Background information
Keycap Kevin vs. Michelle
by Kevin Hofer
Keycap Kevin: designing my own keycaps
26/3/2023
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
I always wanted to design keycaps. I finally did it, and in the process found out it really isn’t that difficult.
Besides the case, keycaps are the visual highlight of a keyboard. They give your keyboard that personal touch. Sets are a dime a dozen. But I want to design my own keycaps. Thanks to various online tools even I, an artistically-challenged user, can achieve some pretty decent designs.
Getting started with Keyboard Layout Editor
I’ve only used Keyboard Layout Editor to create, well, keyboard layouts so far. But the tool can also change the colour of buttons and give you a first idea of whether a design looks good.
Luckily, I can download my design as a JSON file. I feed this into KLE-render, which comes up with a slightly prettier version of my design. Here’s what that looks like:
The computer-generated image still isn’t polished, but it’s enough for a first impression. I create four more drafts. For all of them, I take inspiration from pictures and products that I think have an interesting colour scheme.
Once I’ve assembled five designs, I run a quick poll. Posting the designs to our Teams channel, I ask, «All ugly, or does one work for you?»
Refining with Blender
One of the responses: «Ugly is such a strong word. When you throw up all over an apartment, that’s ugly.» Thank you, but what do I do with that statement? Still, my colleagues are slightly helpful, and I come to the conclusion that I should pursue drafts one, two and five.
To do this, I download a Blender template from Dakota Felder. I choose a Cherry keycap template . After all, I want to create a design for the manufacturer GMK. They use this specific profile and still make the best caps, from my point of view.
After a few adjustments to my initial suggestions, I end up with three computer-generated images. I name them after my sources of inspiration, «Timeless», «Raspberry Harvest» and «Hooray, the world is ending».
Got keycaps?
Given it’s my first time, I’m quite pleased and eager to pursue a design through to production. It’d be pretty cool to someday type on a keycap set that I designed.
Even my colleagues warmed up to one or the other proposal. Just for fun, I’m designing another set called «digitec edition».
What do you think? Would you buy one of these sets in a Swiss keyboard layout? Who knows, maybe if there’s enough interest we’ll even have a set produced and sell it in the store…
Kevin Hofer
Senior Editor
kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.chFrom big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.
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