MW EVIL AI - IN-STOCK LAUNCH DATE, PREORDERS UPDATE

The price quote has been updated.
IN STOCK:
Base kit is $85.
Novelty kit is $30.
NorDe kit is $21.

The keycaps (Base, Novelty, and NorDe) will have a short pre-order period from the 22nd to the 26th of August to help finalize the numbers for the in-stock sale on September 4th, 2023. I will move this thread to the GB section once the vendors are ready.

GROUP BUYS:
Deskmat pricing is estimated at $25. This will be available as a group buy with a turnaround time of 2-3 months.
HIBI collaboration pricing is at $50 for the Escape, $50 for the Enter, and $125 for the June keyboard kit (including PCB and plate) -- these will be available as a group buy with a turnaround time of 3-6 months.

EVIL AI is a red on gray keycap set with custom modifier icons and complete default modifier novelties.

It draws inspiration from dot matrix screens and from a TV series involving an AI-made-psychologist, as well as my spite toward AI-generated assets being used for commercial products, including keycap sets. While artificial intelligence does make life easy, at what point do we start blurring our ethics as a compromise for comfort?
All artworks, assets, and designs used in this keycap set's production are made by humans.


Updated kitting. Base kit, Novelty kit, and NorDe kit. Thank you to hali, dededecline, nopunin10did, and bub for the kitting help!
Screens may reflect the gray temperature differently, but it is a cool shade of gray - specifically considered 'very light purple' by Pantone.


Side-print design
Cat jumpscare.


Packaging Design

Outdated render. Boxes for my (future) keycap sets will each feature a "collectible" cat artwork on the back.
For this set, we have Kona the cat, courtesy of my friend Choo.




What's decided:
PBT dye-sub due to the intricacies of the novelties as well as lead times.
Side print on the Escape and tildes.
No dark modifiers.
In-stock sale.
NorDe kit added. UK and Ñ is integrated to base kit.
Kitting has been changed from an all-in-one base kit to three separate kits due to changes in the manufacturer's packaging.

This IC aims to collect data mainly for the following:
Vendor list.
Regional interest.

Changes that might be made:
There may be a short pre-order period after manufacturing starts and before the in-stock drop.

Changes to be made:
The glow-in-the-dark deskmat is feasible according to the manufacturer, however it will have to be white instead of gray.
They have confirmed that red glow is possible, though I will still provide an update when I get physical samples on-hand.


Due to the last-minute addition of side-legends for the Escape and tilde keys, they are not present in the scene renders.
I will update this post with a photo of samples once they arrive (we are currently doing keycap color sampling).

Have some scene renders.

EVIL AI on hali's NYAWICE


EVIL AI on Ella's unnamed board


EVIL AI on Meletrix' ZOOM 65 EE


EVIL AI on various boards, under light and shadow

See MORE for individual renders of the boards in the same scene.



There will be two deskmats, one is your standard deskmat, the other will be glow-in-the-dark.
Do note that there is a chance that the deskmats may need to be purchased separately from the keycaps as they will be traveling to vendors by sea.

WATCHERS deskmat


SECRETS deskmat*
*the SECRETS deskmat is unlikely to run in time for the launch of MW Evil AI due to issues with the manufacturer.




COLLABORATIONS

HIBI
An escape, enter, and June keyboard collaboration is planned.
The HIBI enter is undergoing some changes for manufacturing reasons. It will likely no longer have a recess for the "screen", and instead the "screen" section will be on the same plane as the side engravings. (It is not a real screen, just infilled black.)



DEAG
A Bean and Miru in EVIL AI colors is planned.

NORK
Multiple, perhaps even some secret new sculpts are planned.


VENDORS

DIVINIKEY - US
ASHKEEBS - CANADA
KEYGEM - EUROPE
PROTO[TYPIST] - UK
MILKYWAY - CN / INTL
SWAGKEYS - KOREA
QWERTYQOP - SEA
ZION STUDIOS - PHILIPPINES
MECHALAND - INDONESIA
CAFÉGE - AUSTRALIA




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