[IC] GMK CYL City Pop Neue- Updated Renders, Added SEA/SGP Vendor

[madmax13]

Capy 60 Courtesy of Bowl Keyboards



GMK City Pop Neue

This is a new set, using Neue icon legends, designed to invoke the style and glamour of "Bubble" era Japan.

Interest Check Form

Designer Discord

Designer Instagram

Details
-ABS
-Doubleshot
-Featuring Neue Icons
-Novelties by Stellaidoscope
-Artisan in collaboration with MVKB, produced by Salvun

Color Codes
Accents: RAL 5001 Green Blue/RAL 3017 Rose
Mods: RAL 3017 Rose/ Ral 6034 Pastel Turquoise
Alphas: RAL 6034 Pastel Turquoise/ 5021 Water Blue
Alt Alphas: CP/ RAL 5021 Water Blue / RAL 6034 Pastel Turquoise (UV- Kana Sublegends)









Photos taken under natural, cloudy light.

Inspiration

The inspiration came from when I was working on another set, Nadia and Woovie from SMK suggested I look into doing City Pop inspired novelties. I started building a vision board with different album covers and related art pieces. I thought it was too good to be novelties on another set, so I designed this set from scratch. After several rounds of feedback, I came to this color scheme and Neue legends. I used the Neue icons because I think they're the best icon mods for cherry, and I believe icons fit the theme very well. As this design matured, I added cassette futurism elements and elements of 1980s car culture. I lived in Japan for a decade, and one of the more exciting subcultures I interacted with was the remnants of the Mid Nite Club and other street racers, which we decided as the inspiration for the ANSI enter novelty. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, and I look forward to your feedback.

Vendors
CN- Zfrontier
SEA/SGP- Ktechs

Kitting









Artisan
Done in collaboration with Max Voltar, to be produced by Salvun.











Deskmat
If there is demand based on IC responses, I will commission a deskmat.

Special Thanks
Special thanks to Max Voltar for being so helpful as I developed this set. Stellaidoscope for the wonderful Novelties. Many thanks to Seattle Mechanical Keyboards for constant constructive feedback, especially Woovie, Nadia, Seakoz, MisterLee, and Robort. Furthermore, I would like to thank members of our keyboard design collective, including Piperaceae, Mori, Deadeye, and Nebulazy.

Additional Renders


Ingot by Relapse


Ikki68 by Wuque Studio


ModelThirteen by Plyktra


Frog Mini by Geon Works


Maja by Vulcan


1800 by TKC

[Randomlosername]

Really fun colors and theme. I wish I enjoyed icons bc this would be an instant grab for me. GLWIC!

[morimx]

love this, GLWIC!

[Piperaceae]

This is great, GLWIC!

[Trackpoint]

Great theme. I think the mod legends work well with the set too. Hopefully you get some positive responses for a deskmat, would love to have one to match those unique colors.

[Alpha1]

based render album choices

[xLeHoy]

Certainly interesting colour combination.

GLWIC!

[madmax13]

based render album choices

In the first 24 hours, the response trends towards making a deskmat, so looking good.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement.

[mr_foggy]

that Salvun keycap looks FANTASTIC

[ZavaZ86]

Gives off major gmk poker / gmk diner vibes 

[IOVERCALLHISTIOCYTES]

Gmk Diner made MOQ

[dvorcol]

Gives off major gmk poker / gmk diner vibes 

GMK Diner


GMK Poker


GMK Copper


GMK Olive

[madmax13]

Based on responses, I will reach out to Stellaidoscope and others to commission a deskmat.

Thanks everyone for their interest and support. I am glad there is support for colorful sets in 2025.

[SpookyGC]

Looks awesome! Glad to see this set coming together

[stellaidoscope]

artisan so good  GLWIC!

[Trackpoint]

Based on responses, I will reach out to Stellaidoscope and others to commission a deskmat.

As someone who owns another Stellaidoscope-designed deskmat, that sounds like very good news to me!

[lampmk]

Not sure how the color combination = city pop. feels like future funk was closer to the city pop palette
album render 

[extrapriusplease]

Oy the novelty enter is so damn good! Not a big fan of the new legends but love the idea of this set!

[madmax13]

Not sure how the color combination = city pop. feels like future funk was closer to the city pop palette
album render 

So, the funny thing with this set, is it actually came out of an "image board" that I was doing for another set that I ended up sitting on for.....reasons.

