Request: some help with my keycap colour scheme...

[atomicus]

I am about to order a custom VA68M (UK ISO) from Varmilo, and am trying to work out my keycap colour scheme. I would like to go for a slightly 'Outrun' style, so I was thinking to go with purple LED's as seen in this example of a VA87M;



I am thinking to go with the Silver case, as seen here;



The available keycap colours can be seen here, and the ones I've used are Dark Gray, Purple and Sky Blue;



I have been playing around with a few key colour layouts at keyboard-layout-editor.com (excellent tool btw, thanks go out to Ian Prest for creating it), and if you want the link for editing this layout it's http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/d8a77dc9dd68bb926a3b7b7f3d55144f should anyone want to suggest another scheme I haven't thought of.

I'm not sure if the three colour ones work or may be a bit busy? Would appreciate any feedback on the below anyway... thanks in advance.















 

[rowdy]

Ultimately it's you who will be looking at your keyboard and using it, so get the layout that you like best.

[atomicus]

Ultimately it's you who will be looking at your keyboard and using it, so get the layout that you like best.

You are apparently bringing your work home with you from your day job at the Ministry of the Bleeding Obvious.

I was simply looking for opinions/suggestions/further inspiration/food for thought etc etc.

[SpAmRaY]

Ultimately it's you who will be looking at your keyboard and using it, so get the layout that you like best.

^^ best answer

And I think what rowdy forgot to add was it needs more yellow.

[atomicus]

Ultimately it's you who will be looking at your keyboard and using it, so get the layout that you like best.

^^ best answer

Only answer by default = best. OK. 

No yellow in 'Outrun' style.

I expected more from this place. Geeks disappoint.

[SpAmRaY]

Ultimately it's you who will be looking at your keyboard and using it, so get the layout that you like best.

^^ best answer

Only answer by default = best. OK. 

No yellow in 'Outrun' style.

I expected more from this place. Geeks disappoint.

Deskthority might be more helpful since you're using ISO, most of us here tend to be ANSI users.

[atomicus]

Ultimately it's you who will be looking at your keyboard and using it, so get the layout that you like best.

^^ best answer

Only answer by default = best. OK. 

No yellow in 'Outrun' style.

I expected more from this place. Geeks disappoint.

Deskthority might be more helpful since you're using ISO, most of us here tend to be ANSI users.

I didn't realise colour schemes were ANSI specific. That's a new one on me.

[xtrafrood]

Yikes. Definitely, needs more yellow.

[atomicus]

I wonder if I should just voluntarily implement Godwin's Law and shut this down. 

But one last try... https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=isch&as_q=outrunartstyle

[Vladimir]

Color scheme #1


First things firsts.
I understand that the black should be the majority of the keys, judging by the style.
So letters should be black, no matter what (dark gray, whatever).
The problem is that the legends should be pink to realy make it alive.

Now, with the black "predominance" in mind, the case you chose doesn't suit the style.
You should paint it black (or buy already black). That's a must.

I added the "crystal pink" caps 'cause i thought it needed a 4th color.
The purple caps should have the purple legends.

Since i don't know the exact code for the colors, I've used SP PBT samples.
Black > GSF
Purple > RCB
Blue > BFG
Clear Pink > RCH

[atomicus]

First things firsts.
I understand that the black should be the majority of the keys, judging by the style.
So letters should be black, no matter what (dark gray, whatever).
The problem is that the legends should be pink to realy make it alive.

Now, with the black "predominance" in mind, the case you chose doesn't suit the style.
You should paint it black (or buy already black). That's a must.

I added the "crystal pink" caps 'cause i thought it needed a 4th color.
The purple caps should have the purple legends.

Thank you very much Actually, I really like that... I'd thought of pink but wasn't sure about the pink Varmilo use. I may be wrong, but I thought it seemed a bit 'washy' and not vibrant enough. Unfortunately, because I will be using Zealencio silencing clips, I need Cherry profile caps (Varmilo use their own profile but are near as dammit), and I despise shine so that also locks me in to PBT. Therefore it's a short list of options regards keycaps. I'm actually fortunate Varmilo use PBT and also offer an ISO variant. Of course if I can source some other keycaps I'm all for that.

The other potential problem, again with the Varmilo keycaps, is as you can see from the chart of their keycaps in my initial post, there is no legend colour on the dark grey keycaps that pops like you have done in your example there. In fact they are all quite hard to see. I assume that image (which comes direct from Varmilo) is a good likeness.

I wanted a black case initially, but they don't have that option annoyingly, so I was all for getting it painted. It's easy enough to dismantle the board.

[Vladimir]

If you get lucky, maybe there will be a black lotus set with cherry profile, although i don't know if they gonna make it with PBT.
Check it out: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=84756.0

EDIT: If I remember, they sell a dark gray case.
But its kind of light color anyway, so you should buy the silver and paint it black.

