If you’re reading this… We made it.

(Complete with outdated references, we know.)  Thanks for joining us on this ride, and what a crazy ride 2020 has been— it’s safe to say that it goes without saying!

Despite the global pandemic we are facing together as a unified world, we’ve managed to make the best of it and we’re so grateful for the support, love, and passion that the community brings to the table.  We are almost at our 4 year anniversary, so we figured to celebrate this midpoint-ish moment in time to reflect.

Let’s take a look at 2020 so far…

Keysets

To date, we’ve released 15 different keycap collections with the TKC community.  

We broke a major milestone, and possibly a hobby-first in the industry: We were able to create a prototype and photograph it before a Group Buy went live to show how the set will actually be produced.

We truly believe that there is something for everyone, and excited to see that diversifying our designs helps the community create a desk space that is entirely something to call their own.

• KAM Little Pilot
• KAT Drifter
• GMK Dark
• Infinikey BoW & WoB
• Infinikey Hive
• GMK Future Funk
• GMK Lunar
• Infinikey Graen
• GMK Black Lotus
• Infinikey Pastel
• Infinikey Islander
• Infinikey Aether
• Infinikey Strawberry Lemonade
• Infinikey Port
• Infinikey 808-Boom

Note: Just in case you missed any of these sets in Group Buy, we will be running extras once we’ve fulfilled all the GB orders!

Launch of Artist X TKC Collaboration Deskmats

In March, we launched the Artist X TKC Collaboration deskmat series. We’re happy to have launched the initial collection with Alexotos, Hoyhym, and Pixljar, and from there, we’ve had so many talented artists, designers, and illustrators join us and successfully achieve MOQ for every mat sold.

It’s been an amazing way for us to support independent artists with income for their art.

Keyboard University debut

Everyone on the TKC team got into the hobby at different times, but regardless of when we entered the universe of mechanical keyboards, we know from experience that it can be tough to find resources on how to get started.

Enter Keyboard.University— a community project that we started for beginners, and for folks who want an easy-to-understand guide on all things mechanical keyboards.

We’re always looking for collaborators, and guest bloggers. Get in touch with us if you’re interested in contributing!

Switches

Our Tangerine Switches earned a whole lot of love in 2020: We created REV2 of Tangerines, featuring their now-signature orange housings and green stems debuting them earlier this year in January.

Since January, the community’s appetite for these fruity switches expanded, and we announced the expanded Fruit Switch Family line!

We had restocks in April and July, and to our team’s surprise: we sold out within 3 minutes for each sale.  We also ran a group buy in April for Tangerines, which delayed the roll out of the expansion.

The next switch to be released will be the Kiwi Switch, and we cannot wait to see what the community thinks of them!  Date to be announced soon.  (And for those who missed out on Tangies, we are waiting for the next batch to arrive!  Keep in touch for the dates.)

Initiatives

We do what we can to help the world around us. It’s the world we live in, and without taking care of our planet, and our community, what are we left with?  

• CFA Fundraiser: Organized by SwitchKeys, the Tree Mat is a fundraiser for the Country Fire Authority's (CFA) Victorian Bushfire Appeal in Australia. The design symbolizes the current devastating fires: the Australian Gum Tree, the smoke, and the fire at the border.
• EJI Fundraiser: Prompted by the Black Lives Matter movement, we created a campaign to donate to The Equal Justice Initiative who is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society. With the help of the community, we donated a total of $6378.50.
• Clackers Care (COVID): We donated Tangerine Switches to the Clackers Care stream in efforts to support Direct Relief, who is coordinating with public health authorities, nonprofit organizations and businesses in the U.S. and globally to provide personal protective equipment and essential medical items to health workers responding to coronavirus (COVID-19).
• Children’s Music Fund: As music lovers ourselves, we are proud to say that we are partnering with the Children’s Music Fund. They are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to bringing music therapy to children affected by chronic conditions or life-altering illnesses in order to help them on their journey towards a better quality of life.

Team expansion

Lastly, (but certainly not least!) the community we’ve built together wouldn’t be possible without each and every member of our team: a huge thank-you to Latte, LVCRFT, Launch, Rise, and Jyro.

We also officially onboarded Mintlodica, as our full-time COO (formerly part-time advisor), and Terry Mathews as our CFO.

We are a small team that wear each other’s hats here and there, but we pack a mighty punch when we band together and we are so proud of the work we’ve done together with the community.  From supporting our fundraising efforts, to collaborating and making incredible unique contributions to desk spaces around the world, we really are in this together.

Thank-you for joining us on this ride, and we cannot wait to show off the line-ups we’re cooking up in the TKC kitchen to end 2020 with a bang!

Photos: Metadata photo by LVCRFT, Deskmats and switch opener by Alexotos, Renders by MetallicCharles