My first foray into anything mechanical keyboard related was through geekhack. Meow a Cat and another member welcomed me in the new members forum and helped me pick my first mech. Since then (May) i've purchased a handful of keyboards, settled on a switch type I love, and also built a few. I went to art school, and work in an art and historical museum. Once I stumbled upon the whole artisan keycap thing I was blown away. It's another world of really incredible creative output. I had seen caps in the past, but nothing quite as interesting and intricate as what artisans like Bro and PunksDead were producing. To me, they are on another level; not simply a trinket or a pretty key, but a work of art.
This whole mess of where and when and how one can obtain a key, I fully understand and respect. I would've expected there to be some barrier of entry to be able to participate in the purchasing of these artisan keycaps, and with the raffles and communities I found that there was. The price point I always found reasonable, and I think that lessened the barrier for most people. It seemed the more I got into them, from my short time here thus far, the more others were getting into them too. I would love to see the numbers from ctrl-alt of how bro entries increased over the last year. Then the mess with clones, and people selling their bros, clacks, etc for 10x retail price, none of that 'profit' ever going into the pockets of the actual artisans who created them. Now, in the art world, this happens all the time. Most gallery represented artists only get 50% of the ticket price on their artworks. Like everything in life, these keycaps have become commodified. People want them and are willing to spend big bucks on them. I hope if anything, Bro, that despite all the drama that happens in the community, you see that your work is cherished and loved.
Keep doing what you're doing, everything we don't know about, and the thing we do: making beautiful artifacts for people to enjoy. I hope that as a community we can rally together and overcome the bull**** and pettiness, and just be bros.