A little Fugu Bonus:


Good luck with your KB.

[atomicus]

If you get lucky, maybe there will be a black lotus set with cherry profile, although i don't know if they gonna make it with PBT.
Check it out: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=84756.0

Good luck with your KB.

Thanks, yeah I had seen that set but had discounted it based on lack of certainty on Cherry profile and almost certainly no PBT. But I'll keep an on eye on it nonetheless as it does look great!

I wonder if the red Varmilo keycap would work over the pink? It has a bit more vibrancy to it.

[Vladimir]

I wonder if the red Varmilo keycap would work over the pink? It has a bit more vibrancy to it.

What do u mean? Like, replacing the clear pink?
I think red keycaps can't be used if you wanna make it "outrun" style.
It doesn't "merge" well, not matter where you put it.
But maybe I've misunderstood you. If it's diferent, make a picture of what you mean.



EDIT
Color scheme #2

[Vladimir]

Color scheme #3


Color scheme #4 (this one to avoid the clear pink caps)

You could replace the Esc for blue or purple cap. I've used the Fugu to avoid make it 2 pictures.

But, as you can see, the lack of a 4th color makes it look "faded". At least, that's what i think.

[atomicus]

I wonder if the red Varmilo keycap would work over the pink? It has a bit more vibrancy to it.

What do u mean? Like, replacing the clear pink?
I think red keycaps can't be used if you wanna make it "outrun" style.
It doesn't "merge" well, not matter where you put it.
But maybe I've misunderstood you. If it's diferent, make a picture of what you mean.

Yeah, no you're right. I was just thinking looking at the red that it popped more and might work, but I tried it myself like you have done and it's definitely not right. If the pink doesn't work, maybe I will have to revert to a 3 colour with the purple/dark gray/blue.

The legend colour is the bigger problem really, as I don't know if what you've done there is even possible, but I will contact Varmilo and see if they are going to be as dark as it seems on their chart. If so, that poses greater limitation. Below are a few alternatives taking that in to account.

I've subdued the colours in these a bit more (just by eye) so more accurate to the Varmilo colours I think. I absolutely agree it seems more faded, but I think using their keycaps it's never really going to pop as much as I'd want. That said, the purple LED's (as seen in picture in first post) may help lift it somewhat.


Could still have purple legends on the lighter keys (hard to see here)



Alternatively light grey keys instead of dark gray would allow the purple legends on all keys to be more visible, but still doesn't 'pop' like in your one.


I think this is perhaps a more accurate representation of the pink... you can also see it in the image below from one of their keyboards. I really like the pink you chose, but their one isn't like that unfortunately.

[dubious]

I like your second renders without the black-on-black lettering. I think the mods/alphas need some colors to match, or else it looks pieced together.

I also like the look of matching alphas, (QWERTY+12345...) but it is your board!

I think the color scheme works well together tho. sort of like a dark version of GMK muted

[atomicus]

I like your second renders without the black-on-black lettering. I think the mods/alphas need some colors to match, or else it looks pieced together.

I also like the look of matching alphas, (QWERTY+12345...) but it is your board!

I think the color scheme works well together tho. sort of like a dark version of GMK muted

Do you mean Vladimir's ones with the pink/purple lettering (color scheme #3/#4)? I really like that myself, but it seems like it might not be possible if I use Varmilo's keycaps. I have sent them an email to ask. It's odd because when Googling for images of their boards, the legend colours do seem to vary somewhat, so I need to get clarification on exactly what they can do for me. I think you are right on the matching alphas... the more I look at it, the more balanced it feels.

[Vladimir]

I like the blue legends, nice touch.
Yeah... their clear pink is more like salmon...
Doesn't look good, better to avoid it.
Same thing for the light gray caps. It doesn't match.

Maybe, you should look for black keycaps with shine-through legends.
With the purple leds, it would do the work.
It should be easier to find keycaps like that, i guess.
(if you don't mind ABS, should be easy)

Also, you could look for blank caps for the pink ones from another manufacturer.
Since it would be just a few, the lack of legends shouldn't bother you much.

But for right now, you should probably go with the color scheme #4 with blue Esc.
Maybe blue spacebar, if you want, but better to leave the numbers black.

[atomicus]

I like the blue legends, nice touch.
Yeah... their clear pink is more like salmon...
Doesn't look good, better to avoid it.
Same thing for the light gray caps. It doesn't match.

Maybe, you should look for black keycaps with shine-through legends.
With the purple leds, it would do the work.
It should be easier to find keycaps like that, i guess.
(if you don't mind ABS, should be easy)

Also, you could look for blank caps for the pink ones from another manufacturer.
Since it would be just a few, the lack of legends shouldn't bother you much.

