I'm very interested in this unit, looking forward to seeing the final design. Solid aluminium case sounds very promising. The two fader version seems interesting as well.
Personally I'd prefer that the focus was on making a very high quality product, I'm less concerned about the price. There's already plenty of cheap/cheap feeling units out there.
And keep in mind a lot of people here spend thousands of dollars on libraries (not to mention computers, speakers, mics, interfaces, synths, outboard gear, studio furniture etc.) and many are willing to pay the fairly high price of the JL Cooper Fadermaster for instance. Make an excellent controller, for a price you are comfortable with, and I suspect you will sell quite a few. Speaking for myself, if I found the perfect controller for my needs, I'd no doubt be very happy to get it for $100, but I imagine I would still end up getting it at several times that price.