Inspiration
The Great Wave off Kanagawa <神奈川沖浪裏>(c 1829-1833) by Katsushika Hokusai
is a woodblock print (Ukiyo-e) and is one of the most reproduced and recognisable images of Japanese artwork in history. World-renowned, it has had a profound influence on Western art culture, but particularly upon the French Impressionists which in-turn shaped the great wave of European Modernism in the 20th Century. Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night also clearly shows significant inspiration from it, with him even writing vividly to his brother Theo:
Hokusai’s "waves are claws, the boat is caught in them, you can feel it".
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In fact, Hokusai's sophisticated uses of rich hues of blue to create this striking design, led to European artists to incorrectly deem the colour blue as idiosyncratically Japanese, and fuelled the "Japonism" craze at the time (the earliest weebs Japanophiles!). The blue in fact was actually European in origin, commonly known as Prussian Blue, and is the first modern synthetic pigment, spreading rapidly around the world, causing reciprocating ripples of creativity globally, from Paris to Japan.
There's many details to love, such as the intense dramatic tension of the gigantic wave about to break on top of the viewer unfolding in the foreground, to the contrast between the saturated swells and the white crest of foam with its claw-like tendrils. Despite its restrictive palette, it successfully captures a moment in time, portraying the constantly changing movement of the ocean and its vast power. Men in boats appear insignificant amongst the chaos of nature, which even envelops Japan's largest and sacred symbol, Mount Fuji (a focus of Hokusai's spirituality). This referential icon appears as a diminutive triangle in the distance, where it could be easily missed and mistaken for another ocean wave. This defied traditional Japanese compositions of perspective at the time, and Hokusai thus skillfully blends European structure, with Japanese motifs and techniques into a seamless work of enduring international appeal.
To us, the significant history behind this artwork and the pigment Prussian blue (berorin-ai; ベロリン藍) highlights the role of cultural exchange at the heart of creative discovery, and to continue to celebrate this spirit, we're using this iconic seascape as the theme for a keycap set design we think lots of people will also love too.
Kentô (Kits)
- Registration marks carved into each woodblock so that the paper can be properly aligned on each woodblock during printing -
※ [Base Kit] - Aizuri-e (藍摺絵)
Alphas
※ [Latin] - Berlin Blue
※ [Hiragana sublegends] - Hokusai (北斎)
※ [Katakana sublegends] - Ōnami (大波)
※ [Katakana] - Kanagawa (神奈川)
※ [Colemak+Mod-DH] - Coastal
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Colemak Mod-DH for ANSI, ISO and matrix-like keyboards, including wide configurations and DHk has been catered for too Modifiers
※ [Icon] - Spray
※ [Text] - Swell
※ [Japanese] - Umi (海) [Sea]
ƒ-Row
※ [Standard] - Foam
※ [Kanji] - Fuji
Number Pad
※ [Arabic /Gradient] - Shoreline
※ [Arabic + Kanji /Gradient] - Nami
※ [Kanji /Gradient] - Soroban
※ [Arabic + Kanji /White] - Froth
※ [Arabic /Blue] - Thirty-six Views
※ [Arabic + Kanji /Blue] - Depths
Add-Ons
※ [Novelties] - Ukiyo-e (浮世絵)
- 'pictures of the floating world'; art produced in Japan in the 16th-19th century. Ukiyo was originally a Buddhist phrase meaning 'the floating world' used to explain that human life passed quickly, and later became used to describe the pleasures of life -
※ [Novelties] - Mons
Essentially serves the purposes of 'Blanks' for supplementing Orthos, and XT-layouts (side F-row columns)
※ [Seigaiha Novelties] - Seigaiha (青海波)
- 'blue sea and waves'; a pattern of layered concentric circles creating arches, symbolic of waves of the open sea and representing surges of good luck. Stemming from the 6th Century, and used on ancient maps and, this motif is prolific in Japanese print
※ [Spacebars] - Sandbar
※ [Mac] - Ringo
Alt Modifiers
※ [Ortho + 40s] - Oshiokuri-bune
Icon
Japanese Text
※ [Ergo] - Edo
Alt Language Kits
※ [Nordic] - Ægir
※ [German] - Die große Welle
※ [Spanish] - La Gran Ola
※ [French] - La Grande Vague
※ [JIS - Latin Alphas + Mods] - Katsushika (葛飾)
Yoko-e (Deskmats)
- a print in horizontal or “landscape” format -
Ōnami
- Great Wave -
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Prototype:
The Great Koi
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Prototype:
Ryūjin (龍神)
- the dragon kami (spirit/god) of the sea -
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Prototype:
Ryū (龍)
Great Cats off Kanagawa
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The Great Wave off Kanagawa
Kyôgô (Renders)
- an impression pulled from the first woodblock made by a carver (omohan or sumihan) from the artist’s original drawing -
Paragon (Artemis Design Studio)
Sunsetter (Charue Design)
959 Mini (Dalco)
Argyle (Seoulcialite)
GMMK Pro (Glorious)
Cypher (Cable Car Designs)
Chasm (dudeship)
Paragon 75 (Artemis Design Studio)
Fuji65 (CMM.Studio - Mellperbia)
Aki-S 65% (Jeffccy)
LX60 (Smith)
unnamed (dudeship)
TGR Alice (Yuktsi)
Ortho
- All renders by dudeship -
Disclaimer: Colours shown in keyboard renders and diagrams should not be treated as accurate representations of final keycap colours. Multiple factors such as render lighting, and individual display monitor calibrations can affect what you see. Manufacturer samples will be checked against physical color decks of the Pantone standards selected.
Iroita (色板) (Colours)
- a colour block. A separate block must be carved for each different colour for woodblock printing -
Photographs of Pantone colour reference (on paper); indoors during daylight
Note that colours may be subject to change depending on samples by manufacturer, and we are also trialing a darker shade for the deepest blue
Betsubara (別腹) (Extras)
-"separate stomach"; the mysterious extra room you find you have for dessert after a large meal -
Thok
Asero Foundry
Cablemod
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Cablemod Collab linkArtKey Universe
LatrialumMiroticapsRathStay Up to Date
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Discord DMs: dudeship#0001 | BobaSweatandTears#1659
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dudeship & BobaSweatandTears
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Thank you to:※ Hokusai - the OG
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※ Chase for his support and co-contribution to seeding the initial idea many months ago
※ Oli for being a top bloke and helping with icon modifiers, and assisting with the vector files. The seigaiha kit was his suggestion.
※ Kidviddy - for patiently responding to multiple queries about Japanese terminology and JIS
※ Konstantin - for his contributions to the kitting of KAT Monochrome and KAT Refined which was our foundation
※ NoPunin10ded - obscure language kitting is based off his work in KAT Napoleonic
//Note that all kitting mistakes here are mine, due to solitary attempts to adapt for a diagonal gradient
※ Ai03 - Japanese text for modifiers were referenced off the SimpleJA project
※ To all the respective keyboard designers for granting us permission to visualise our set on their beautiful keyboard designs
※ ImperfectLink - for rendering help and queries
※ Dazon for helping out with the technical side of the theme
※ Swishy from Keycapdesigner Discord (KAM 80s), and QQMBR (KAT Specimen) for answering so many newbie questions when we first began
※ KCD and ZDC server communities for general feedback, support and resources
※ Designers of other sets, that we have admired or taken cues from, in one way or another: i.e. SA Vilebloom, GMK Masterpiece, GMK Sumi, and SimpleJA
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