geekhack Community > Keyboard Keycaps
Custom Keycap Ideas Thread - all ideas welcome
Piperaceae:
This is a project I've been working on recently, SA SMRT. SMRT is a tribute to Wyse terminal keyboards of the 1990s, using the same classic navy-on-grey color scheme, but transposed to SA profile. I've seen Wyse redone in DCS and Cherry, but never as a tall, chonky sculpt.
Besides modern kitting, SMRT sports optional bright navy and yellow accents, including a "Yellow Alert" monolegend top row, and WASD gamer keys.
Here's some renders of how it's shaping up so far:
ANSI 1800 layout on TKC 1800, with accent keys
MoreISO HHKB layout on Rama M60-A
Modified 40's layout on DeDeDecline Serendipity, with accent keys
ISO 75% layout on a TKC Portico75, with Yellow Alert accents
I do wish the Keyboard Render Kit contained some ortho models so I could show those keys...
Still working on kitting, but it'll likely be similar to SP's SA Standard Black and White sets, with an additional accent kit or two. No novelties per se, but I'm drawing upon elements from a variety of classic Wyse keyboards for legends, and trying to identify fun ones that already exist as SA molds.
Piperaceae:
I thought SA SMRT should have the option for brighter colors, even if the old Wyse terminals were mostly grey. So I cooked up an alternate alphas set, called Thin Client, featuring navy keys and ASCII sublegends. So now you can pick between grey and navy alphas, and mix either of those with the Yellow Alert accent row, to be as colorful or grey as you prefer.
Yeah, this project has a logo now, reminiscent of Wyse's.
Handke:
what colors did the original olivetti have? I mean the base of the alpha keycaps? any idea? thanks
Piperaceae:
This is sort of a pre-interest check, since I don't have a ton of details sorted out yet (dates, vendors, pricing, etc.) But I want to get some early feedback anyway.
This is SA Selectresque. It's an IBM Selectric-esque design, based on the Selectric I blue key colorway available from roughly 1962 to 1974. There's quite a few photos of original Selectrics with blue caps here.
Kitting is fairly straightforward - a generous base that includes UK ISO (because I'm a UK ISO user myself and dammit, I want to be able to use own designs), and numpad and 40s/bars kits.
Kit Renders:
I'm not looking to make huge changes to this; I'm pretty happy with the base, and not sure that any more or bigger child kits would be feasible, no matter how much I want to offer full 40's and international options. I'm hoping that combining basic 40's and small bars into one kit here will benefit both, and ensure they're produced.
Goodies:
There are a handful of Selectric text novelties included (Lock, Margin Release, Clear, Index, and Set), plus a throwback GeekHack key that may cross the line into sheer bribery for goodwill.
Couple more renders:
More
Colors are WFK white, BGW bright blue, and NEZ faded black.
What do y'all think? Would something like this be of potential interest, and worth developing into a full IC? I feel like it's potentially niche, and definitely geared towards folks nostalgic for that 60s/70s chonky retro aesthetic. But I also think it's clean, simple, and potentially modern-looking on the right board.
Piperaceae:
Another possibility would be MTNU Selectresque. GMK seems to favor monokits for that profile, so kitting like this may be feasible:
Plus there haven't been many colorful MTNU sets yet.
Then again, I haven't ever even seen an IC for MTNU; they just sort of appear fully formed, in-stock. So I don't really know what the secret is for successfully running a set in that profile.
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