[IC] Penumbra Key Set (formerly Solarized)

[Ryan Uber]

I don't understand why the mods aren't colored.  Traditionally you have Ctrl, Alt, and Shift with the red/green/blue.  For some reason the mockup leaves those gray while coloring backspace, tab, and enter.  By the way I like the SA profile idea.

I don't either There is no logical reason why the colors are not the same as traditional sets. I just had an idea, banged out a mock-up as quickly as I could, and that's how it turned out.

I think it looks more symmetric with gray mods and gray function row legends on top.  This is an unusual set, and all the unusual bits make it interesting.  Versus standard dark mods + light alphas, 2-tone set ups.

I agree with this, Photoelectric.

Coming from someone who hasn't spent ages looking at different key cap combinations, it simply didn't occur to me that this is how things are normally done, hence the atypical legend colors.

Thanks to you both for the comments. Anyone else care to weigh in? As the OP states, I am completely open to suggestions, and if there are many who prefer the legends a different way, let's have a looksie.

[pr0ximity]

I love Solarized! Great idea, can't believe it hasn't been done sooner.

My only gripe is that I really dislike the light alphas with dark mods. I'd be in for a complete set in dark in a heartbeat. Might do an all-light one.

[kwago]

i'm in

[danielucf]

If you don't see a color you like that matches then just ask SP to order a custom color for you. It is free and you just need to give them the Pantone code. This set looks pretty cool, I had an idea to do a similar color scheme except dark blue for the alphas and the lighter color for the mods.

[The_Beast]

I love all 3 colors (A, B and C) but I'm more concerned about profile. DSA or SA would be preferred and I wouldn't buy a DSC profile set

[MOZ]

I think SA is what the OP is also most interested in.

[danielucf]

I think all the colors should be used somehow. I didn't see magenta in any of the mockups. What makes the entire solarized scheme look great is all the colors being used together.

[Latin00032]

I think all the colors should be used somehow. I didn't see magenta in any of the mockups. What makes the entire solarized scheme look great is all the colors being used together.

I referred back to the solarized website.

An extra color would make it look better all together.

[acantha]

these will look great in the SA profile... but i do wish there was an option for DCS, because i don't find that i have a lot of keyboards that i like putting SA profile caps on.

[Photoelectric]

DSC is usually very thin ABS   That's my main issue with it.  Plus the typical WYSE fonts in place of the large centralized fonts.

[ijprest]

Here's a couple options I whipped up to see what RGBY modifiers would look like (using the official Solarized colors... we'd have to match them to SP plastics):

• Solarized Light: http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/layouts/6ec6b27e647ef6086d6f6e87ab73e52e
• Solarized Dark: http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/layouts/36b8390d2d85178711cda19de72d8d19

[stoic-lemon]

Yes. Interested. This would be a beautiful set.

[hashbaz]

I used Solarized quite a lot, but lately I've switched to Tomorrow (https://github.com/chriskempson/tomorrow-theme).

Ooh, very nice.  That's going straight into my ~/.vim

[MOZ]

• Solarized Light: http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/layouts/6ec6b27e647ef6086d6f6e87ab73e52e

[yicaoyimu]

This has been my choice of color scheme for Emacs for quite a long time lol. Will grab a set if DSA/DCS is an option.

[Hellmark]

Too bad you removed Version B. That was my favorite.

[Ryan Uber]

I think all the colors should be used somehow. I didn't see magenta in any of the mockups. What makes the entire solarized scheme look great is all the colors being used together.

Good call - maybe we can change Esc? Or include a second one if people liked the orange Esc.



I think Magenta is going to need to be a custom color if we want to include it. The samples on the SP site are too soft or too dark. We could use RCR, looks closest but still more of a pink.

[Photoelectric]

^ Want!  Must order!

[Ryan Uber]

Updated OP with a few adjustments, and added currently selected colors.

[Elrick]

DSC is usually very thin ABS   That's my main issue with it.  Plus the typical WYSE fonts in place of the large centralized fonts.

100% CORRECT.  Plus I've already got too many DCS caps.  We desperately need more SA love on here and look forward to this GB picking up some legs and running fast to SP for production.  Once you get your FIRST delivery of these in your hands you'll be wondering why SP hasn't been making them always, instead of that horrid DCS.

[Photoelectric]

I got a random SA profile cap as a bonus in one of my recent GH trade packages, and I was very impressed.  If I was on the fence before, that cap pretty much made the decision for me - I need a full SA set   It's so nicely thick, and the spherical-ness of it is just great.

