I think Baion as a creative designs unique and interesting products. However its hard to ignore the massive elephant in the room in regards to the business and support their customers properly. I only bring this up due to a lot of dRama this hobby has had with companies that seem to focus on branding rather than operations
I definitely appreciate the drama surrounding a lot of similar brands/designers in the space, hell I’ve made a fair few videos on it myself! But from what I’ve seen baion is doing everything to make right following the extortion and problems surrounding bias - refund updates in his discord etc which are being funded by releases like the gehirn
I will do my best to fix the mess I've caused. Thankfully vendors are now helping me with it. (all future projects are vendor funded). Me putting so much effort into Branding is exactly what caught their eye in the first place! And since I do it myself, it's cheap!
Baion and Matrix have the stongest brands in the hobby. Personally, my interests ae very wide-spread so saevus truly does not have an identity. I want to run the gamut, and have each project be its own almost distinct sub-brand. As you can tell with Cor65 and Duality being essentially complete opposites. At times I have jealous of the Baion and Matrix brand identity, and other times I enjoy the freedom of not being tied down.
Dude this has to be one of the best keyboard videos I've ever seen. There's something so special about how you can piece together such a cohesive video about what many people would see just as a "good looking" keyboard. All the lore and deep brand storytelling is so so overlooked - you have to be one of the only creators who actually bring that to the forefront. HUGE UPS man.
I managed to stay out of this hobby for a year and a half, yet the day I decide to browse keyboards I find this beauty. Was SO close to ordering the Monolith gray. Amazing video!
Loving the Baionlenja aesthetic - reminds me in a way of wild 90s/2000s Oakley sunglasses designs! Another brand (not keebs, but using mech switches) whose design I'm loving recently is Dirtywave - the M8 is so cool!
I just learned about Baion about a month ago because of GMK Nerve which I immediately fell in love with and joined the GB for. I decided to look in to Baion and was stunned by their beautiful boards. Now my #1 goal in this hobby is to get my hands on one. Specifically, one that GMK Nerve will look good on.
It's legit refreshing to have an artistic motif and themeing to a board when so much of the keyboard hobby feels disgustingly self-obsessed. I like the original aspects of the keyboard hobby that the community's made, but to be honest it gets so boring to have a self-obsessed hobby that pretends to exist in a bubble (with its relatively minimal set of aesthetic norms), rather than art that is good art, signifying and expressing things etc.
I feel this is just growth of the hobby, as the bar for what's possible on the value end is increased, it SHOULD push and free up the community for greater creativity and innovation. We already have companies like wooting introducing HE switches and now Gateron and other switch manufacturers are jumping on that bandwagon. True luxury and premium products should provide better quality and design but the cost for providing that "extra" always increases geometrically if not exponentially... it is nowhere near linear in this hobby or any other industry. The interior on a 250k Rolls Royce may be very similar at it's base as a 40k BMW but all those design and finish details add up. Same for keeb design. Sure something like a TypeK alice style board may be well over $500 now... but I expect a Zoom Alice to push that down to $200 or less and a future designer put out something at $500 that blows away the TypeK, moar features MOAR unique and creative design. Sure, something like a Neo80 is generally most of the Baionlenja as a TKL but all those unique and intricate design details/finishes will demand a cost. I wholly believe that maybe one day designers will be able to reduce time to market even on the high end, but I really don't think that cost will ever go away for the bleeding edge. And for those of use willing to pay for that, we get something that is truly different and interesting even if it does become "pedestrian" down the road. We're seeing CNC finishing getting ridiculously cheap and anodization/ecoating quality increase and cost decrease. That's just more tools for a creative designer. Will we see patina or currently complex shapes get cheaper as well, here's hoping so.
While there are many other factors in someone’s choice to get a keyboard. I feel brand identity/ design language is going to be the MAIN reason anyone would choose a keyboard over the entry line up models. It’s very hard to look at a board costing over $300 now and think “okay how is this going to top a Neo, QK, Zoom etc etc”. Personally, it’s gotta be how the board looks first, then mounting style second, then cost 3rd. If it looks unique enough, I’m okay waiting.
As someone whose favorite movies are Alien (1979) & Aliens (1986), this board's design is definitely something I'm loving. Glad I could join the GB before they ran out of spots
On a side note, the 'lore' behind the Gehirn and the potential of a continuation depending on future projects remind me of the Toonami programming block and its own lore. Can't wait to see what's next!
Really enjoyed this video, so cool to hear from the designer too! While certain design elements are probably not in line with my personal preferences, it’s hard to ignore how much thought is being put into these products. I also think the 45 degree angle screws are so cool! Will still say the 2 visible screw and semi-latch method for my mode sonnet is my favorite screw implementation for ease of dissassembly, but having the screws angle away from the board just seems like such a great idea that more boards should consider.
I prefer it, but it’s honestly completely different with the mounting style/case design - if you like more early kustom-inspired sounds then the gehirn takes the cake!
Honestly when it comes to the Gehirn... It just looks like a generic TKL from the outside to me. Having details on the inside is nice but you'll only see those when bulding your keyboard. I might be biased since I really am not into Baion's stuff at all. But eh, I really don't get the hype around this kit. Plus the hidden screws design really needs to die, expensive kit or not. It's way too easy to scuff up the keyboard with a screwdriver while taking the screws off and on.
Not a fan of the arrow cluster engraving then? That really sets it apart for me. I guess it depends whether you like y2k/idm aesthetics or not, this sorta stuff might appeal to people more into stuff like edm, aphex twin and art.
@@Missingnin69 The engraving on the arrow cluster isn't anything special to me, besides that I'm more into more minimalistic accents on the top case in general. Compared to Baionlenja's other works which are more unique and also stuff that I can get into, this is just... Oddly bland. At least there are some neat designs on the inside of the keyboard and it shows that the designer has a particular attention to detail but... I feel like this time this attention has been misplaced or lacks balance in a way? It's like most of it went on parts you will not see much AND on other stuff than the keyboard. Also saying this appeals to people who are more into art... Wha...? Plus I'm a big electronic music head of so many genres from footwork and tearout to garage and jungle, but I don't know... This one doesn't really strike any chords to me.
I get ya, personally find gehirn a bit too plain on the front to be practical, but I guess you're paying for a story told by invisible details. ex 23 and obj 1 on the other hand, the finishes look amazing
