Key Cap Symbol/IdeoGram/PictoGram's

[CaptCarrot]

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum, I wasn't sure if to post in here or in the DIY threads.  Feel free to move if you feel it appropriate.

I am in the middle of designing a concept keyboard mod (think SteamPunk stylee).  A chance conversation with a work colleague has taken it from fledgling concept to fully thought out idea.  There are still some practicalities on construction that need to be considered, but for the time being I am pretty much complete on the design.

There is only one hurdle on my key cap designs right now, I need symbols, ideograms or pictograms for the [Prt Scr/Sys Req], [Scroll Lock] and [Pause/Break] keys.  These are the only keys that I do not have an image for yet.

I want something that can be readable at 1/4 the size of the key face, as it shares its key with other functions.

Any ideas?

[Pharo212]

You might want to take a look at some laptop keyboards that have multiple functions on each key.

The blue FN ones on thinkpads come to mind, personally. I'm not sure if it fits your aesthetic, but that's the design principle you have to have.

Do you have to make the pictograms line up with their functions, though? I can't think of a time when I've used most of those, so personally I'd go with something that fits the theme even if it's only vaguely related. A telegraph symbol for print screen, maybe.

[nrd]

Are you looking for a specific (SteamPunk) style or just ideas in general? I think at least "Pause"/"Break" should be easy: https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/112171/audio_button_control_media_pause_icon (or some variant of that)

It would help to know what some of your other symbols look like to get a rough idea of what you're going for.

[CaptCarrot]

You might want to take a look at some laptop keyboards that have multiple functions on each key.

The blue FN ones on thinkpads come to mind, personally. I'm not sure if it fits your aesthetic, but that's the design principle you have to have.

Do you have to make the pictograms line up with their functions, though? I can't think of a time when I've used most of those, so personally I'd go with something that fits the theme even if it's only vaguely related. A telegraph symbol for print screen, maybe.

Great idea, I've got an old stinkpad kicking around somewhere - I'll dig it out and have a look.

Are you looking for a specific (SteamPunk) style or just ideas in general? I think at least "Pause"/"Break" should be easy: https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/112171/audio_button_control_media_pause_icon (or some variant of that)

It would help to know what some of your other symbols look like to get a rough idea of what you're going for.

Not steampunk in this instance - it just that the SP KBD's are what got me going on this.

That pause key I think will work fine - don't know why I didn't think of that.  Am considering an "All Seeing Eye" for Prt Scr and maybe a bit of parchment for Scr Lk.

Although I need to keep the pictograms relatively simple as they are going to be hand carved!!!

As for the theme - I don't want to shout what it is (because I have not seen anything similar) but I will show you what I am planning to use for the other keys:

The Alpha keys:
http://superiorrealities.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/runes.jpg
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/134/6/b/wa__runic_alphabet_by_ovannikki-d4zquaz.png
content.altfonts.com:81/img/R/U/Runic-AltA.png
or http://www.divineanswers.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/theban.gif

Most likely the former

The numerals:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dftS6agMeLY/Uv1R45sHkZI/AAAAAAAABgE/jW_c5oCSjEk/s1600/Runic-Numerals-Ed.jpg

The punctuation:
http://luc.devroye.org/PauloHenrique--AngeloidRunes-2011.png

The F-keys:
http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110523010858/althistory/images/4/4b/Zodiac_Symbols.png

The Cursors:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-og771FuJT8o/T1qtka_FulI/AAAAAAAACjI/WhMlWCLyvYc/Gardnerian%252520Wicca.jpg
Which leaves Escape, Tab, Caps lock, Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Meta (Windows), Alt Gr, Backspace, Enter, Insert, Delete, Home, End, Page Up and Page Down.

For those I was going to mostly steal mac symbols:
http://www.macstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Keyboad-shortcut-1.png

Which just leaves, the 3 mentioned in my OP.

[Hak Foo]

Have you seen the "angry man" scroll lock key design?  It's a little stickman with a lock for a head, holding an up arrow in one hand and a down arrow in the other.

