Designer of the iconic Solarized theme and storied multi-disciplinarian, Ethan Schoonover, has graciously agreed to answer a few questions for the Drop community. In fact, his answers were so thorough that we’ve decided to split them in two—this first post primarily about Ethan himself, and the second focusing on his development of the Solarized theme and the current state of his mech keys interest (spoiler: he has put together some impeccable workstations).  With that being said, let’s get started!  Tell us a little bit about yourself and your history - relevant to mech keys or not. We want to get to know the person behind the iconic Solarized design. Where are you from, what is your “day career”, what are your other hobbies and interests? What is something we wouldn’t know about you from reading your About section?  I have a mixed technology and design background. Typical 80s kid story where I taught myself how to code, mixed in with having two professional artists for...

While many people joined the mechanical keyboard hobby over the course of the past couple of years, I’ve been lucky enough to have been around to see all of the changes that have followed this surge in popularity. One of the undeniably best changes that has come about as a result of the COVID-based surge in mechanical keyboards is the sheer quality and number of prebuilt options that are available on the market today. Whereas back when I first started the hobby, you’d pick up something like an Obins Anne Pro, DAS Keyboard, or maybe even a Leopold, there are now at least a dozen different brands I can think of off of the top of my head besides these three which are still around as well. However, it’s at least evident to me that not all of these mechanical keyboards are created equally. Knowing full well that the hobby can be daunting to those just now joining, I suspect that the nuances between some of these brands may not be the most evident. So, let’s go through a quick rundown of...

If you’re in this hobby long enough, you’ll eventually encounter a set of stabilizers (stabs) that, for reasons you can’t quite explain, will not stop rattling or ticking! Even if you followed all of the best practices we previously outlined, and memorized our stabilizer tuning guide, you may still run into a set of stabilizers that doesn’t seem to want to behave.  Today, we’re going to clarify the specific functionality of a stabilizer, and demystify what can cause stabilizer issues, split into the three main things that can cause them: the keycap, the switch, or the stabilizer, itself.  Bear in mind that while many of these things CAN cause an issue, not all of them are curable through traditional means, so stay with us as we walk you through what can cause stabilizer tuning issues!  If some of these don’t seem to be happening with your keyboard, or you’ve encountered SEVERAL ISSUES AT ONCE, we’ll cover that at the end as well. As always, if you have anything...

If you’ve been around the keyboard world for a while, you’ve probably come across the name “biip” before. He’s among the most iconic keycap set designers of the modern era, and he’s been active in the space for over 5 years now. We won’t list his entire portfolio here, but suffice it to say that biip’s greatest hits would simply be a list of all his designs—Milkshake, Extended 2048, Dots, Twist, to name just a few.  In conjunction with the launch of biip’s latest keycap set, MT3 Operator, we wanted to get to know the man behind the designs a little better. We’ve compiled a list of questions, along with submissions from Drop Keyboard Club (DKC) members, which biip has graciously responded to for you all to enjoy. Let’s dive in!  Tell us a little bit about yourself and your history—relevant to Mech Keys or not. We want to get to know the person behind the iconic designs. Where are you from, what is your “day career,” what are your other hobbies and interests?  I am a digital...