[frogamic]

MRW reading this:


I'd be in for a set of these

[bupsthename]

The super/meta is also a really nice touch. I actually can't wait for this to run.

Looking forward to the eventual zenburn IC thread....

[Photoelectric]

The super/meta is also a really nice touch. I actually can't wait for this to run.

I agree!  It's all very retro and very cool

[Latin00032]

Are you gong to include a dark "\|" key and dark spacebar?

If you included a dark "\|" key, what color should the text be?

These go well with 60 percent boards.

[Ryan Uber]

Are you gong to include a dark "\|" key and dark spacebar?

If you included a dark "\|" key, what color should the text be?

These go well with 60 percent boards.

That's a good point - I am not opposed to adding an additional key for this purpose. I am not sure - what color do you think the text should be? I am trying to keep the number of colors to what we have now.

Signature Plastics got back to me with a pricing quote. I asked for a quote on the *ENTIRE* set - so bear in mind this is not parting out any alphas / iso kits / numpads / tsangan / graphic modifier keys / etc. We could separate them out into smaller sets, I have no idea how many orders we would get, if we would even come close to the 150 mark or not (which is where the price becomes a little more reasonable), so that might be our next move.

25 sets      $140.17 per set
50 sets      $112.06 per set
75 sets      $102.69 per set
100 sets      $98.00 per set
150 sets      $93.32 per set
200 sets      $90.97 per set
250 sets      $89.57 per set

[Photoelectric]

Group buy, go!   (Of course, if someone experienced is willing to run / assist--wouldn't demand that you do it if you're not ready )

The standard alphas  / mods / tsangan / numpad / ISO seem to be a reasonable traditional way to do this (or combine mods with tsangan kit).  Subtract the numpad and ISO--which is what many people on GH will do based on previous group buys, and you'll have a cheaper purchase.  And many people don't need a Tsangan kit either.

[Ryan Uber]

Yeah - this is kind of what I was thinking too.

Forgot to mention - I also put in a request for a more vibrant magenta. I gave them the hex code #FF0066 which im guessing they know how to convert to whatever format they needed the color in. I'll update here when they reply again.

Looking again, #FF0066 looks a bit bright. It will be used on just the lettering of the Esc key so far. Any other color suggestions?

[Latin00032]

Are you gong to include a dark "\|" key and dark spacebar?

If you included a dark "\|" key, what color should the text be?

These go well with 60 percent boards.

That's a good point - I am not opposed to adding an additional key for this purpose. I am not sure - what color do you think the text should be? I am trying to keep the number of colors to what we have now.

Signature Plastics got back to me with a pricing quote. I asked for a quote on the *ENTIRE* set - so bear in mind this is not parting out any alphas / iso kits / numpads / tsangan / graphic modifier keys / etc. We could separate them out into smaller sets, I have no idea how many orders we would get, if we would even come close to the 150 mark or not (which is where the price becomes a little more reasonable), so that might be our next move.

25 sets$140.17 per set
50 sets$112.06 per set
75 sets$102.69 per set
100 sets$98.00 per set
150 sets$93.32 per set
200 sets$90.97 per set
250 sets$89.57 per set

You could make the "\|" key font magenta as well.

The only issue is on a 60 percent board. The color order from bottom to top on the mods will be out of order.

The top magenta font colored esc key on the top left and a red backspace key on the top right.

[MOZ]

Sent you a PM Ryan.

[yesandnotyes]

Looks very nice!

[n0rvig]

um... yes please! The solarized theme is a brilliant inspiration!

[mtl]

Looks great. Please keep the Tsangan kit.

[ijprest]

Forgot to mention - I also put in a request for a more vibrant magenta. I gave them the hex code #FF0066 which im guessing they know how to convert to whatever format they needed the color in. I'll update here when they reply again.

Looking again, #FF0066 looks a bit bright. It will be used on just the lettering of the Esc key so far. Any other color suggestions?

If we're calling it Solarized, why not try to match the Solarized colors as closely as possible (provided SP is willing to do custom colors, which another poster indicated was the case)?  The colors were chosen specifically to complement each other.  Solarized Magenta == #d33682.

[Photoelectric]

But please keep that awesome beige for the alphas!  It has so much punch and character--for a beige.

[Ryan Uber]

Forgot to mention - I also put in a request for a more vibrant magenta. I gave them the hex code #FF0066 which im guessing they know how to convert to whatever format they needed the color in. I'll update here when they reply again.

Looking again, #FF0066 looks a bit bright. It will be used on just the lettering of the Esc key so far. Any other color suggestions?

