Mr. Bingo's Design Process and Inspiration

Apr 10, 20241130 VIEWS

If you haven't seen the first part of our interview series with Mr. Bingo, be sure to check that out for an introduction to the designer himself. We're picking things up here with part two, where Mr. Bingo shares some of his design process and how he draws inspiration for his designs! Before we dive in—we want to express another huge thank you to Mr. Bingo for taking the time to answer all of our questions here. It's always fascinating to get a peek behind the curtain and we're very appreciative for the opportunity.

Do you have a process for gathering your potential ideas, and culling down to workable concepts that you select designs to move forward with and take to the community? Would you be able to share a bit about what goes into those decisions? I feel that I am a designer who likes to have physical things and not digital. So when it comes to making a set and already have the idea, I look for things physically, for example, in the matcha set, I did a lot of research on this drink. I went to several cafes that sold this drink to be able to have more clear the real colors and compare them with my book of pantones and RAL, like Cubed, I had to get more than 3 consoles and 5 different controls to be able to appreciate the color well, since it is an old console, between consoles the color varied slightly. How many different iterations or rounds of revisions does a design typically go through before being finalized? Would you be willing to share some early-stage work in progress designs with the readers? All my designs are revised more than 10 times, that's why so far I've only released 2 sets, I have a lot of ideas, but I'm a bit perfectionist so if something doesn't convince me 100% I don't release it, for example, the WLK-MN set that will be released soon, had more than 8 different versions and colors before getting to the way it is now!

What software/hardware setup do you use to create your designs? I use Illustrator, Blender and Cinema 4D! and a notebook haha. How, if at all, does the design process differ across manufacturers/vendors/profiles/mediums? The truth is that I have only released my sets with GMK, but now that WLK-MN will be released in DCD, the process is very different, since everything is direct with DROP, so I feel that I have more updates of what is happening with my set. It’s clear through your work, and you’ve mentioned as much yourself, that you draw a lot of inspiration from iconic works of art of yesteryear—particularly tech-related gadgets.
Do you have any inclinations as to what makes those designs translate so well to keycaps? In my opinion, I feel that many of these "Retro" ideas are easier to transfer to the keycap designs because the colors are so bold and just so fun. Its a no brainer. Are you willing to share any other ideas you are ideating on? I have more than 10 ideas on hold haha but what I can say is "You're now listening to Ma...."(MACROSS 82-99) Have there been any that you want to draw inspiration from, but have found that it just isn’t working to create a keycap based on? I find it a bit difficult to be inspired by drinks, since almost all of them have the same colors or are colors that have already been done with another idea, so I'm already moving away from that inspiration. Did you (or do you still) have a Walkman? What was your favorite memory associated with the device? When I was a kid I had a Walkman, a Discman and a MP3 Player, so I have very good memories with these devices listening over and over and over and over and over again to the same disc of my favorite Bands!

Image Credit: Sony

You’re putting together a mixtape—who are three artists that must be present on it? My favorite band is always and always will be Daft Punk, I'm also now in love with the music of Tyler, The Creator, Metallica, Ghost, Gorillaz, Molcha Doma, Def Leppard, and so, I can go on with much more haha, but those would be the essentials!

Again, thank you so much Mr. Bingo for sharing with us! To everyone else, remember to hit Request to be notified when the keycap set launches. And while you're here, maybe share your favorite retro tech gear that should be immortalized in keycap form!

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