1 is too warm for the ''modernized take'' I'm going for, and I'm happy to report that almost everyone preferred WS32 as opposed to WS1. This means WS32 will remain as the chosen color.

I got a WS32 sample from GMK, here's a photo comparison with WS2 and WS1:


Here is a photo with all the chosen colors:



Other:

- Changed the set name to Modern Sono, as it's a better fit for the theme.
- RO1 Colored Alts are now included directly in the Base Kit. As a few pointed out, it doesn't make much sense to put them in the Extension.
- All renders are updated to reflect the changes and to better represent WS32.

Intro & Inspiration

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Hello keyboard friends, let me introduce you to a keycap set I’ve wanted to do for a while.

It's inspired by the ASCII Corporations AS Keyboard Sono:


This set is my take on a modernized representation of it. I hope you like it.

Colors

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I wanted this set to use GMK Standard Colors only.

The colors chosen are the following:
WS32 - GR1 – 2B – CR – RO1

If you are interested in being a vendor, want to collab, or have further suggestions, please get in touch with me on Discord (g_tour).


Kitting

Base Kit - Price TBD


Extension Kit - Price TBD


Kitting Choices Explained:
The Base Kit supports most modern layouts. To keep costs down, I excluded less commonly included keys like 00, R3/R4 PgUp/PgDn, 2U Shift, and a second 2.25U Shift. I also decided to go for R1-R4 instead of R0-R5 for the same reason.
Other than Accent keys, the Extension Kit contains the missing keys from the Base Kit, Windowed keys and stepped Control, Spacebars, and a little more 40’s Support.
Other:
- The 2nd R1 1.00U Six WS32 colored is meant for the Alice layout.
- The 2.00C Spacebar in the Base Kit is GR1 colored for the Minivan layout.


Renders

Amano by h40.io


Austin by Drift Mechanics


Glare TKL by Geonworks


Haus by Hand Engineering


Cake HHKB by Haytco

[Gtour]

Reserved

[Piperaceae]

I like it! Though I expect you might get some complaints it looks similar to Honeywell. I do wonder if SA might be a better profile in terms of matching the original caps, but also understand CYL is more popular. GLWIC!

[Gtour]

I like it! Though I expect you might get some complaints it looks similar to Honeywell. I do wonder if SA might be a better profile in terms of matching the original caps, but also understand CYL is more popular. GLWIC!

Thank you. While there are similarities, I think it's quite different. Here we have Text-only mods, 2-Color Alpha with the new WS32, and Hiragana sub-legends with a little bit of ASCII.

[Piperaceae]

I personally think it's different enough from Honeywell. There's only so many colors to go around after all, and grey/white/red is a great combo.

[mr_foggy]

apart from the similarities with Honeywell, Beta and more gray/white/red sets, here's my input:

- add accented R2 Esc (achieving physical coverage for bot accented and de-accented configurations) edit: meaningless observation which shows my inherent idiosincrasy with 40s
- pick a single color for the minibars. I see what you're doing by making the 2.25u bar WS32, but most alice/arisu layouts today offer a flexible layout and allow swapping the bars (I personally use a 2.75u on the left). set would look kinda goofy in that configuration. I'd rather have mod colored bars (heresy, I know), such as the OG board in the first picture, than this.
- coming from a WS2 fetishist who owns a good deal of WS2 sets: I'm not sure WS2/WS32 is gonna work with this colorway. it is a very cold, bright shade of white with blue-ish undertones, it's likely going to contrast a tad too much with the rest of the set. I wouldn't dismiss the idea of using a custom white.
- maybe it's just my monitor or again my skewed opinion, but I just opened up Bleached to check and I feel like WS32 should contrast more against GR1 in the board renders.
- consider adding mod front prints like the OG.

[mr_foggy]

nvm im dumb

[ylothar]

You made me very curious... so I went online to look for photos of this keyboard to get a better idea of ​​the original colors.
I totally agree with foggy: I also think that WS2/WS32 are really too cold shades of white, risking altering the final result.



