Designing the next Topre keycap set

[Hypersphere]

Awesome. Can we do a very basic colorway, though?  Something not so esoteric.  Granite was excellent at this and I think that's a large reason as to why it sold so well.  We've only got one shot, anyway.

+1 for the classics. The Granite colorway is excellent. I also like color schemes based on light blue and light gray (or tan or beige), with some optional red accents. As for fonts, it is hard to beat classic genuine Helvetica.

This evening, I installed my last remaining Topre blue alpha set on my black HHKB. Although Topre formerly had these produced, as far as I know they are not making them any longer and they are not available anywhere. Therefore, I would like to recommend this color for consideration.

[U47]

+1 for the classics. The Granite colorway is excellent. I also like color schemes based on light blue and light gray (or tan or beige), with some optional red accents. As for fonts, it is hard to beat classic genuine Helvetica.
(Attachment Link)
This evening, I installed my last remaining Topre blue alpha set on my black HHKB. Although Topre formerly had these produced, as far as I know they are not making them any longer and they are not available anywhere. Therefore, I would like to recommend this color for consideration.

Agreed. I would humbly suggest the lavender colorway. That might slake the thirst of everyone clamouring for purple.

Whatever the colour, keep things simple and classic. This needs to be popular enough to spur further Topre collaborations down the road, and that won't happen with wild and crazy.

[Matt3o]

I won't port Granite to the realforce. Topre has white/gray which is very close to Granite already.

[Matt3o]

More options

[romevi]

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Lovin the white on blue and the Honeywell schemes.

[sth]

i like the idea of blank pink and grey

[TastaturenAuslese]

i like the idea of blank pink and grey

+1

[dustinhxc]

I'm digging that purple and dark grey. Is that a windows icon? It looks weird. Maybe it's windows 10. This is sweet man, they need more Realforce sets bad.

[henz]

White/blue ! 

[GL1TCH3D]

I can't imagine Topre producing every single one of those options

I'm guessing you have to narrow it down at some point?

[Hypersphere]

Thanks for showing us some additional designs.

I don't like pink at all.

Of these latest designs, my favorites are the first of the blue legends on white, but I would prefer light gray mods.

I also like the first of the last two designs with black legends on white alphas with dark gray mods and red accents. Perhaps the red accents could be options. In my case, I would prefer a blank red Right Control along with a blank red Esc.

I would also like to see options for the Tilde (~) and Pipe (|) keys to be the same color as the mods in order to provide color symmetry on the board.

Thanks for your efforts on this project -- much appreciated.

[Matt3o]

I can't imagine Topre producing every single one of those options

I'm guessing you have to narrow it down at some point?

just one will be produced.

[cheebs]

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The last one!  Reminds me of the JUST systems set.

[jerue]

I'd probably vote for the yellow/icon mods from the OP. Provided we get swappable CTRL/Caps Lock keys as well...

It'd ruin my current theme (black/silver/red), but it'd be so worth it. Maybe I'll get lucky and find someone willing to trade their yellow BBv2 to me 

[rsadek]

That pink! Now if we could boost it just a bit more watermelon/neon/fabulous even people who don't like pink will like it. ........BECAUSE IT WOULD BE AWESOMEZ!

[Heliobb]

Love this one !

[moshimalloe]

PINK! And then it would finally be time for me to pick up a Topre :333

[deci]

Oh damn, a lot of the new ones look amazing.

Specially the last 2!!!

[bocahgundul]

nice job matt3o  love the blue and white 

[Remenition]

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have you tried something with white + pink/purple?

[astromazzy]

All the new ones look great! 
I think the centered legends and icon modifiers look especially great!

[Jedi]

Hey awesome, awesome news!  The community is gonna be ALL OVER THIS. 
First ever PBT Topre Spacebar, now FIRST EVER matt3o designed Topre keycaps. 

+1 on Making the Alphas POP!  (think bright white, solid black)
+1 on a Bright base kit (think light white/blue, light white/gray, white, champagne)
+1 on a Crisp Mod Kit (think blue, violet, orange, gray, gold)
+1 on accent highlight (think red, green) for ESC/Return/Shift
+1 on side printed legends for Realforce 87U standard FN+key press (top printed keycaps)
+1 on centered legends

-1 on dull colors (dull blues, dull grays, dull pink (sorry guys, not a fan personally but I respect you just the same)
-1 on faded lettering (thin font set, light gray)

Really looking for the final decision.  When is the deadline?

[Matt3o]

I'm waiting for a feedback from Topre any time now

[Hypersphere]

I liked the Penubra set design (but I missed the GB!)



Of the designs you have shown us thus far, I am not highly enthusiastic about any of them, but the one I like the most is shown below:

[romevi]

I liked the Penubra set design (but I missed the GB!)

