deskthority

GMK Lazurite, an allusion to High Renaissance art and the value of the pigment ultramarine

Hello everyone! This keycap set is inspired by my curiosity about the color 'blue' and my love for Renaissance art. This is my first time designing a keycap set so please bear with me.

'Blue' was an extremely expensive pigment in ancient times. In order to create this pigment, painters had to grind up the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli, and turn it into ultramarine , a deep blue pigment priced at the same value as gold during the Renaissance period. Ultramarine came from Latin "ultra marinus" which means "beyond the sea" as the lapis lazuli required to create the pigment is imported from Badakhshan, Afghanistan. Because of this, the pigment was only used for the most important subjects of paintings in Europe at the time. It became the hallmark of Renaissance paintings created by many historical painters of that period.

Latest Updates:

02/10/21

-Since we are still waiting for the price quotes from GMK/UNIQEY, we will be rescheduling the GB date for GMK Lazurite. We don't want to rush things and this will also help us prepare everything with breathing room before the actual dates. I am in constant communication with vendors, collaborators and everyone involved in this project.
-While there are things not going according to the initial plan, there is still great news for everyone, we will make sure the community is satisfied with the group buy (GIVEAWAY/S) on their way.
-Get more updates and info about the set from the discord server: https://discord.gg/ge25mZAgMz
-To cap this update, let me put the spotlight to these amazing artisan keycaps by another talented artisan from Korea, Namong (he was referred by Sandun and he finished this right away while keeping them clean, it's astounding, hands down to this great artist!)
Check his other works HERE

Namong Keycaps x GMK Lazurite



For people who want minimal colors (ultramarine and white)
Lazurite (Base): blue alphas, white mods
Calcite (Alternate Alphas): white alphas
Lapis (Spacebars): blue and white
High Renaissance Blue (Novelties 2): blue on white

For people who would like to accentuate their keycap set (ultramarine and gold)
Pyrite (Accent): blue on gold, gold on blue
High Renaissance Gold (Novelties 1): gold on blue

I have chosen to add the gold spacebars for the 40s community so you can also have accents for other keycap sets you might have.
Ultra (Extension): blue on white, gold

If you have been following this set all along, thank you very much for the wonderful support you have shown for Lazurite! You're the best!

Group Buy schedule: February 12, 2021 (Pending)
(ALL novelty designs can be made as per GMK)

Proxies

• EU: MyKeyboard

• US: Mechs&Co.

• CA: Deskhero

• Chile/South America: Fancy Customs

• Oceania (AU/NZ): Daily Clack

• CN/East Asia: zFrontier EN

• CN: zFrontier CN

• South Korea: Swagkeys

• SEA: iLumkb

• Philippines: Zion Studios PH

Kits

Lazurite - Base Kit
Ultramarine with a touch of white. Wide range of layouts support (including full-size, basic US ISO, basic 40%, 60%, 65%, 75%, TKL, HHKB, WKL, Tsangan, Alice, split, etc.)
Inspiration: lapis lazuli's lazurite together with a calcite marble



Calcite - Alternate Alphas Kit
An all white, minimalist alternative to Lazurite's ultramarine alphas
Inspiration: pure calcite marble with a touch of ultramarine



Lapis - Spacebars Kit
Inclusion of 6.0u centered and off-centered, split bars, and the extra Alice 'B' for both base and alternate alphas on a clean looking set of either Lazurite or Calcite



High Renaissance - Novelties Kits

The idea is to create a paint frame which acts as 'borders' on 40%/orthos, 60%, 65%, 75%, 80%/TKL and full-sized keyboards. There is a kit 1 and kit 2 to match Lazurite's base and Calcite kits,e.g. Lazurite (base) with High Renaissance Blue on White, Calcite with High Renaissance Gold on Blue

The ornamental novelties will serve as the paint frame's corners. Let's share the love and support for other layouts


High Renaissance - GoBl (Gold) | Novelties Kit 1


High Renaissance - BloW(Blue on White) | Novelties Kit 2


Lazurite Kits with High Renaissance Novelties



Calcite with High Renaissance Novelties


Calcite with High Renaissance Novelties on Reasonable65


Calcite with High Renaissance Novelties on Reasonable65


Lazurite Base and Calcite with High Renaissance Novelties (GoBl) on RAMA U80-A


Lazurite Base and Calcite with High Renaissance (Blue) Novelties on RAMA U80-A

Ultra - Extension Kit
40%/orthos support
Inspiration: the 40% community, no need for a deeper meaning, I would just like to give love to the community.



Pyrite - Accent Kit[/b]
Enter and Esc accents included together with spacebars and arrow keys to give Lazurite a golden touch
Inspiration: golden flakes of pyrite accentuating lapis lazuli's lazurite mineral


Blue on Gold (BloG)


Renders

60% board

Lazurite with High Renaissance Novelties (Blue) on RAMA WORKS M60-A

Calcite with High Renaissance Novelties (Gold)on RAMA WORKS M60-A


65% board

Lazurite on Reasonable65 (board by Rizwanislol)


Calcite with High Renaissance Novelties on Reasonable65 by (board by Rizwanislol)


80% board

Calcite with High Renaissance Novelties on RAMA U80-A


PATAG x GMK Lazurite Desk Mats

Specifications:
-900mm x 400mm
-microfiber top
-stitched edges
-rubber base

Notes:
-I have partnered GMK Lazurite with a desk mat brand, PATAG that I founded last year
-PATAG is a brand geared towards promoting Filipino culture through our products (desk mats), with a commitment of *sharing our profit to the local Filipino indigenous communities where designs are inspired from* .
-Lazurite's desk mats are distinct from what we design as a brand. Even so, I have decided, being a majority owner of this venture, that our brand will be sharing part of the desk mats' sales profit to one of the art schools here in the Philippines to inspire local artists/designers in pursuing their talents.

