This will be my first time doing an interest check. I'm open to suggestions and I'll try my best to respond swiftly!
[attachimg=1]
(bad) 3D renders at last! I know that the keycaps are overly smooth right now, but I got excited and wanted to post them. I'll working on texturing the keycaps later. (Thank you Orowheat on Github for your design and Thesiscamper for lighting tips.)
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Introduction:
The goal of Ember is to be a keyset that carries across the tone of a low fire. The legends are a row-by-row gradient over brown alphas and black modifiers in an attempt to capture the way fire peeks through the cracks of burnt wood and stone. Here's the KLE render:
[attachimg=3]
Profile & Colors:
The profile is DSA. There will still be rows because of the legends, but I'll try my best to make kits for everyone!
The colors of the legends are (from bottom row to top): RAC, OB, ON, OAS, YL, and YBP.
The color of the alphas is TBN and the colors of the mods is NN. All of the colors can be seen here:
[attachimg=2]
(I wasn't thinking and made the gradient backwards :confused:)
New kits and Prices:
After some thought, I revised my approach to kits and sent my work to Melissa at Signature Plastics. My current goal is to offer both brown and grey alphas for this drop. Based on what I've gotten back, getting both might be possible depending on how popular the set is. The new kits are as follows:
Brown alphas:
[attachimg=20]
Grey alphas:
[attachimg=21]
60% mods:
[attachimg=22]
TKL mods:
[attachimg=23]
UK ISO kits (3 separate kits. brown keys, grey keys, and enter/alt gr kit):
[attachimg=24]
Numpad kits (same deal as ISO, brown numpad, grey numpad, and numpad mods):
[attachimg=25]
40% kit:
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65% kit:
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Colevorak brown:
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Colevorak grey:
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Brown and grey international kits:
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Brown and grey mono keys for number row:
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These are all of the kits that I got a quote for. I have yet to get a quote on the novelty kit, the spacebar kit, and the Esc kit. Since it's late and I need to go to sleep now, I'll just screenshot the grid of prices that Melissa sent me. (TBN is brown and GTA is grey):
[attachimg=32]
If anyone has ideas for revising kits, possibly making them more accessible or less expensive, please share! My goal here was to make a set of kits that satisfied everyone, but I'm sure there are different ways. I want to say thanks to everyone for the help so far! The set is a lot better thanks to the suggestions I've received.
Old kits: More
2D Renders:
TKL again:
[attachimg=3]
60%:
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Planck:
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MiniVan:
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Kits:
Base Kit:
[attachimg=14]
(The one thing I have learned from my survey so far is that everyone wants TKL. So now it's the base kit.)
Numpad Kit:
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ISO Kit:
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40% Kit (Planck, JD-4x, MiniVan):
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65% Kit (Whitefox, HHKB, FC660x):
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International kit:
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(KLE doesn't like the Eszett. It writes it as SS.)
Number Row Mono Kit:
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(I don't know if any more than one row is feasible. I hope this is enough for the people who like the mono look!)
Working Novelty kit:
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Spacebar Kit:
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And finally, lame Ergodox Kit:
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The Future:
Novelties are here, but I think it would be economical to whittle them down a bit. I'm also open to suggestions from all of you.
Still haven't gotten around to 3D renders (I've had a lot of work to do recently), but I'm hoping to get in touch with someone soon. Thank you!
Update list: More
1/27/2017: Consolidated "Planck" and "Alt" kits into "40%" and "65%" kits. Added small mono kit.
1/29/2017: Added an international kit.
2/14/2017: Added concept novelty kit, space kit. Changed base kit to TKL.
2/23/2017: Updated novelty kit to newest version.
3/15/2017: Updated kits to both brown and grey options, posted tentative pricing for kits.
Once again, all feedback is appreciated! Thank you for reading!
Can't say I care much for any of them. The transmutation circle is neat but I'm betting it's too complex and thin to work as a doubleshot novelty. I don't get what the sword or kanji reference.
I like the idea of the A:TLA cap but I personally prefer the fire element symbol over the fire nation symbol.
Show Image
(http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=110099973)
I also think a campfire symbol would be nicer than just a generic flame.
Show Image
(http://www.unitedsign.com//v/vspfiles/photos/U-KS-17BR-2T.jpg)
My biggest issue is that the novelties don't look cohesive enough. If I don't know what they're referencing, it's not obvious that it all has to do with fire.
One thing I thought about was having some sort of blue or white accent in the novelties. If there was a novelty-only color, it would allow for more icons since there would be fewer colors. Something like this?
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/PVVkhdC.png)
The colors are BFM and BBQ, for reference.
I hope this doesn't come across as overly critical! I just want to help this set be the best it can be.
Thank you for bringing up the blue option! I had thought about providing an alternative bottom row with blue legends so that it mimics a flame on a matchstick, but I lost the idea eventually. I might knock some options off of the list to make a blue option available.
To explain the other novelties, the symbol is the Chinese character for fire. I guess that would mean that it's also kanji, and I'm sure it means the same thing in Japanese. The sword is a bonfire graphic from Dark Souls. The most recent game had a lot of elements based around fire, including an "embered" state, so I though it was apt. The transmutation circle is the circle used to transmute flames in Fullmdtal Alchemist. I watched it again recently and love its design. I wanted to avoid making a whole bunch of keys with fire vector art on them, so I thought I'd mix it up a bit.
I like the idea of changing the fire nation symbol. The one you posted is more elegant. As for changing the fire graphic, I'd rather use a single flame rather than a full campfire graphic because I think it looks more "minimalist," for lack of a better word. I'll try out some more ideas though. Thanks for the feedback!