But for right now, you should probably go with the color scheme #4 with blue Esc.
Maybe blue spacebar, if you want, but better to leave the numbers black.

Yes I'd say #4 is my preference of them all, but of course I would like some clarification from Varmilo on the legends and what can be done there. If a brighter colour on the dark gray isn't possible, it will end up being something more akin to the below.



Minor point, but do you think blue legends on the blue keys (ESC and arrows), or purple as on the purple ones?

I certainly will keep my eye out for other keycaps, but my preference is PBT as I hate the shine you get with ABS... but for lesser used keys I perhaps don't need to be TOO concerned about that, so it ended up being just ESC and arrows in ABS that wouldn't be the end of the world by any means. Whatever I get needs to be Cherry profile though, so as to work with the Zealencio silencing clips I have. I do like that Fugu you used on ESC though... is that an actual cap you can get?

The other thing I need to keep in mind with this board is that the LED's are south facing, so transparent legends won't necessarily get the benefit of shine through (depending where they are on the cap). They may do a little perhaps, but not as much as if they were north facing. Again, this is actually what I need as north facing don't work fully with the Zealencio clips.

[Vladimir]

Fugu caps are made by the user "eat_the_food".
https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=profile;u=53945
One of the best artisans, in my humble opinion.

You can find some topics here on Geekhack.
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=81390
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=79513
But you have to keep looking for when the GB starts.
Or you could create a topic looking for some1 to sell u a fugu with the colors you want. It's better to wait.
You don't have to necessarily use the fugu, look for other artisans as well.
If jelly keycaps were made with cherry profile it would be awesome with your set, for example.

...do you think blue legends on the blue keys (ESC and arrows), or purple as on the purple ones?

Normally, it's better when the legends of a group of keys have the same color as the caps of another group.
Like black caps with orange legends in one group, orange caps with black legends in another group. (Carbon set)
It's a easy combination that works well in the vast mojorities of sets.

In this case, since it would be hard to use purple legends on black caps, could be better to combine the color legend with the color of the cap itself. In this case, purple caps with purple legends and blue caps with blue legends. Actually, the blue caps could have black legends, so they can match with the black caps. I think it's better this way.
(Another option for the theorical idea would be the black caps with cyan legends instead of purple).
At the end, I will have to use the most used phrase: "it's your KB so it depends more of your taste".
Sorry for the cliché, but it's true.

I think that even if the led direction is not optimal, will still be better than black legends on black caps.
That much is obvious, but I understand your concern.

[atomicus]

snip

Yes, I agree those Fugu caps are amazing. True works of art! I had come across the Jelly keycap site but I wasn't clear what profile they were as it didn't seem to say. Obviously for an Artisan like the Fugu profile doesn't come in to play, but for one like the Jelly it does and would sit oddly on the board.

I got confirmation from Varmilo that black is really the only option on the dark gray keycaps due to the dye sub process making the other colours hard to see. Nothing they can do about this unfortunately.

When I started thinking about this at the start, I always envisioned a brighter colour set, some pink, cyan, in line with the 'Outrun' style, but once I factored in UK ISO, PBT, and Cherry profile, the list of keycap options dwindled massively! So while the Varmilo keycaps tick those three boxes, it limits me on the colour scheme. Not that I consider it end game... I will keep my eye out for other sets, although PBT is definitely the sticking point, with any Cherry profile UK ISO set I've seen (in itself not so common) always being ABS.

[Vladimir]

Normaly artisans uses either OEM or SA profiles.
And naturally, never PBT.
I'm still think that if it's just for Esc or Arrows it could be acceptable.

This is on massdrop right now:

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/hammer-starry-artisan-keycap
A little too expansive, if you ask me...

About dye sub, I knew they couldn't do it.
By default, you can only use the technique making the legend darker than the cap.
Although, there was hope 'cause some manufacturers dye around the legend to make lighter legends. Not usual, thought.

When I started thinking about this at the start, I always envisioned a brighter colour set...

We've only see some options. If you want to go back to ligher colors, go ahead man.
Maybe you do prefere blue numbers, keeping the Esc purple. I don't know.
Don't stick with what we saw just because it seems like the only or better option.

...but once I factored in UK ISO, PBT, and Cherry profile, the list of keycap options dwindled massively!

Yes, unfortunaly you have to choose between functionality and appearance. Once your requirements go up, your options go down.

[atomicus]

Normaly artisans uses either OEM or SA profiles.
And naturally, never PBT.
I'm still think that if it's just for Esc or Arrows it could be acceptable.

This is on massdrop right now:

A little too expansive, if you ask me...

We've only see some options. If you want to go back to ligher colors, go ahead man.
Maybe you do prefere blue numbers, keeping the Esc purple. I don't know.
Don't stick with what we saw just because it seems like the only or better option.

