Author Topic: Designing the next Topre keycap set  (Read 152772 times)

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Offline Matt3o

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Designing the next Topre keycap set
« on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:11:39 »
Like this, out of the blue, Topre is willing to release a new official keycap set for the Realforce (both full size and TKL) and they asked me to design it. I was so excited that I put myself on Inkscape rightaway and worked on a dozen designs.

I have some creativity freedom but I want to keep it simple. First of all the font will most likely be something very Helvetica-like, but I will probably test something different too. Secondly we will correct all the weird legends that currently plague the Realforce.

I also have the green light for asking suggestions to the community, so here I am.

Here below you'll find 3 color ways I'm toying with. I will be pushing for icon modifiers, but I included the text mods as well in case Topre wanted to go more traditional. Please note that they are not final! They are just drafts, the legends need a lot of fixing, but I wanted to show the work in progress anyway.









« Last Edit: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:49:07 by Matt3o »

Offline RoastPotatoes

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #1 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:13:18 »
This is quite impressive. I am liking the second colourway the most.

Offline T0mb3ry

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:15:32 »
Hi Matt3o!

Can you provide us some info about possible profiles?

Offline VesperSAINT

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:16:02 »
Show Image


This is pretty awesome ~ Matt3o with the Topre goodness again ~

In for thissss with traditional legends or blanks ~ I'll have to camp on this one ~

Offline byker

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #4 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:16:15 »
Wow! This is exciting news! Congrats matt3o on being able to design the next realforce set. I am not a big fan of the yellow personally, and the blue is similar to the Special Edition. Ideally, I would prefer some other colours. (If you want my opinion :P)

Offline Lastpilot

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #5 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:16:43 »
This is awesome news! I'd probably want a purple or pink set, but I understand if its not what most people want.

I have to ask though, did you mention blanks at all?

Offline Michael

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #6 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:19:26 »
I would really love to have a blank 10th anniversary colorway set

Offline Lastpilot

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #7 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:20:09 »
I would really love to have a blank 10th anniversary colorway set
+1 that would probably be my first choice now that you mention it

Offline Matt3o

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #8 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:21:07 »
This is awesome news! I'd probably want a purple or pink set, but I understand if its not what most people want.

I have to ask though, did you mention blanks at all?

actually purple would be nice...

(If you want my opinion :P)

I do! I wouldn't have asked otherwise :D

I would really love to have a blank 10th anniversary colorway set

This would be technically feasible I believe (all dye-sub sets are born blank)

Offline jwaz

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #9 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:21:41 »
I would really love to have a blank 10th anniversary colorway set

This would be pretty cool.

I wonder if they would be willing to consider HHKB kits...

Offline swill

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #10 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:22:24 »
Can you make sure they include two 2.25u shift keys so it works with the FC660C as well?  That would be huge...  :)

Offline Michael

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #11 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:22:53 »
I was wondering, does the Topre corp also manufacture the short right shift on HHKB's? Because including that key in sets would be really nice, if possible.

Offline Michael

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #12 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:23:11 »

Offline alienman82

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #13 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:24:52 »
removed.
« Last Edit: Thu, 01 March 2018, 17:16:38 by alienman82 »

Offline VesperSAINT

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #14 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:25:19 »
I would really love to have a blank 10th anniversary colorway set

+100. WAAAAANT SO BADDDDDD.


consider HHKB kits...

would kill for this tooooo ~ dat right shift T_T

Offline strict

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #15 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:27:49 »
Damn, Matt3o coming out of left field with a bomb!

Will these be PBT or ABS sets?

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Offline Matt3o

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #16 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:29:29 »
Will these be PBT or ABS sets?

PBT all the way!

Offline VesperSAINT

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #17 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:32:06 »

Offline retrochick

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #18 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:32:21 »
This is awesome news. Personally I like the second and third colorway the most. also, pbt topre keys? #winning


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Offline byker

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #19 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:33:12 »
+1 to everything above!

- I would LOVE purple or pink
- I would LOVE blanks
- I would LOVE an included short shift for hhkb.

Many thanks matt3o!

Offline Matt3o

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #20 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:34:37 »
unfortunately HHKB and Leopold compatibility won't be possible, at least not this time.

Offline Lurch

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #21 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:35:12 »
Awesome. Matt3o, you rock.
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Offline Michael

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #22 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:35:36 »
unfortunately HHKB and Leopold compatibility won't be possible, at least not this time.



Offline VesperSAINT

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #23 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:40:47 »
unfortunately HHKB and Leopold compatibility won't be possible, at least not this time.




Oh well~ maybe next time~

I'm more than happy that something new is coming along though ~ : D

note: I'm not doing a Tom Cruise train. Just a coincidence it matched the context ~
« Last Edit: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:42:44 by VesperSAINT »

Offline scubaste

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #24 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:44:25 »
This is really exciting! I like the third option the most, and of course the idea of purple sounds great to me.

Offline Matt3o

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #25 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:49:31 »
more options added in the OP.

Offline nubbinator

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #26 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:50:07 »
The first one is the best.  If course, I'd love to see a little light orange/yellow in it a la Royal Apollo GT 10, but I like it.

Also sad about no HHKB.

Offline nathanrosspowell

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #27 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:53:11 »
When people are willing to swap out stems to get more keycap options due a lack of variation, i don't think it's out of the blue  ;)

I really like the yellows and the purples :eek: Shame I only have a HHKB atm.