If we're calling it Solarized, why not try to match the Solarized colors as closely as possible (provided SP is willing to do custom colors, which another poster indicated was the case)?  The colors were chosen specifically to complement each other.  Solarized Magenta == #d33682.

Thought about this myself as well after posting. If they come back and say that they will do the color match for free, then I'll definitely give them the accurate magenta color. I was actually working on a mock-up with the true solarized color scheme to see how that looks in case they will color match all of the colors in the set.

With all of that said - a lot of people seem to like the YCC beige color from SP's line-up on the alpha's. Out of curiosity, I created a poll. I appreciate both colors. If everyone is deeply divided, perhaps we offer two different sets of alpha's, although that would affect MOQ.

TL;DR
Vote for true solarized or the current YCC alpha color at the below form.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1AsO7t8JX8C7HsTczWZauXpTfLxA-O43UPCJucbapJPw/viewform

[Photoelectric]

True Solarized alphas = standard nondescript beige of the white / beige series.  There are already lots of sets with white, off-white, and light beige alphas.  There are no sets with that rich beige YCC color and blue modifiers to offset it, which makes the original mock up so appealing to me. It's interesting and different.

[Ryan Uber]

True Solarized alphas = standard nondescript beige of the white / beige series.  There are already lots of sets with white, off-white, and light beige alphas.  There are no sets with that rich beige YCC color and blue modifiers to offset it, which makes the original mock up so appealing to me. It's interesting and different.

Definitely agree. Given a choice of the two, I'd love the darker. After danielucf mentioned the color matching, it has stirred up enough interest for a quick poll to see if the majority of others feel the same way. End goal for me is to get the set produced, and I think that I will probably lose some people if we just pick one or the other, which is why I think we might need an option for a slightly higher expense.

[hashbaz]

I asked for a quote on the *ENTIRE* set - so bear in mind this is not parting out any alphas / iso kits / numpads / tsangan / graphic modifier keys / etc. We could separate them out into smaller sets, I have no idea how many orders we would get, if we would even come close to the 150 mark or not (which is where the price becomes a little more reasonable), so that might be our next move.

Just FYI if you're not aware -- you need to get pricing for each set individually.  You can't infer much about pricing of smaller kits based on the megakit.

You could make the "\|" key font magenta as well.

The only issue is on a 60 percent board. The color order from bottom to top on the mods will be out of order.

Can you explain why the Backslash color should be different for a 60% board? ... I'm not following.

[Ryan Uber]

Just FYI if you're not aware -- you need to get pricing for each set individually.  You can't infer much about pricing of smaller kits based on the megakit.

I figured as much. To me the $89 is totally worth a full set of keys plus a few extras, I haven't really guaged gripe factor on pricing yet so good to know if it comes to that, thanks.

Can you explain why the Backslash color should be different for a 60% board? ... I'm not following.

I am guessing because there is no ~, since the escape key goes there, so with escape a dark color, the whole left side is dark, but the right side has one alpha-colored key. Could be wrong

[stoic-lemon]

Voted for the more unique beige.

[Elrick]

Voted for the more unique beige.

I also voted for the FIRST and only decent colourway to appear thus far  .

[Photoelectric]

Should include GH username into the poll, or we can vote repeatedly!

[HendyZone]

voted for YCC

[Ryan Uber]

Should include GH username into the poll, or we can vote repeatedly!

Oh right, I was going on the honor system. Good suggestion

[Ryan Uber]

On another note - I would feel bad if the truly-matched colors were available, and we used YCC anyways and still called it "Solarized", because well, it wouldn't be! So, how about some alternative names? Maybe something like "SemiSolar"?

[Photoelectric]

Penumbra  ) (doesn't sound as well)

[bueller]

On another note - I would feel bad if the truly-matched colors were available, and we used YCC anyways and still called it "Solarized", because well, it wouldn't be! So, how about some alternative names? Maybe something like "SemiSolar"?

Only one way to fix that, do them in the legit Solarized colors

[Ryan Uber]

Since we seem pretty deeply divided so far (will let the poll run in case I am proved wrong later), I am thinking of the following for the sets. I don't really think we need to part this down into tiny kits for everything. ISO is still its own set because I'm guessing that is the least commonly ordered kit and might save a few bucks for the majority of the group. I am thinking maybe we put that in the set with the mods - then you buy the mods + the color alphas you want and thats it.

This is also assuming that SP comes back with a "Yes - we do multiple custom colors at no (or little) charge".



Thoughts?

[stoic-lemon]

Damn it, now I'll just be able to buy both!