12/19/2020 — Happy Holidays!
Cubic, Isshin, and I wish everyone an early Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.
This year has been a crazy one. Hopefully you can still enjoy the warmth of the holidays.
Golden Master
According to Technopedia
Golden master (GM) is a stage in the software release cycle in which the software is in its full and final development stage and is ready to be delivered to the customer or to be published commercially.
We will be adopting this term at esc lab to denote the final hardware design of any product we launch prior to manufacturing.
For Series 00, we are getting very close to the GM. However, we still need just a little more time to finalize all the details. We are fairly confident however that the time estimate of January/February 2021 for IC v2.0 still stands.
Packaging
The packaging design has been finalized (after something like 10 revisions), with said design already submitted to our packaging vendor to manufacture the prototype. We anticipate this will be done in the near coming two weeks, where the team can then approve or disapprove the sample.
We will share more on what the packaging looks like very soon. We still gotta tease you folks, you know?
Founder’s Edition
In order to make it easier to own the full Series 00 collection of aluminum, brass, and stainless steel, we will be trying out best to create a Founder’s Edition where you can purchase the full set all at once with the vendors. More details on this in our IC v2.0
Social Media
Thanks to each and every one of you, we hit 350 Instagram followers this week. As we speak, we’re at 364 followers! This would not be possible to do if it weren’t for each and every one of your’s kind support of esc lab. Cubic, Isshin, and I deeply thank all of you!
Our Discord is also almost at 300 members too!
I’m wondering if we can hit 350 Discord members and 500 Instagram followers before the end of 2021?
Easter Egg Lite Prizes
Exclusive Series 00 stickers and keychain
The goodie “bag” of the Easter Egg Lite winners has been shipped last week, and a number of you have already received them. We hope you like ‘em! We still have quite a bit of these goodies left, so we’ll be finding reasons to give out more through giveaways, raffles, and more Easter Egg Lite hunts.
Secret Santa 2020
The inaugural esc lab Secret Santa 2020 hosted by none other than the awesome heavygrips was a huge success. We had almost 20 members participating, and all Secret Santa gifts have been shipped. Many of you have received your prizes. Thank you for not opening them before Christmas day (cough cough). We’ll be collectively opening it in the following week.
This event was super awesome for me to observe. Our community despite being only ~3 months old, is so strong and close-knit already. I can’t imagine the level of scale for Secret Santa 2021!
Got ideas of additional community events we can do? Throw those suggestions in #feedback in our Discord channel.
That’s all from me on this update.
The esc lab team wishes you all a Happy Holidays and a Happy New year!
12/10/2020 — Small updates!
Hey all.
No major updates from me this week. We're still in the QC and testing of our protos. We'll share more as we have more news!
Enjoy your near-holiday time with family either physically or virtually.
We will be sending our the Egg winner goodie bags very shortly. Everything is all packaged up, and if you're in OCE and CA, we will have respective proxies (Stick + halo) to further deliver them to you! I will aim to ship it out this week, and US folks should get it by next week!
We have also finalized the package design, and have sent in the Gold Master design to our packaging vendor to prototype. Cubic will receive that soon, and again, we will be reviewing that and make any necessary changes.
Stay safe!
11/17/2020 — Prototype Feedback and Insider’s Club Raffle
Hello everyone! Back for another update for you all.
// Prototype Updates
As you have all seen, we have and will be sharing the final prototypes of the first Series 00 launch. We hope you have enjoyed your first look into the Series 00 Alu + SS, and hope you will like what you will see with Brass tomorrow (Wednesday 9 AM). More pics on our Instagram page.
Internally, we have conducted a number of tests on our Mk I prototypes.
fit (onto the switch)
tactility
acoustics
ergonomics
quality of material, finish, coating, colors, engravings, and machining
After performing these tests, we have decided we will manufacture a second round of prototypes, Mk II, just to ensure we nail the details. This round of prototyping will finalize the above criteria, in particular fitting, ergonomics, and final Series ID machining. Our conservative estimate is that the prototyping + testing will take between 2-3 weeks. Once we are ultimately happy with the manufacturing + design details, that design will become our Golden Master Series 00. This is basically the design that will be used as the standard for our final manufacturing for the GB.
// IC + GB Timeline
After we are happy with the Golden Master, we will begin final preparations for Series 00 IC v2.0 which will including the announcements of proxies, pricing, various fun events such as giveaways, Easter Eggs, and more. Our conservative estimate points to around late December to early January for the Series 00 Group Buy.