Offline FrostyToast

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #28 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:54:27 »
The one with the reds and yellows and blues... Definitely not something I would ever want.
Otherwise the other sets are all good looking.

Also: blanks are a must... Not too fond of the legends on the realforce boards.
« Last Edit: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:57:25 by FrostyToast »
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Offline Sifo

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #29 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 13:56:08 »
Show Image


This is pretty awesome ~ Matt3o with the Topre goodness again ~

In for thissss with traditional legends or blanks ~ I'll have to camp on this one ~

finally something I can agree on from vesper
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Offline osi

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #30 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 14:02:58 »
Very honorable! Congrats

Offline VesperSAINT

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #31 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 14:04:13 »
finally something I can agree on from vesper

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Dat purp game is pretty strong... Hmmmm~

Not sure how I feel about legends on Purple caps though. That one might be more appealing blank...

but then who am I kidding~ blanks always appeal most :P

Offline esoomenona

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« Reply #32 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 14:28:01 »
.
« Last Edit: Fri, 14 August 2015, 14:31:56 by esoomenona »

Offline temporal

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #33 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 14:29:53 »
oo gray/yellow dewalt drill for topre for sure

Offline esoomenona

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« Reply #34 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 14:30:51 »
.
« Last Edit: Wed, 12 August 2015, 16:04:39 by esoomenona »

Offline digi

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #35 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 14:30:56 »
Dat purp game is pretty strong... Hmmmm~

+1, not mad at the purp.

Offline Matt3o

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #36 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 14:37:51 »
And will the spacebars be PBT on these?

you betcha :)

Offline geniekid

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #37 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 15:32:15 »
Whoa.  Grats Matt3o :thumb:

Offline jackiecanev2

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #38 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 15:36:52 »
When you say "release a new official keycap set" does that mean RF will be selling the sets standalone, or will they only be available on the ltd edition board of the year or whatnot (a la anniversary and the 89s world editions)?

Also, I would buy ANY of those, not that that's helpful....
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Offline KRKS

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #39 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 16:00:57 »
I'm not even sure whether I'm gonna get an RF soon, but I really like the gray&purple set. IMO a bit lighter gray would look better though.

Also, if they decide to use text modifiers, could you at least ask them to either keep or add two caps with diamonds? HHKB has diamond and text mods, but I'm not sure if that's a good enough argument.
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Offline Matt3o

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #40 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 16:19:01 »
When you say "release a new official keycap set" does that mean RF will be selling the sets standalone, or will they only be available on the ltd edition board of the year or whatnot (a la anniversary and the 89s world editions)?

that yet to be decided, but I'm guessing it will simply be a keyset you can buy separately

Offline Findecanor

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #41 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 16:21:00 »
I once tried purple mods with grey caps. It looks horrible on a keyboard with a dark case, but sort of OK on a keyboard with a white case.

If the alphanumeric keys are centred, then I think that the 1u modifiers should also have centred legends. But larger keys are not so straightforward to make look good.
In my opinion, centred legends on large modifiers don't look right.  I think that Cherry solved this quite well on the MX-board 2.0 and 3.0 by aligning modifier legends in columns as if the legends were centred on 1u keys. Almost, because the legends on the 2u high keys should not have been at the top or bottom. Top and bottom are for when a key has a different meaning with and without Shift, and keypad-Enter doesn't.

Offline kennardsmith

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #42 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 16:35:37 »
congrats, matt3o — what an awesome project! I remember reading somewhere that there was a realforce board being shown show with MX compatible stems… I wonder if that's what's happening here…

Of the designs posted, the gray alphas with teal(?) mods looks the most realforce-y to me. My favorite of the designs is the one with white alphas with the blue symbol mods.

I would love to see a hi-pro topre keyset with big legends like round 5! mmmm.
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Offline strict

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #43 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 16:57:45 »

Will these be PBT or ABS sets?

PBT all the way!

Excellent! Will these be the same thickness as the OEM Realforce/HHKB keys or is there a possibility of thicker ones? Thicker keys like CCs/BBs thunk so nicely when pressed, I would kill to have all the keys sound closer to that.

I'm think I like the grey & yellow color way the most, followed very closely by the grey & teal set.

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Offline colomb

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #44 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 20:39:38 »
Nicely done Matt3o.

Are the colors from the top two schemes supposed to match colors from current RF keycap sets? The black on grey looks similar to what ships with the 87U EK edition, while the orange/yellow looks close the the orange set that was available in the past.

Although I find the black on grey somewhat hard to read, those top two color schemes look great.

Offline stoic-lemon

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #45 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 21:35:15 »
Will there be a JIS set?

Offline rowdy

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #46 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 21:43:24 »
Many excite news!

Congrats, Matt3o, on this wonderful opportunity :)

A shame about lack of HHKB compatibility, but good news on the PBT space bar.

I prefer the white alphas blue modifiers one, but what about yellow alphas and blue modifiers?`
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Offline Gaspar

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #47 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 21:46:54 »
The granite set is one of my all time favorite so my preference would go toward something like it!

Offline swill

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #48 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 22:04:39 »
unfortunately HHKB and Leopold compatibility won't be possible, at least not this time.


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Offline Air tree

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Re: Designing the next Topre keycap set
« Reply #49 on: Wed, 12 August 2015, 22:33:09 »
Short shift pls, come on topre, I believe.


But anyways I would be pumped for the blue and grey set.  ;)