Yes I agree for ESC or arrows ABS is fine, I don't have a problem with that. That Massdrop one is interesting and looks nice when lit up, but I agree a tad expensive. Would OEM be the closest profile to Cherry, just reference the height of the cap? SA looks nicer though. Having since looked in to the Fugus, one of those (in the right colour) would definitely be my preference for an ESC key, but they do seem very hard to get a hold of. I've seen a few other interesting options on Mechmarket etc. also. Definitely lots out there, but some are silly money or for trade only. I'm keeping an eye on the Artisan sub-forum on here also to see what might pop up.

Short of not ordering the board with any keycaps at al (not sure that will impact price much anyway), I obviously have to work with what Varmilo have... and I think that last render is probably the best option using THEIR keycaps. As I say though. I will certainly keep an eye out for other keycaps. That said, UK ISO and Cherry profile (nevermind the PBT) still may be a restriction for some sets, and those two criteria are a must, even if I did (reluctantly) accept ABS. I guess it's just a case of weighing the balance between the aesthetic of my board and the frustration of dealing with cap shine over time lol!

[dubious]

I like your second renders without the black-on-black lettering. I think the mods/alphas need some colors to match, or else it looks pieced together.

I also like the look of matching alphas, (QWERTY+12345...) but it is your board!

I think the color scheme works well together tho. sort of like a dark version of GMK muted

Do you mean Vladimir's ones with the pink/purple lettering (color scheme #3/#4)? I really like that myself, but it seems like it might not be possible if I use Varmilo's keycaps. I have sent them an email to ask. It's odd because when Googling for images of their boards, the legend colours do seem to vary somewhat, so I need to get clarification on exactly what they can do for me. I think you are right on the matching alphas... the more I look at it, the more balanced it feels.

You can not dye sub light colors onto dark keycaps, such as in Vladimir's renders. (it would be a nice color scheme if it worked tho  )

I was referring to the third render in your second render post ( if that makes sense... https://s14.postimg.org/f7sme7d81/VA68-2.jpg)

I think it would look good with:

uniform grey alphas with purple legends (the legends will be darkish) maybe a blue spacebar
purple/blue modifiers and accents with black legends.

buuuutt, that's just IMO  )

[atomicus]

You can not dye sub light colors onto dark keycaps, such as in Vladimir's renders. (it would be a nice color scheme if it worked tho  )

I was referring to the third render in your second render post ( if that makes sense... https://s14.postimg.org/f7sme7d81/VA68-2.jpg)

I think it would look good with:

uniform grey alphas with purple legends (the legends will be darkish) maybe a blue spacebar
purple/blue modifiers and accents with black legends.

buuuutt, that's just IMO  )

Ah OK, I see what you mean.

It's tricky to know how that light grey will work. Looking at actual images of that colour, it perhaps seems a bit of a 'meh' nothing gray, but of course the purple/blue are going to attract more attention anyway. Swapping the dark gray for the light definitely creates a different look.

For reference, here are the light gray/dark gray together on a board, plus the purple and blue again just as reference so they can all be seen together. Ignore lighter cases, as I will be getting it done in black (so more like the middle one, but that's a different board). I will have same violet LED's as middle board also.

[atomicus]

I have managed to pick up a Maggot Fugu, so I have a feeling that impacts the blue colour choice as it seems to clash. Would be nice if Varmilo did a teal keycap colour, but they don't unfortunately.



I figure if I have the ESC key Fugu, it may look odd with the arrow keys blue? In time, I would perhaps look to get an arrow cluster that might match better with the Fugu, but otherwise I am thinking keep them as gray or purple?

This doesn't look quite right to me...



Therefore, that throws up a few options... thoughts?

[Vladimir]

Nice Fugu.

I think that at this point you already know all the options, it's a matter of choosing now.
I would certainly go with the blue arrows.

Aside from that, it may looks odd because it's too dark and has no much color variation.
Since you cant have light pink caps, your only option to make it more light would be deciding what others keys do you want as blues.
Could be the numbers, the spacebar or the 4-key cluster above arrows. Just choose.

I still would not go with the grays.
But that's me.

[atomicus]

.

[atomicus]

Nice Fugu.

I think that at this point you already know all the options, it's a matter of choosing now.
I would certainly go with the blue arrows.

Aside from that, it may looks odd because it's too dark and has no much color variation.
Since you cant have light pink caps, your only option to make it more light would be deciding what others keys do you want as blues.
Could be the numbers, the spacebar or the 4-key cluster above arrows. Just choose.

I still would not go with the grays.
But that's me.

I think you're right on the light gray. I want to like it, but my leaning is definitely the darker.

You may have a point on the blue... because with just the arrows it's not enough. Although I don't know the blue goes so well with the Fugu? That said, it's going to be hard to tell until they're both side by side I think. The purple legends on the blue keycaps may help.