Over the process of building the vision board, I came across the turquoise/rose color combination multiple times and decided to build the set around it. I also did a bit of digging, pulling out design books from my university library related to Japanese 1980s fashion, mostly works by Kojiro Kumagai, and these colors were extremely prominent.

The accent was the hard part- it originally was a yellow, because the beach theme is a big deal in City Pop music...and made a nice contrast. However it was not really a vibe with the other colors I chose. I went to the blue green accent to match with the color of Momoko Kikuchi's swimsuit on the cover of her Adventure album...which also created a really nice contrast with the rose.

Oy the novelty enter is so damn good! Not a big fan of the new legends but love the idea of this set!

Thank you so much, I know Neue is polarizing, but in my opinion they are the best implementation of icon mods for cherry. Gorp is also a great design!

[LMNPI]

Love the colors and especially the artisan one!

[madmax13]

Love the colors and especially the artisan one!

Thank you so much!

[FoxandFoundry]

Nice but really similar to GMK Bento.

Edit: Just realized its like GMK Bento but opposite lol.

Edit 2: Btw I love GMK Bento. I would totally buy this if it was the standard classic Latin legends or classic Latin with Hiragana/Katakana. (I'm not a huge fan of the Neue typeface to be honest.)

[madmax13]

Nice but really similar to GMK Bento.

Edit: Just realized its like GMK Bento but opposite lol.

Edit 2: Btw I love GMK Bento. I would totally buy this if it was the standard classic Latin legends or classic Latin with Hiragana/Katakana. (I'm not a huge fan of the Neue typeface to be honest.)

So, Bento Revival was my second-ever GMK kit; it has similarities in that the accent is pink over blue, like the bento mods. Furthermore, you correctly point out that the rose mods resemble Bento's accents. However, a few critical differences will be shown when I post swatch photos (when I get good light). Bento's Blue is in "uncanny valley" territory where the blue color shifts depending on the light, something the RAL Green Blue doesn't do. This is why bento was rough to photograph. Secondly, the rose is a rose that is darker and a bit more saturated than the salmon color used in bento. Also, the alphas are different.

As far as the Neue legends are concerned, I think a lot of the resistance towards them is because many people (I am not saying you, just from my reading on it) think Cherry and Cherry legends are integral to the hobby. I do not share that view (SA predates it), and I believe that change is a good thing for the hobby because it brings in others who might not like the traditional cherry design or want something a bit more modern. i don't hate the Cherry Legends, just think something else might be nice for a change. Also, left justified arrows kind of look goofy to my eyes.

Working on this a bit more, here's so more renders- Always improving.

[dvorcol]

Nice but really similar to GMK Bento.

Edit: Just realized its like GMK Bento but opposite lol.

Edit 2: Btw I love GMK Bento. I would totally buy this if it was the standard classic Latin legends or classic Latin with Hiragana/Katakana. (I'm not a huge fan of the Neue typeface to be honest.)

GMK Bentō R2

[madmax13]

3/21- Added color swatches to IC post

Will also create a comparison post between this set and all of the ones its been compared to.

Thanks to everyone for their insightful feedback.

[FoxandFoundry]

Nice but really similar to GMK Bento.

Edit: Just realized its like GMK Bento but opposite lol.

Edit 2: Btw I love GMK Bento. I would totally buy this if it was the standard classic Latin legends or classic Latin with Hiragana/Katakana. (I'm not a huge fan of the Neue typeface to be honest.)

So, Bento Revival was my second-ever GMK kit; it has similarities in that the accent is pink over blue, like the bento mods. Furthermore, you correctly point out that the rose mods resemble Bento's accents. However, a few critical differences will be shown when I post swatch photos (when I get good light). Bento's Blue is in "uncanny valley" territory where the blue color shifts depending on the light, something the RAL Green Blue doesn't do. This is why bento was rough to photograph. Secondly, the rose is a rose that is darker and a bit more saturated than the salmon color used in bento. Also, the alphas are different.

As far as the Neue legends are concerned, I think a lot of the resistance towards them is because many people (I am not saying you, just from my reading on it) think Cherry and Cherry legends are integral to the hobby. I do not share that view (SA predates it), and I believe that change is a good thing for the hobby because it brings in others who might not like the traditional cherry design or want something a bit more modern. i don't hate the Cherry Legends, just think something else might be nice for a change. Also, left justified arrows kind of look goofy to my eyes.