Paint Frame - Ultramarine

Paint Frame - Calcite

Renaissance Ornament


Collaborations

Artisan Keycaps
RAMA WORKS (Australia)
Primecaps Artisans (Canada)
KEYFORGE (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Golden Star Keycaps (Vietnam)
Zero Sky Keycaps (Philippines)
The Cloud (Arizona, US)
LandCaps (Indonesia)
Clarie Cuztom (Vietnam)
krapshop (Malaysia)
sandun (Korea)
DEAGcaps (US)
Buckeys! (Philippines)
Keebsake (Philippines)
ZappyCappys (US)
Bowbie Keycaps (US)
Skull Keycaps (Philippines)
Namong Keycaps (Korea)

Coiled Cables
Swift Cables

Artisan Wrist Rest
Resinboy Project (Philippines)
Artisan Labs (South Carolina, US)

Geekhack thread: GMK Lazurite GH IC
NEW Interest Check form: GMK Lazurite IC Form
My Discord Server: Jaekid
Instagram: @jaekeyd
Collab Photos: GMK Lazurite Collab Album
Keyboard Renders: GMK Lazurite on keyboard renders (final kits use Icon+Text mod legends)

Update 01/07/20
-NEW IC Form uploaded (UPDATED IC FORM), please let me know if you have a few more suggestions and/or feedback , I have added a question re the modifier legends to know if those who are interested to get the set wants any of the following:
-icon ONLY
-text ONLY
-icon + text

-revealed 1 out of 2 collaboration cables by Swift Cables
Swift Cables x Lazurite

01/10/20
-revealed artisan wrist rest collaboration with Artisan Labs (South Carolina, US)
-revealed artisan keycap collaboration with Skull Keycaps (Philippines)

Artisan Labs x GMK Lazurite Artisan Wrist Rests


Skull Keycaps x GMK Lazurite Megalodon Lazurite

Putting up an update here:

Less than a month away from the GB launch. We’re working on the price quotes, RAMA artisans and a few more renders. Also, there will be giveaways for Lazurite so stay tuned for the upcoming group buy on different channels I have listed on the thread: especially Discord and Instagram, where we’ll be running the giveaways. Excited for this and I’m also excited for everyone who has been following the progress of the set. Thank you!

01/31/21

-Uploaded GMK Lazurite's box art. Hoping it does get to you as how I have imagined them. I believe GMK/UNIQEY always does a good job with these boxes.

01/27/21

-Group Buy launch is moved to February 12, 2021 to account for the final (minor) revisions of kits for Lazurite and the price quotes from GMK/UNIQEY.
-Majority of the people interested in acquiring the set wants Icon+Text mods legends hence I will be reverting it back to when I first uploaded the IC for the set.
-I have also created a Discord server for those interested to grab a kit(s) of GMK Lazurite: Jaekid
-Updated renders with all the nice boards I currently have files of will also be uploaded.
-RAMA WORKS x GMK Lazurite metal artisan renders are finally here

Latest Updates:
02/02/21

-GMK Lazurite x Keebsake (PH) 2 resin artisan keycaps revealed
-removed dropdown ‘more’ feature of Lazurite’s collab photos to showcase the amazing masterpieces of Lazurite’s collaborators

*Updated renders to match the final kits will be uploaded soon (on additional keyboard cases)

Keebsake x GMK Lazurite Resin Artisan Keycap



02/01/21

-Final kits submitted to GMK/UNIQEY. We will be waiting for the price quotes.
-A new vendor is added and we are bringing the set closer to my home country, Philippines through Zion Studios PH
-This IC will still be organized to showcase all the collaborations for GMK Lazurite during the group buy period
-FINAL kit revisions (no further changes will be made unless otherwise for minimizing cost):
Reverted the legends to Icon+Text Mods for both Lazurite (base), Calcite (alternate alphas) Tab key, and Ultra (extension)
Removed the gold on blue Esc and Enter keys on Pyrite (accent) and ommitted gold <6.0u space bars
Trimmed down Ultra (extension), removed the gold spacebars
Added 3.0u spacebars to Lapis (spacebars) and removed the 6.0u white spacebars

Update 02/10/21

-Since we are still waiting for the price quotes from GMK/UNIQEY, we will be rescheduling the GB date for GMK Lazurite. We don't want to rush things and this will also help us prepare everything with breathing room before the actual dates. I am in constant communication with vendors, collaborators and everyone involved in this project.
-While there are things not going according to the initial plan, there is still great news for everyone, we will make sure the community is satisfied with the group buy (GIVEAWAY/S) on their way.
-Get more updates and info about the set from the discord server: https://discord.gg/ge25mZAgMz
-To cap this update, let me put the spotlight to these amazing artisan keycaps by another talented artisan from Korea, Namong (he was referred by Sandun and he finished this right away while keeping them clean, it's astounding, hands down to this great artist!)
Check his other works HERE

Namong Keycaps x GMK Lazurite