IMO the renderings shown fail to give a realistic idea about WS2/WS32.

That said, great set! GLWIC 

[Piperaceae]

The beige/yellowed color in the pic above might be a better fit than white, just by being more unique. There's a lot less beige/grey/red on the market, and the yellowness makes it look more vintage. It's your set, of course, so do whatever makes you happy.

[Gtour]

apart from the similarities with Honeywell, Beta and more gray/white/red sets, here's my input:

- add accented R2 Esc (achieving physical coverage for bot accented and de-accented configurations) edit: meaningless observation which shows my inherent idiosincrasy with 40s
- pick a single color for the minibars. I see what you're doing by making the 2.25u bar WS32, but most alice/arisu layouts today offer a flexible layout and allow swapping the bars (I personally use a 2.75u on the left). set would look kinda goofy in that configuration. I'd rather have mod colored bars (heresy, I know), such as the OG board in the first picture, than this.
- coming from a WS2 fetishist who owns a good deal of WS2 sets: I'm not sure WS2/WS32 is gonna work with this colorway. it is a very cold, bright shade of white with blue-ish undertones, it's likely going to contrast a tad too much with the rest of the set. I wouldn't dismiss the idea of using a custom white.
- maybe it's just my monitor or again my skewed opinion, but I just opened up Bleached to check and I feel like WS32 should contrast more against GR1 in the board renders.
- consider adding mod front prints like the OG.

Firstly, thank you for your suggestions.
- While I understand there is the possibility of swapping Alice bars nowadays, going for both bars to be the same color would be bad for the set's theme. The board this set is themed on has two colored bars. Mod-Colored bars are just a no-no for me.
- I considered adding front prints, but I was not too fond of the result, it was way too busy.
- While WS32 in the renders might not be 100% accurate, compared to Bleached and Delta R2 for example, I feel it's quite accurate™.
I did a quick comparison between the three:

Don't want to start a war about who rendered it better or whatnot, It's just to prove my point.

[Gtour]

You made me very curious... so I went online to look for photos of this keyboard to get a better idea of ​​the original colors.
I totally agree with foggy: I also think that WS2/WS32 are really too cold shades of white, risking altering the final result.

(Attachment Link)

IMO the renderings shown fail to give a realistic idea about WS2/WS32.

That said, great set! GLWIC 

Those are not the original colors though, that board has yellowed like crazy as you can see.
I did not manage to find the same board in a ''pristine'' condition online, so I don't know what the original colors were, but I suppose they were colder kinda like the first Vintage Japanese board I posted.
On the WS32 color, again, I think that compared to other sets that used WS2 the render is quite accurate™ (See the reply above). Of course, I know it's not 100% accurate, since WS2/WS32 is hard to render.

[maxgpdx]

As an owner of both of the OG boards this set is inspired by, I am interested but IMO would be a hard sell in the current market.

It seems like you could go one of two ways with this. You could make a set with light inspiration from the ASCII board which would have broader appeal but seems like it'd be too much like Honeywell with Hiragana sublegends. Alternatively you could go with what you have here. But if you go this direction I'm not sure if enough people would be interested. Split color alphas and forced mod ; ' aren't likely to be popular outside of people who know what board it's inspired by, which is a small population who are less likely to be GMK buyers in the first place. If you are to go this route I think it needs something a little extra to really push the ASCII inspiration. True thumb shift layout isn't possible, every key would need a new mold. But I think not including the Katakana and numpad front printing is a missed opportunity. Also, the colors are pretty off. WS32 is not a match at all for the left alphas, it's a light beige when unyellowed. WS1 would be a lot closer. GR1 seems like a decent match for the right alphas though. Also maybe consider a red alt? It's one of the most distinctive parts of the OG board.

All in all I think this is a cool idea. I've thought about what a set inspired by this board might look like before, so it's nice to see someone trying it out. GLWIC!