Sorry I've been gone for so long. My work tends to come in waves so this could happen a few more times, but I won't let it stop me!
I like the novelties! Whether or not you'd need them in every colour of the gradient is questionable but DSA novelty costs are actually not that high I believe - for example the "Bonus Pack" kit for Granite which included a bunch of novelties, coloured arrows/WASD and a few function keys costs like $35 on PMK (which is for sure a higher cost than what it'd be if it were during a group buy). Think there are 30-35 keys included there and not all of them are 1u even so I think you'll be fine.
Well it's good to know I have a cushion if there end up being a lot of novelties. Nonetheless, I wouldn't be averse to cutting some in the name of saving money. It depends on what people like and SP's response.
I know I keep coming back to this thread, but DAMN are those novelties slick! Really like the fire nation one. Really hope this makes it off the ground! :thumb:
Hey, I just hope you're not the only one that keeps coming back! Thank you for your support! ;D
[snip]
Thank you for bringing up the blue option! I had thought about providing an alternative bottom row with blue legends so that it mimics a flame on a matchstick, but I lost the idea eventually. I might knock some options off of the list to make a blue option available.
To explain the other novelties, the symbol is the Chinese character for fire. I guess that would mean that it's also kanji, and I'm sure it means the same thing in Japanese. The sword is a bonfire graphic from Dark Souls. The most recent game had a lot of elements based around fire, including an "embered" state, so I though it was apt. The transmutation circle is the circle used to transmute flames in Fullmdtal Alchemist. I watched it again recently and love its design. I wanted to avoid making a whole bunch of keys with fire vector art on them, so I thought I'd mix it up a bit.
I like the idea of changing the fire nation symbol. The one you posted is more elegant. As for changing the fire graphic, I'd rather use a single flame rather than a full campfire graphic because I think it looks more "minimalist," for lack of a better word. I'll try out some more ideas though. Thanks for the feedback!
So I was a bit bored today and ended up doodling a bunch of possible novelties. :D I'm not familiar with Fullmetal Alchemist or Dark Souls but I tried making a more simplified icon based on what I could google. There's also a fire element symbol and an inverted one with thicker lines, a 火 for fire, and then some basic fire-y icons. I'm rather fond of the tree. I'm not well versed in iconography, so this was mainly for fun.
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/TNWSCHQ.png)
Other colors are here: http://imgur.com/a/qpdWz (http://imgur.com/a/qpdWz)
Thank you so much for doing this! I'll definitely be using the fire element symbol novelty, and as of now I'm trying to formulate a new bonfire novelty of my own. I'll also attempt to include more simple fire vectors (campfire and more interesting flames) and a row in the BFM color. I'll try to update with my ideas as soon as they're finished.
I agree with sentiments above and feel the novelties aren't very coherent. I feel like a Phenix would make sense as a novelty. I like the idea that Parva Ovis had of using a campfire icon as well.
Overall, this set looks great. Looking forward to this becoming a reality.
Campfire and Phoenix are both on the way. Thank you for the suggestions!
Neat, I'm not into DSA myself but the gradient legends and overall colors look good.
Just throwing an idea out there, maybe you can spin the flame colors of burning chemicals into some sort of addon kit, obviously not as a new set of alphas
Show Image
(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mn64dhBIoeA/UAJQUS5sFfI/AAAAAAAAKwg/xr4CCghaOos/s1600/fire.JPG)
Planning on adding a touch of blue to my novelties. I think the idea of different legend colors would work really well as an esc kit though. I'll get on it and see how it looks.
I am very interested, and did the poll (grey alphas plz).
I'm really glad you decided to go with DSA profile, I just really like that look.
Also the Dark Souls bonfire novelty is awesome!
Finally, the news. I sent mockups to SP asking for a quote on kits that support both brown and grey alphas. The survey is nearly tied atm with brown edging out just slightly, but I really do believe that both can be done. I'll post here when I hear back from them with the potential pricing. As cool as it would be, it's worthless to offer both sets if they're both too expensive to buy. Hopefully the fact that it's DSA will bring down the price a bit. My fingers remain crossed! :D
On a different note, bonfire novelty is here to stay! It'll just be a little different than it is now.
This set looks great! The gradient colors are great and I'd be happy with either the brown or the grey. Count me in
For the novelties.. I really like the minimalist "elemental" style (I don't know how else to call it) of some of the icons.
The bottom row icon here is great and is the style im referring to. I also like the idea of maybe having an extra of that key in a lighter blue color
More
(https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=87240.0;attach=158803;image)
I think I also prefer a few of the icons from Parva. Such as the fire (row 1, column 2), ds bonfire (row 2, column 2), and the kanji. I would consider dropping the transmute circle for the kanji (or anything else). The phoenix idea is great too.
More
(https://i.imgur.com/TNWSCHQ.png)
I also like some of the fire icons from here. Specifically the one at row 2, column 1
More
(http://i.imgur.com/MyQFwsU.jpg)
Anyway.. I don't know anything about making icons and such, but these are just my opinions. Really looking forward to the set!
Taking your compliments and criticisms to heart, I've come up with this selection:
Show Image
(https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=87240.0;attach=161839;image)
This new novelty selection looks awesome. I really like them.
Now this question is for everyone. As of now for each novelty design I have two R1 1.25u keys, and 1u keys on R2, R4, R5, the function row, and a special blue row. If people feel like novelties for certain rows will be of little use, I can strike rows to add more designs and keep the price point sane. Tell me if you like this idea. Thank you!
Definitely need the matching bottom row 1.25 keys. Maybe bottom row 1u keys to replace fn keys as well. Other than that, maybe just 1u to replace the ESC key. Also, what do you mean by "a special blue row"? Just each novelty in a blue color?