[CaptCarrot]

Have you seen the "angry man" scroll lock key design?  It's a little stickman with a lock for a head, holding an up arrow in one hand and a down arrow in the other.

No - *goes to look*

[edit]

My Google-Fu is weak tonight - I am having no luck tracking down the "Angry Man" ow which you speak.

That said, I have come across what sees to be a couple of "industry standards" - The one that catches my eye the most is one that looks like a Tab symbol, but pointing down instead of to the right.

http://www.pcper.com/images/reviews/263/06.jpg

[CaptCarrot]

Looking at the "Pause" option also led me to the musical notation http://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/242/flashcards/931242/jpg/fermata1321370738832.jpg

But that's a bit too close to an eye (http://dir.coolclips.com/Healthcare/Medical_Symbols/General_Symbols/symbol_of_all_seeing_eye_CoolClips_reli0060.jpg)for my liking.  However if I use the symbol on my lappy for output to another monitor that looks somewhat like |[]|.

[nrd]

Although I need to keep the pictograms relatively simple as they are going to be hand carved!!!

Interesting. Hmm, that narrows it down quite a bit, I would think …

Couldn't find the angry man either, but sounds intriguing!

The one that catches my eye the most is one that looks like a Tab symbol, but pointing down instead of to the right.

That would remind me too much of a simple page down (downwards arrow with _ underneath). Coming to think of it, why not use the tabulator icon and turn it on its side? http://unicode-table.com/en/21B9/ turned 90° – I think that would be a good representation of the original "scroll lock" function.

There are plenty of different arrow-ish symbols in unicode for inspiration: http://unicode-table.com/en/sets/arrows-symbols/
Especially the more obscure ones like the "squiggly" arrows (http://unicode-table.com/en/21DD/) or "harpoons" (http://unicode-table.com/en/296E/) or "electric" arrows (http://unicode-table.com/en/2301/ - not sure why, but that one reminds me of a "pause" icon, too). If you're not looking for something that strictly represents the actual function of the key, the Unicode characters could be a good place to search around. Lots of abstract stuff in there.

A search for "screen" got me here: http://unicode-table.com/en/239A/

(Oh - and searching "print" brought up this: http://unicode-table.com/en/329E/ No idea what it is, but reminded me of your runes  )

[CaptCarrot]

Cheers, you got me thinking an I have created a mock-up of what I am looking at.  Feel free to make suggestions on it.

[Pharo212]

I feel like the infinity symbol looks a little offset compared to the rest.

But I like the overall design! It's an interesting keyboard.

[nrd]

It’s not centered, maybe that’s why it looks off^^

It’s an interesting concept, but I feel it’s mixing too many styles. On the one hand the "runey"/abstract style and on the other hand the standard arrows (but maybe it would look different when it’s carved on the keys).

One thing that really stood out is the scroll(?) on your menu key - that one doesn’t seem to match any of the other keys. For the menu key I really like one of the symbols I found in the WASDkeyboard.com templates. At first I wanted to use it as the right OS-key (as seen here: http://i.imgur.com/tIlZdpd.png) but by now I have swapped it over to the Menu-key and use blank domed keys for the OS-keys. I think that symbol might suit your layout, too.

A very interesting project you got there 

[CaptCarrot]

I agree with all of the above.

Yes infinity is off, for some reason it wouldn't centre, but you get the idea.

The scroll - couldn't think of anything else. The WASD symbol similar to the ALT symbol looks a good choice.  Thanks.

The arrows - I agree they look out of place. I chose them over the words.  I am hoping a bit of stylising will help but am open to other suggestions.

Maybe a wizards hats for Caps Lock? Geddit? Hat - Caps? Never mind.

Please, any more suggestions/criticisms welcome.

[nrd]

Well, one simple tweak to make the standard arrows look a bit more "obscure" would be to remove the arrowheads and just leave the lines. (Or even replace the straight lines with more squiggly ones or some more "uneven" ones like you have on your alphanumerical keys.) I think that would work for most of the arrows except the “page up” “page down” icons. You could probably use something like the Unicode harpoons to make them look a bit less "regular" without losing all meaning.