[Gtour]

As an owner of both of the OG boards this set is inspired by, I am interested but IMO would be a hard sell in the current market.

It seems like you could go one of two ways with this. You could make a set with light inspiration from the ASCII board which would have broader appeal but seems like it'd be too much like Honeywell with Hiragana sublegends. Alternatively you could with what you have here. But if you go this direction I'm not sure if enough people would be interested. Split color alphas and forced mod ; ' aren't likely to be popular outside of people who know what board it's inspired by, which is a small population who are less likely to be GMK buyers in the first place. If you are to go this route I think it needs something a little extra to really push the ASCII inspiration. True thumb shift layout isn't possible, every key would need a new mold. But I think not including the Katakana and numpad front printing is a missed opportunity. Also, the colors are pretty off. WS32 is not a match at all for the left alphas, it's a light beige when unyellowed. WS1 would be a lot closer. GR1 seems like a decent match for the right alphas though. Also maybe consider a red alt? It's one of the most distinctive parts of the OG board.

All in all I think this is a cool idea. I've thought about what a set inspired by this board might look like before, so it's nice to see someone trying it out. GLWIC!

I went with GMK because it’s the only double-shot Cherry manufacturer afaik that already has almost all the mold designs that I used, I’m talking about Text only mods with specific legends like Page Up/Page Down instead of PgUp/PgDn, Return instead of Enter, Alt Gr/Graph instead of Alt. These little details matter to me. The only two new molds needed would be the BS and ESC sublegends on the colon and quote keys. The R3 pipe key for ISO with FS sublegend already has a mold. Also, I don’t think you got to know a certain board to appreciate a design.

While I agree that WS1 would be a better match theoretically (but It’s still too warm imho for the aesthetic that I’m trying to achieve), I want to be clear that my intent was not to make a perfect 1:1 representation of that board, but more of a modernized approach with slightly different colors. Of course, there’s the possibility of going with a custom white, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Similar thing with the front prints, I tried doing them, and the result was way too busy compared to what I’m trying to achieve which is a clean, colder, and more modern aesthetic.

Lastly, I considered RO1 Colored Accents like Alts and Arrows. I think it’s a good idea that I already tried but that would require an additional kit. Which is fine and I might do it.

Thank you for your input, appreciate it.

[maxgpdx]

I went with GMK because it’s the only double-shot Cherry manufacturer afaik that already has almost all the mold designs that I used, I’m talking about Text only mods with specific legends like Page Up/Page Down instead of PgUp/PgDn, Return instead of Enter, Alt Gr/Graph instead of Alt. These little details matter to me. The only two new molds needed would be the BS and ESC sublegends on the colon and quote keys. The R3 pipe key for ISO with FS sublegend already has a mold. Also, I don’t think you got to know a certain board to appreciate a design.

I'm referring to molds that would be needed for the original alpha legends of the board. It's a unique keyboard that uses the thumb-shift layout with dual-legends that are different from "standard" hiragana that you might find on similar keyboards from the era, and what GMK offers. That would be really cool to see in GMK, but mold costs would be prohibitive, so it's not really worth considering.

While I agree that WS1 would be a better match theoretically (but It’s still too warm imho for the aesthetic that I’m trying to achieve), I want to be clear that my intent was not to make a perfect 1:1 representation of that board, but more of a modernized approach with slightly different colors. Of course, there’s the possibility of going with a custom white, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Similar thing with the front prints, I tried doing them, and the result was way too busy compared to what I’m trying to achieve which is a clean, colder, and more modern aesthetic.

Fair enough. Unfortunately that's not quite what I'm looking for, but I still wish you good luck with your set.

[Gtour]

I went with GMK because it’s the only double-shot Cherry manufacturer afaik that already has almost all the mold designs that I used, I’m talking about Text only mods with specific legends like Page Up/Page Down instead of PgUp/PgDn, Return instead of Enter, Alt Gr/Graph instead of Alt. These little details matter to me. The only two new molds needed would be the BS and ESC sublegends on the colon and quote keys. The R3 pipe key for ISO with FS sublegend already has a mold. Also, I don’t think you got to know a certain board to appreciate a design.

