I’m sure you’ve all heard of Etsy making superb keycaps over at the less-than-confidently named website “DecentKeyboards”. I’ve recently grown rather fond of his English/Japanese set. Craving something more unique yet still, I asked if he could make an Arabic version of a similar style. As I expected, the answer was no (unless I could dictate word-for-word how I wanted it to turn out, which is what I'm now trying to do). I've recently purchased an SSK with a bright green underlay, and thought that the particular colors used on the Japo-English caps would work well, with some contrasting and popping out and the rest matching. Essentially, I want an Arabic layout that will fit onto the canvas Etsy has already set-up.
Now, there's a part of me that's not sure whether I should be going ahead with this at all. I'm sure the caps will be fine (I'd be impressed if anyone here knew any place that made BS caps superior to Etsy's. Seriously though. If there's a place, tell me). It's more the Arabic part that worries me. If you closely examine the pictures of the Japo-English set, you'll notice that crafting the eastern script took skill. The maker would need to know Calligraphy. And as someone who'd been surrounded by the skill for a great while, I assure you: He does.
That's were the problem comes in. You've all heard, I'm sure, of Islamic calligraphy? It takes a bit of skill..........
Now I know that writing a character is no where near as difficult, but I have this fear that the Persian script may not look quite so grand if someone inexperienced attempted to write it. Of course, it can easily be argued that the opposite is true. That Etsy's pervious experience will help him in writing down the characters. Let me know if you feel this will be a problem, or if I'm just being paranoid.
I plan on using this board a lot. For everything from typing to gaming to actually using the Persian characters. Do you think the board (SSK) and caps will be able to keep up?
Last concern: If I'm paying someone to create a custom keycap set that hasn't ever been made before, should I use an existing set as a template?
For the sake of organization, allow me to recap:
1. Help me find an Arabic/English layout that matches the style of Japo-English set. (Black English characters, green Arabic ones, and a few red Arabic ones).
2. Should I be worried about Etsy being able to create these caps, or no?
3. Will the caps and board withstand constant (and in some cases abusive) use?
4. Should I base my custom set off of an existing one, or try to come up with an entirely new style?
5. How does that SSK with the underlay look? (Yes, I just threw this one in).
6. What do you think of this project overall?
(That's teenager talk for "that's okay")