(Attachment Link)

Of the designs you have shown us thus far, I am not highly enthusiastic about any of them, but the one I like the most is shown below:

(Attachment Link)

Yup. That Honeywell/Round 5 is definitely the best, and will go well in the office environment where I keep my Realforce.
The white with blue legends looks fantastic too, and I hope that gets made somewhere down the road.

[livingspeedbump]

I liked the Penubra set design (but I missed the GB!)

(Attachment Link)

Of the designs you have shown us thus far, I am not highly enthusiastic about any of them, but the one I like the most is shown below:

(Attachment Link)

Yup. That Honeywell/Round 5 is definitely the best, and will go well in the office environment where I keep my Realforce.
The white with blue legends looks fantastic too, and I hope that gets made somewhere down the road.

Agreed, the Honeywell/Round 5 is killer, easily my favorite as well.

But heck, I can keep dreaming about a Penumbra hi pro topre set too, right?

[Bomble]

I liked the Penubra set design (but I missed the GB!)

(Attachment Link)

Of the designs you have shown us thus far, I am not highly enthusiastic about any of them, but the one I like the most is shown below:

(Attachment Link)

Yup. That Honeywell/Round 5 is definitely the best, and will go well in the office environment where I keep my Realforce.
The white with blue legends looks fantastic too, and I hope that gets made somewhere down the road.

Agreed, the Honeywell/Round 5 is killer, easily my favorite as well.

But heck, I can keep dreaming about a Penumbra hi pro topre set too, right?

I agree 100%

Probably going to have to end up modding an 87U or getting a Novatouch for penumbra on Topre though 

[rsadek]

I liked the Penubra set design (but I missed the GB!)

(Attachment Link)

Of the designs you have shown us thus far, I am not highly enthusiastic about any of them, but the one I like the most is shown below:

(Attachment Link)

Yup. That Honeywell/Round 5 is definitely the best, and will go well in the office environment where I keep my Realforce.
The white with blue legends looks fantastic too, and I hope that gets made somewhere down the road.

Agreed, the Honeywell/Round 5 is killer, easily my favorite as well.

But heck, I can keep dreaming about a Penumbra hi pro topre set too, right?

I agree 100%

Probably going to have to end up modding an 87U or getting a Novatouch for penumbra on Topre though 

There may be hope that JTK will make a penumbra Topre. HiPro Penumbra Topre is a taller order, but I'd definitely buy a set or five
I was way into penumbra, but when I saw the keys in person I felt underwhelmed. I feel there's a better version in our futures. Fingers crossed!


On topic again: I like the white/grey/red one too. And that gray/pink!

[Kinaesthetic]

I liked the Penubra set design (but I missed the GB!)

(Attachment Link)

Of the designs you have shown us thus far, I am not highly enthusiastic about any of them, but the one I like the most is shown below:

(Attachment Link)

But the problem with that design that you like of his so much, is that it can basically be achieved with the existing colorways that have been produced. We should be aiming for new colorways produced from Topre. Something that doesn't particularly exist at this point in time. Something new.

[Matt3o]

Honestly I see this set as a "special edition" or "limited edition", as such I believe we should dare a little. The default all black or white/gray RF keycaps are good enough if you want something sober, anyway Topre has the last word. I'll make some more tests today and I'll be narrowing down the options.

[Bomble]

Honestly I see this set as a "special edition" or "limited edition", as such I believe we should dare a little. The default all black or white/gray RF keycaps are good enough if you want something sober, anyway Topre has the last word. I'll make some more tests today and I'll be narrowing down the options.

I like the sound of this!!!

[Bomble]

Oops, double post.

How2tapatalk

[Bucake]

Honestly I see this set as a "special edition" or "limited edition", as such I believe we should dare a little. The default all black or white/gray RF keycaps are good enough if you want something sober, anyway Topre has the last word. I'll make some more tests today and I'll be narrowing down the options.

i agree.
though, i actually dig the plain color scheme of the stock white/grey RF. the problem for me are the legends
i had actually planned to get a 55g RF and a EK RF, so i could have the legends of the EK one and the domes of the 55g one..
and i'm not even a fan of the black RF

so i guess i'll wait to see what comes out of this
hopefully i like the winner enough to get your set + a 55g RF

[dohbot]

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I really like this one!

[GL1TCH3D]

Honestly I see this set as a "special edition" or "limited edition", as such I believe we should dare a little. The default all black or white/gray RF keycaps are good enough if you want something sober, anyway Topre has the last word. I'll make some more tests today and I'll be narrowing down the options.

