Not All Linears Are The Same!
Figure 1: Not even all of these (mostly) KTT-made linears are the same! After all of my years of collecting, reviewing, and obsessing over switches, I can say with certainty that linear switches are the most misunderstood of all of the switch types. No, I’m not talking about mechanically either, as all of the claims of them “just going straight up and down” are somewhat kind of true. (Not too much though, don’t get that excited.) The part that is often misunderstood, though, is usually in what is being implied when people say that these switches just go straight up and down – “All linears might as well be the same.” If the title of this article didn’t make that obvious enough to you, I find that sort of idea to be completely and utterly wrong. The people who make these implications wouldn’t say that a Cherry MX Black is the same as a Novelkeys Cream switch? They also certainly wouldn’t ever claim that every Gateron-made linear is the same as every fancy TTC one out there...
May 29, 2024
Clearly birds are a common theme between your most recent set and the Bird Jungle keycap set; have you always been interested in ornithology, or was that a more recent interest? Is there anything in particular that draws you to birds over other inspiration? Honestly it's something recent. After seeing the Hyacinth macaw everything changed. I never paid attention to birds before. It's like when you see something once then see it everywhere. People need to take 5 minutes just to google up some birds. There are some wild and just stunning birds. Their colors are truly wonderful. Side question as a board game fan—have you ever played Wingspan? If so, does that inspire you with its artwork and design choices? I didn't grow up in a board game household sadly. I'll definitely check it out! I recently got into Catan and it's wild! Bird Jungle was inspired by a vintage View-Master reel; did all of the colors you selected for the set come from that line of inspiration, or mainly the art style and overall theme? If not, what led you to select those particular hues and shades for the set? You are correct! Bird jungle was inspired more specifically based on the Parrot Jungle edition.
What does your software and/or design process look like? How do you take an idea from concept to actual design? Well everything starts with research. For DCD Bird Jungle was to look into a lot of birds and pick the most with distinguishable features. Rough sketches, brainstorming, and picking a style. The style really defines the personality of the set. I was trying for that vintage, but classic look and I think I was able to manage that. I picked the birds by their name like S for swan and so forth. This got challenging with more obscure birds. For DCD Bird jungle I was for sure going with a beige color, but there are so many shades! (you can see some canceled mod bird icons). It's trial and error until you get to what you are aiming for or at least that is how I do it.
Do you have any early or in-progress versions of the Bird Jungle design to give a glimpse into your design process? Here are some initial takes! I’ll probably reuse one of them for a MT3 take. Let's hope for the best! Guess which one. Getting feedback is very important. I have a close group of friends that gets to see them first and they truly roast my ideas sometimes.
Question for Bingo—how do you accomplish such incredible renders of the set? Are all elements in the IC cover photo rendered or is it a render overlaid on a photo? What I always say is that the secret is to have good lights and a good composition, and always be looking for references! And incredible as it may seem, all the elements of the cover are in 3D!
Do you have any designs in the works that you could tease or cryptically allude to here?
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Thank you ArqKeebs for allowing us to pry into your life and process like this, and for the amazing answers! Let us know if you enjoyed the interviews and if you’d like to see more like this in the future.