What kinds of keycaps do you guys want to see?

[gloyz]

So we are new makers coming into the keycaps and are wondering what you all want to see for designs? So far we are just playing around with different things, but would love some input so we are making what people want... We like what we make, but we don't want to make it in quantity if no one else wants it too! Background: we are 3 Women coming from the glass blowing world. The young one of us has always been a bit of a computer geek, and the 2 older have recently taken up some pretty serious gaming, thus our entry into the keycap world. Here is a pic of what we have played with so far, and a few design prototypes... Is there interest in these or should we go a different direction for you folks? We won't do any copyright designs (way too many cease & desist threats floating around the glass world, we just don't wanna play there), but otherwise are open to suggestions!!

[Melvang]

Fantasy stuff, dragons, elves, dwarves, orcs, and such.  Also, more buckling spring artisans.

Edit:  A set of caps in dice would be great.  From d20 down to d4 would be amazing.

[gloyz]

Cool! We can do some of those for sure!! Currently we are doing all cherry MX, but have some Topre caps on order to mold from, and we will definitely look at the buckling spring, I just discovered them yesterday... How big of a demand is ALPS? Should we go there? I just can't tell from going through all the back posts what is currently wanted, so much of the info is old...

[pkircher]

alps are not much of a problems .. you get mx to alps converter .. mostly not worth the hassle and the cost of an additional mold ..

[krbuck]

The custom caps I admire most out of the ordinary. I hope I don't offend anyone, but robots and monsters are just not for me.

Maybe these already exist, but some thoughts:

National flags - Challenging I know in such small real estate, but a raised relief of a colorful flag would be cool
A Toilet - Use brown switches of course.
Candy - Candy corn is basically done - why not others?
Metal, glass inlay - copper, colored glass... could make for interesting results?

[Dernubenfrieken]

Metal, glass inlay - copper, colored glass... could make for interesting results?

Would love to see some nice brass inlays on a keycap.

Personally, my ideal keycap is a bulls head coming out the top. So you should make that 

[gloyz]

Thank you for the suggestions for sure!! We are getting some great ideas and re-affirming our thoughts on some we had in mind. And for the glass inlay... Already working on it!! Oh, and just a clarification on the keys in the OP, the multicolored ones are not painted, they are colored completely in mold.

[gloyz]

Oh, and forgot to ask, how tight do you like your key caps to fit? I've been reading of people who can't turn their keyboard over for all the keys falling off, to experiencing some of the ones we have ordered that are tighter than the original keys.

[digi]

meth pipe caps..

[chiefgrillz]

any plans to make topre keys?

[gloyz]

any plans to make topre keys?

Absolutely! But first we want to get our cherry mx's just the way we want them. We are not sure how tight a fit we should be striving for. So far all we have made are fitting pretty well. They are definitely not loose but yet not so tight as to need a key puller to remove. Not sure if we should tighten them up a bit more or not? There seems to be slight variations in the sizes of the different switches so a 'perfect' fit is proving to be somewhat elusive. As for a topre key, we need to come up with a nice fitting blank topre to emulate as far as the stem goes. Also we made a few more keycaps yesterday and seem to have solved our little bubble issue . . . so we are getting closer!!!!

[fohat.digs]

we will definitely look at the buckling spring, I just discovered them yesterday

How big of a demand is ALPS? Should we go there?

A big Yes to both. All the attention these days seems to go to Cherry and Topre, and a lot of us think that they are inferior.

Buckling springs have the added attraction of 2-piece keys, and, personally, I would be willing to use rubber cement or something if it was too hard to make them clip on properly.

[Melvang]

we will definitely look at the buckling spring, I just discovered them yesterday

How big of a demand is ALPS? Should we go there?

A big Yes to both. All the attention these days seems to go to Cherry and Topre, and a lot of us think that they are inferior.

Buckling springs have the added attraction of 2-piece keys, and, personally, I would be willing to use rubber cement or something if it was too hard to make them clip on properly.

This, while it isn't that difficult to make the stem and cap one piece as they used to be.  Two piece and artisans making just the top cap is entirely acceptable.

[gloyz]

Thank you everyone! We are definitely taking all the suggestions and convos here to heart! So at this point I think we are focusing on mastering the resin pours in the molds we have going just to make sure that we have that down before branching out too far (one thing at a time!) and then we are definitely discussing branching into the different stems with a serious look at the Buckling springs and Alps! I don't see any reason at this point that we can't include them in our production in the somewhat near future

[tufty]

What kind of keycaps do I want to see?

Non-retarded, useful ones.

Keycaps with non-standard spacings.  Keycaps designed to fit curved areas in ergo keyboards.  Keycaps with properly designed profiles for ergo key bowls.  etc.

Not "standard-sized keycaps with stupid crap on top for retards with too much money".

