Is it unpopular to love 75% layouts while not liking 65% layouts?
Speaking of this... I think we're on good enough terms for me to finally say this...
75% is the ugliest layout.
75% is not for me. In addition to looking bad like you've said, I had to always look down to press any keys outside of the standard 60% area. On a TKL you can feel your way around, but not so in a 75%. Not worth saving 10 square inches of desk space over, if you ask me.
Haha, good. Another post so I don't double post and can actually respond with how I feel about the 75% layout.
I've gotten really used to the layout, so I never really have to look down these days. I definitely agree that a TKL has better separation between regions, just like a full-size board, but, since I'm a fan of optimizing space, I prefer 75% layouts. To me, a TKL is just wasting space. The separation though is definitely a big plus to a lot of people, I think. They do look nice too!
When I first saw the Race II, the first 75% I set my eyes upon, I did think they looked like an ugly slab of keys. Judging by the people on imgur calling my Octagon ugly when I wanted to test a random upload, haha... Yeah I think most people don't really care for 75%.
I'm really not sure why I decided to try it (it definitely wasn't driven by aesthetics--60% is my favorite there). I think probably because my first mechanical board was a Rapoo KX, which has arrow keys and a function row, so I figured keeping a layout as close to that (I enjoyed the KX) would be optimal for me. That's probably also why I was so used to it off that bat, from using the KX and laptops with that layout for ages.
That must be why I lean so heavily to 75% layouts.
And thus, TKL being an almost mechanical keyboard exclusive layout, has been one I've never been too familiar with. I've barely even used full-sized boards aside from my earliest PC days and when I needed a keyboard to chat while playing PS2 games online or for Xbox Live messages.
Dear god, the slab of keys is almost as a bad as the tl;dr here, lol.
EDIT: After my Alps build, I am growing awfully fond of the 60% layout as I use it more and more every day. Dare say I might prefer it more than my Octagon.