Not so sure what to do about shift/caps/backspace/delete … I think I’d swap the ctrl-symbols for the shift-symbols, maybe double them up for capslock. It’s probably easier to find an alternative for ctrl than to find a good symbol for shift. Maybe something really simple for ctrl, like a horizontal line?

Can’t think of anything for backspace though …

[CaptCarrot]

All good ideas.

I think I'll replace home/end/pgup/pgdn with the elemental symbols currently used for the cursors.

For backspace and delete I may go with the symbols for maiden and crone and use mother for insert.

I think I will change the OS key from the triquetra to a pentagram and put the triquetra on escape.

That leaves the cursors and modifiers.

Currently looking into seasons and soltices for inspiration.

[Findecanor]

I believe there are standard ISO symbols for practically all keys as glyphs in the Unicode standard, but (as many ISO "standards") they have not achieved wide use.

A group order of key caps had these symbols, but I think that some were chosen mostly for fun. The Num Lock symbol used is often used for Caps Lock in some layouts.
I am amused by the use of a stylized coffee mug for "Pause".

Have you seen the "angry man" scroll lock key design?  It's a little stickman with a lock for a head, holding an up arrow in one hand and a down arrow in the other.

That one is a mix of different keycap symbols, made for fun.

[Findecanor]

Cheers, you got me thinking an I have created a mock-up of what I am looking at.

Be aware that the "tab" symbol is a single arrow to the right with a vertical line. An arrow pointing left with a vertical bar is the shifted symbol: back-tab, achieved by pressing Shift-Tab. On some older pre-PC keyboards these symbols are found on different dedicated keys.

BTW, the ISO key symbol for Insert is a broken horizontal line with a v on top. The 'v' shape is the proofreading mark for insertion and the two lines represent the words to insert between.

[nrd]

Do you happen to know where I could find a list of the standard symbols?

I think a couple of them are in http://unicode-table.com/en/#miscellaneous-technical (delete, backspace, insert, compose, option) but a full list would be nice

Speaking of pause icons – I quite like the hourglass, too: http://unicode-table.com/en/231B/

[CaptCarrot]

I believe there are standard ISO symbols for practically all keys as glyphs in the Unicode standard, but (as many ISO "standards") they have not achieved wide use.

A group order of key caps had these symbols, but I think that some were chosen mostly for fun. The Num Lock symbol used is often used for Caps Lock in some layouts.
I am amused by the use of a stylized coffee mug for "Pause".

Have you seen the "angry man" scroll lock key design?  It's a little stickman with a lock for a head, holding an up arrow in one hand and a down arrow in the other.

That one is a mix of different keycap symbols, made for fun.

Thanks for that - Re Angry Man - he is in that first link of yours - http://deskthority.net/wiki/File:NOIR_TKLSYM.png

Cheers, you got me thinking an I have created a mock-up of what I am looking at.

Be aware that the "tab" symbol is a single arrow to the right with a vertical line. An arrow pointing left with a vertical bar is the shifted symbol: back-tab, achieved by pressing Shift-Tab. On some older pre-PC keyboards these symbols are found on different dedicated keys.

BTW, the ISO key symbol for Insert is a broken horizontal line with a v on top. The 'v' shape is the proofreading mark for insertion and the two lines represent the words to insert between.

Cheers, I was aware of the Tab and Backtab.  It seems there manufacturers decide whether to put just tab or both tab and backtab symbols on the same key.  I have several keyboards that have both symbols on the Tab key.

Your "Insert" symbol sounds like an upside down version of one of the  Mac enter symbol I found here www.macstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Keyboad-shortcut-1.png

According to that unicode list the insert symbol is a letter a in the cup of the v unicode-table.com/en/2380/

[nrd]

I am amused by the use of a stylized coffee mug for "Pause".

Even that one is in Unicode! http://unicode-table.com/en/2615/
I’m starting to wonder if there’s anything you can’t find in Unicode.

I also just found out that you can search wikipedia by using symbols: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/☕
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/☔
and so on …

Sorry, I’ll leave this thread alone now