[pkircher]

dsa fits everywhere,
sa profile fits on a kinesis advantage perfectly i have it on mine




what curved keyboard are you refereing to ?

[Dernubenfrieken]

dsa fits everywhere,
sa profile fits on a kinesis advantage perfectly i have it on mine

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what curved keyboard are you refereing to ?

Probably one that very few people have. Including the artisans. I don't know how/why someone would expect an artisan to make keys for something that they don't even have blanks for, and isn't heavily used.

[Oobly]

What kind of keycaps do I want to see?

Non-retarded, useful ones.

Keycaps with non-standard spacings.  Keycaps designed to fit curved areas in ergo keyboards.  Keycaps with properly designed profiles for ergo key bowls.  etc.

Not "standard-sized keycaps with stupid crap on top for retards with too much money".

ARTisans make ART. You're looking for niche FUNCTIONAL caps. Different market. Take a look at what kurplop is doing, may be more your thing:

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=67467.msg1693534#msg1693534
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47787.msg1232340#msg1232340
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47787.msg1365376#msg1365376

[gloyz]

What kind of keycaps do I want to see?

Non-retarded, useful ones.

Keycaps with non-standard spacings.  Keycaps designed to fit curved areas in ergo keyboards.  Keycaps with properly designed profiles for ergo key bowls.  etc.

Not "standard-sized keycaps with stupid crap on top for retards with too much money".

Hey, I respect the opinion and you did answer the question that I wanted honest responses to! I will say that, at least at this point since we are focused on the artisan keycap concept, we will disappoint you on what you want, & I hope the links that Oobly posted will help you better than we can!

  But for everyone else - we are currently in preparation of about 10 cap designs with stupid crap on top for release hopefully this week or early next week (some are halloweeney themed so want to get them available before halloween is here)!!  And some of them will definitely be retarded and very non-useful, I guarantee that  Some of these are geared towards collectibility rather than functionality... Hey, we are having fun with them, even if no one ends up liking them!!

[bcredbottle]

I always found well-made blanks more impressive than fancy sculpted tops.

Examples:

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[gloyz]

I always found well-made blanks more impressive than fancy sculpted tops.

Examples:

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Hmmm, That actually gives me some pretty cool ideas!! I think we can do some neat stuff with that guideline as well :)

[tufty]

Hey, I respect the opinion and you did answer the question that I wanted honest responses to! I will say that, at least at this point since we are focused on the artisan keycap concept, we will disappoint you on what you want, & I hope the links that Oobly posted will help you better than we can!

Heh.

I was a bit grumpy when I posted my original response, thanks for not taking it as a direct attack.  It's just that there are so many ****-awful "I'm making artisan caps" posts out here, most of which (unlike yours) focus not on the product, but on the process.  It's a seemingly endless parade of ineptitude aimed at taking money from the "artisan cap buyers market" (otherwise known as "retards with too much money"), which almost always ends up with badly-cast copies of bros or click clacks.  I'd be far more impressed (and am with what kurplop does) if someone posted "hey look at this set of funky non-standard-sized keycaps I made for this bespoke keyboard" or "here's a keyset that exaggerates the keyboard curve", etc, rather than "here's some arse-rinsingly awful, badly cast "sculpture" on a standard keycap. Or even "here's a complete keyset which is cast such that the colours in the keys form an interesting pattern".  That's something you could do; you've obviously got the process down as you're asking about key fit, so you might be able to produce something that classes as art rather than trite quirkiness.  Probably wouldn't make you any money, though.

And Oobly - Artisans don't make art, artists do.  One doesn't imply the other.  In the case of keycaps, it's artisanal in the sense of doing something (mainly) by hand that would otherwise be done by a big ****-off injection moulding machine, producing something at least marginally different to the mass-produced norm.  There's a whole discussion to be had about "what is art" but it doesn't apply here.

[gloyz]

Tufty: Hey, no worries, we are long time members of the art world and know there is no pleasing everybody when it comes to stuff like this I understand your position and the difficulties in finding super niche things in an already limited world. That being said, we are coming up with some new ideas that we think may eventually translate into keys that you would possibly be looking for, we'll just have to see as we go along   At the moment we are focusing on polishing out this first run that we have jumped in to the deep end as far as difficulty on, lol, nothing like starting easy!  But I guess what I'm saying is that we really are listening to everybody and have some great ideas in mind for future releases based on many of the suggestions we have gotten here, while still doing some of the ones with stupid crap on top  'cause we like the fun in sculpting them too, hehe! We will be working on multiple different stem types too  

 In the meantime, I have a group of prototype caps that I'm working on putting on a giveaway for, just trying to figure out where to list it at and working on the form and such at this point, so keep an eye out for all that coming soon (these will all be on cherry stems though).  Thank you again everyone!!