Working on this a bit more, here's so more renders- Always improving.

Show Image

Show Image

Show Image

You're right Bento isn't exactly alike. I suppose I meant to say that it is certainly inspired by GMK Bento (and that isn't necessarily a bad thing as I really like Bento).

Regarding the Neue font, to be honest it's not really about not liking change. I actually do like change but I also also really do like typefaces and there is just something I don't really like about the Neue font in my honest opinion that I can't really put my finger on. It just doesn't hit perfectly to me. Keycaps don't have to be cherry font to me either - I am well aware that the latin alpha typeface used by GMK for separate language options (and cadet) on real sets is a more rounder typeface that I also really like. (The exception being Zambumon adding the standard cherry font to Serika R2's Hiragana and designers use beyond - look closely and compare the real life photos of Serika R1 vs Serika R2, or Striker R1 vs Striker R2 for examples).

Honestly though, use what works best for you. To me GMK is the Cherry font. It's a classic for a reason. It's why so many other brands try to replicate it (like Keybobo, for example). It's like Helvetica for standard type. It just hits right. That being said, if you think the Neue font looks great go for it but I just think it loses some of its magic to me.

[madmax13]

I added some renders from the incomparable Max Voltar that better showcase the artisan. Thanks, everyone, for their IC replies, which have been overwhelmingly positive.

One of the more intriguing suggestions was to do a white alpha kit, which I am currently looking at doing.

[FoxandFoundry]

I added some renders from the incomparable Max Voltar that better showcase the artisan. Thanks, everyone, for their IC replies, which have been overwhelmingly positive.

One of the more intriguing suggestions was to do a white alpha kit, which I am currently looking at doing.

+1 for white alpha kit. It would be really nice if the community added Hiragana or Japanese legends to Neue as it would fit really well with themes like this, and also allow use of the Neue icon mods.

[madmax13]

I added the Alt Alpha Kit and Renders to reflect the new kit.

If you've filled out the IC previously, please fill it out again, as I have updated the questions.

[madmax13]

Updated the Alt Alpha kit- I've soften my stance on Kana Subs, because I think it works here.

[FoxandFoundry]

Updated the Alt Alpha kit- I've soften my stance on Kana Subs, because I think it works here.

The Kana subs actually look really cool here. Nice job!

[JackQn]

Amazing theme; it recalled my childhood memory of listening to the 80s Cantonese song. GLWIC

[madmax13]

4/10/2025- Added Zfrontier as CN Vendor

[Guuuf]

Must-have for me when it becomes reality.

[madmax13]

Must-have for me when it becomes reality.

Thank you for your kind words. If you have the chance, please fill out the IC!

[vinnielikeskeebs]

Beautiful! The colors are nostalgic for me, definitely picking up a base kit, novelties and artisan.

[madmax13]

Beautiful! The colors are nostalgic for me, definitely picking up a base kit, novelties and artisan.

Thank you so much for your kind words

4/26/2025: Added KTechs as SEA/SGP vendor, Updated Renders.

[kennnyshiwa]

A few more small bars would be hugely appreciated for us 40s folk, really just need a second 2u and dual 3u

[madmax13]

A few more small bars would be hugely appreciated for us 40s folk, really just need a second 2u and dual 3u

One of the things I am thinking of adding to this design is a spacebars kit that would look something like:

• Accent 6.25u
• Accent 7u
• 2u
• Two 3u

[dvorcol]

A few more small bars would be hugely appreciated for us 40s folk, really just need a second 2u and dual 3u

One of the things I am thinking of adding to this design is a spacebars kit that would look something like:

• Accent 6.25u
• Accent 7u
• 2u
• Two 3u

What color are you thinking for the 2u and two 3u? Alpha, Alt Alpha, or Accent?

[madmax13]

A few more small bars would be hugely appreciated for us 40s folk, really just need a second 2u and dual 3u

One of the things I am thinking of adding to this design is a spacebars kit that would look something like:

• Accent 6.25u
• Accent 7u
• 2u
• Two 3u

What color are you thinking for the 2u and two 3u? Alpha, Alt Alpha, or Accent?

For the others, I am thinking the regular alpha colors—because the Alt Alphas are GMK stock colors (CP, which I need to add to the colors section of the IC) that are available with other sets.

[madmax13]

Just returning to this project after a long break. I learned quite a bit and updated all the renders I had done.

I want to make this happen.