I'm referring to molds that would be needed for the original alpha legends of the board. It's a unique keyboard that uses the thumb-shift layout with dual-legends that are different from "standard" hiragana that you might find on similar keyboards from the era, and what GMK offers. That would be really cool to see in GMK, but mold costs would be prohibitive, so it's not really worth considering.

While I agree that WS1 would be a better match theoretically (but It’s still too warm imho for the aesthetic that I’m trying to achieve), I want to be clear that my intent was not to make a perfect 1:1 representation of that board, but more of a modernized approach with slightly different colors. Of course, there’s the possibility of going with a custom white, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Similar thing with the front prints, I tried doing them, and the result was way too busy compared to what I’m trying to achieve which is a clean, colder, and more modern aesthetic.

Fair enough. Unfortunately that's not quite what I'm looking for, but I still wish you good luck with your set.

I understood what you meant there, and I agree, I was explaining why I went with GMK and not another Cherry manufacturer since you mentioned that this kind of design only appeals to a small population who are less likely to be GMK buyers, which I don’t find to be true at all.

Understandable, everyone likes different things in life and that is fine. Thank you anyway.

[paperassgasket]

Not to detract from the constructive discourse but just chiming in to say I appreciate 40's inclusion if only minimal.

[Gtour]

Update:
- Extension Kit added with Accent Keys included. Since there are few, I thought it was not worth doing a 3rd separate kit. Other than Accent keys, it contains the missing keys from the Base Kit, Windowed keys and stepped Control, Spacebars, and a little more 40’s Support.
- GMK will send me some samples of WS32. Even though we already know it’s very close to WS2, I would like to see them in real life to make a more informed decision about keeping it or changing it.

[Randomlosername]

Dunno how this one slipped under me! Set looks great. Very interested and I hope the GB is soon!

[Cringelord]

If this was not weeb, it would be nice.

[ylothar]

Of course. Now let's go to Japan and explain to them that they have to make keycaps in Latin otherwise they'll all be called «weeb».

[Gtour]

Of course. Now let's go to Japan and explain to them that they have to make keycaps in Latin otherwise they'll all be called «weeb».

That’s a good one Lol. What can I say, I’m the first not to like Hiragana sub-legends being thrown randomly into keycap sets, but in this case they fit the theme and I don’t see them as ''weeb''.

[Randomlosername]

Of course. Now let's go to Japan and explain to them that they have to make keycaps in Latin otherwise they'll all be called «weeb».

That’s a good one Lol. What can I say, I’m the first not to like Hiragana sub-legends being thrown randomly into keycap sets, but in this case they fit the theme and I don’t see them as ''weeb''.

Sub-legends slap. Anyone who says otherwise is boring.

[zlobin356]

Amazing set! hope to see it in GB. Im in 100%. SONO1 keycaps are one of the best ones i have seen!

[zlobin356]

Also, if you want a cool 60 for renders that might fit nicely, let me know in discord
(im zlooobin in discord)

[Gtour]

I updated the set based on people's feedback. You can check the changes by clicking on ''More'' under Update 1.0.
As always, I'm open to further suggestions.

[POCO Estudio]

this style is my like

[FoxandFoundry]

I think they grey ";" and "'" keys look great but could you please add white ";" and "'" keys to the main kit? It would be awesome for people like me who like to mix and match sets

[hwalker84]

Agreed 100% with including a white ; and ‘ key

[boku]

I love everything about this set except the ws32  it's way too stark of a white and tends to look blue directly in front the light emitted from a monitor. For that reason alone I'll have to pass on this and hope that somebody runs a warmer version more akin to the original. I totally understand that this is a modern rendition though and clearly you've put a lot of work into the set and for that reason alone I hope it does well