I'm sure the set will be popular no matter what so I'm with you that you want to be a bit more daring.
Whatever colorway you choose would be fine for most people. I think a lot of people are looking to add a bit of flair to their keyboards compared to the very neutral colors that the topre boards generally ship with without having to move to the novatouch sliders

[dustinhxc]

These are cool and all but can you please get them to make some more blank sets. You can still find printed but blanks went extinct like a year ago.

[Bomble]

I was wondering - would it be possible for the set to include caps to cover the four 1u caps on the top row of a 23U? (Esc, Tab, BS, Shift)

[dustinhxc]

I was wondering - would it be possible for the set to include caps to cover the four 1u caps on the top row of a 23U? (Esc, Tab, BS, Shift)

Also the 0, 00, -, +

[Bomble]

I was wondering - would it be possible for the set to include caps to cover the four 1u caps on the top row of a 23U? (Esc, Tab, BS, Shift)

Also the 0, 00, -, +

Oh yeah, these too!

[Matt3o]

I was wondering - would it be possible for the set to include caps to cover the four 1u caps on the top row of a 23U? (Esc, Tab, BS, Shift)

this set is for a full size RF only (hence TKL will be compatible). I don't think they will include any extra but I will try.

[sth]

hhkb i can understand (kind of -- i mean they already have the shift key for JIS, all they would need to make is delete and fn and they have those molds... but i digress) but for 8-9 extra keys (if you include 2x esc) i don't see why they shouldn't make the keys to support one of their own products in the same set - it would be literally pennies and they could sell the sets for $10 more each.

[Matt3o]

We were only missing green



I really like this one.

[sth]

We were only missing green

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I really like this one.

i like it too - very CCnG but i'm not sure about the green + reddish -- gettin kinda christmassy :)) blank ccng would look soooo nice on a white hhkb/realforce.

[esoomenona]

.

[rowdy]

We were only missing green

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I really like this one.

i like it too - very CCnG but i'm not sure about the green + reddish -- gettin kinda christmassy :)) blank ccng would look soooo nice on a white hhkb/realforce.

Actually CCnG would look kinda cool on a RealForce!  Would Topre include two Esc and two Enter - one each of green and red?

[Matt3o]

We were only missing green

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I really like this one.

i like it too - very CCnG but i'm not sure about the green + reddish -- gettin kinda christmassy :)) blank ccng would look soooo nice on a white hhkb/realforce.

ah right I forgot any combination of green/red is seen as Christmassy in US. I'll replace the accent with purple maybe.

[sth]

We were only missing green

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I really like this one.

i like it too - very CCnG but i'm not sure about the green + reddish -- gettin kinda christmassy :)) blank ccng would look soooo nice on a white hhkb/realforce.

ah right I forgot any combination of green/red is seen as Christmassy in US. I'll replace the accent with purple maybe.

ooooh. yeah. yes.

[korrelate]

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Lovin the white on blue and the Honeywell schemes.

man... you took the words right out of my mouth. Honeywell-inspired caps on a 104UB-DK (dark grey) chassis + the fact that Matteo's going to clean up those sloppy legends!! That would be one hell of a hot keyboard.

Geez.. just the idea of being able to clean up those legends..... that's big right there.

Now take all of the above and add a 55g Uniform option.
Now add the silencers and: shut up!! I would have to have this thing.

Now.... if they could push their own digilog, all aluminum, removable usb cord + hub : that thing would be unstoppable: a real end-game board there.


I don't think there's much a chance of the icon only mods... but if those actually made it I would be beside myself with joy.

[sth]

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Lovin the white on blue and the Honeywell schemes.

man... you took the words right out of my mouth. Honeywell-inspired caps on a 104UB-DK (dark grey) chassis + the fact that Matteo's going to clean up those sloppy legends!! That would be one hell of a hot keyboard.

Geez.. just the idea of being able to clean up those legends..... that's big right there.

Now take all of the above and add a 55g Uniform option.
Now add the silencers and: shut up!! I would have to have this thing.

Now.... if they could push their own digilog, all aluminum, removable usb cord + hub : that thing would be unstoppable: a real end-game board there.


I don't think there's much a chance of the icon only mods... but if those actually made it I would be beside myself with joy.

topre has never really cared much about the enthusiast market (the fact that they're open to making new caps is HUGE and im honestly surprised they ever made colored keycaps) - i wouldn't hold out for a metal case on an (essentially) office/accountant's keyboard :/

[Matt3o]

Reducing options.

All designs need some work with the legends (alignment and sizing mostly). There are 3 fonts there. Of course we can use any font with any color. The gray/yellow one has a more "modern" typeface. The white/red has a narrow font. The others are very close to Helvetica, but all fix the original funky RF legends.

Personally I prefer the icon modifiers, but I'm okay with text. I will probably add a fifth option, possibly more "traditional", not that any of the options so far are incredibly extravagant.