// Easter Egg Lite
This coming week, after the release of the Series 00 Sandblasted Brass, we will launch an Easter Egg Lite. The prize of the Easter Egg Lite will be an esc lab swag pack.. and maybe something more that you'll have to find out when you find it ;). I haven't decided on the final swag yet, but will definitely include esc lab stickers. Past Easter Egg winners CAN participate in this hunt, so yes, @Jeffrey#9976 , you can participate!
The intent of this Easter Egg is to both welcome our new supporters + serve as a "appetizer" to the IC and GB Easter Eggs which will be much harder. You can thank previous Easter Egg winners for making it harder :)
I will announce the Easter Egg Lite in our Discord’s #events channel, so get ready to RSVP that event to know when it will come online. We will give away around 25 swag packs, and we will raffle them if there's more than 25 winners. We have updated the Easter Egg rules — the first three finders of the Egg get extra raffle entries, so it pays to be first!
// esc lab Insider's Club Announcement: Insider's Prototype Raffle!
We are happy to announce a brand new prototype raffle just for our Insiders -- esc lab's most passionate supporters and fans. You may notice these @Insiders with the yellow name around the server. We will be holding this raffle around the next Series 00 IC (late December / early January). We will also announce the next nominations of Insiders in the coming weeks.
It is not too late to try to become an Insider. As a way of thanking those that are the most passionate about being part of this community, we quite simply invite those that are most active in our Discord, Instagram, Reddit, etc. An easy way to tell (within Discord) is the leaderboards within #spam. We will also be implementing a system with @HeyTaco!#8714 that I'll announce once its bugs are fixed.
We truly read every message out there, whether it's positive or feedback-oriented. So thank you for those that take the extra step to be kind, welcoming, sharing of their knowledge regarding MKBs, and of course, being passionate fans of esc lab.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in #feedback or DM me.
- loop // esc lab
11/06/2020 Update: Prototypes!
Prototypes! Prototypes! Prototypes!
Our Series 00 prototypes have arrived to all three of us (Cubic, Isshin, and loop)! We are excited to share the first look of Series 00 to you all.
First look
Above is the first look at our prototypes posted to our Instagram account. It would mean a lot if you gave it a “Like” so likeminded people can find out about the products we make :).
Impressions
Our initial impressions of the prototypes are that we are quite happy. We do have initial thoughts and feedback for our manufacturers, as is the case with all prototypes especially since this is a brand new profile. We will share more on our thoughts of the prototypes and a more updated timeline once we are ready. We thank you for your patience! Our goal is to give our supporters a quality product to put on their keyboards, as you expect from us.
To the new esc lab supporters..
Due to recent posts on Instagram and Reddit, we’ve had an influx of new supporters. Our whole team extends a warm welcome to each and every one of you. If you want to learn more about esc lab and on who we are, we have a FAQ section prepared just for you here.
Timeline
We are aiming to share an updated timeline in the coming few weeks on when the IC v2.0 will go live, when the GB will be, and pricing + proxy announcements.
Again, we appreciate your patience for supporting us and waiting for the launch of this product. The fun thing about hardware product development is that you get to physically touch the results. However, making sure all the small details are accounted for and that the quality is high, can take time to get right.
That’s all from me.
Until next week!
loop // esc lab
Introducing the esc lab Insider’s Club
What is the esc lab Insider's Club?
The top supporters of esc lab are personally invited to the Insider's Club. This is an exclusive and close-knit group of our most passionate fans where we thank you for being part of our family.
How can I get invited to the Insider's Club?
Be active on social media about esc lab -- Discord, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, etc. We read almost every message out there about esc lab! If we notice your presence and enthusiasm, you will be cordially invited. Asking to be invited will not grant an invitation. The invitation is solely dependent on how active you are as an esc lab supporter.
What perks are there for being an Insider?
Get periodic Insider's Drops -- early pictures of prototypes not shared to anyone else.
Be the first to know about new product series.
Early concept illustrations and renders.
We request your feedback and thoughts on future plans and products.
Receive the @Insiders role on our Discord channel.
Invitation to the Insider Club's Discord room.
Participate in Insider-only giveaways and swag drops.
And much much much more.
If you have any questions, feel free to join our Discord and ask any of the admins or mods any questions you may have!