Here is a sequence of layout designs, going from minimal to gigantic, based upon the following starting points:
1) Colemak layout, modified for ortholinear.
2) Power key on top right corner.
3) Accessory keys to be placed where they would work best in the context of the overall layout, and not necessarily where they would be traditionally placed. For example, why not put Escape in a less remote place?
4) While the theme here is ortholinear, we really only demand that the alpha keys be strictly ortholinear, in order to have some keys with bigger landing zones, we allow the number row to be staggered with respect to the alpha keys.
First up, a minimal design:
- MATRIX_A.png (41 KiB) Viewed 2675 times
I know there are designs with twelve columns instead of thirteen, but I think this is already fairly severely compromised to get it as small as it is.
Next, expand to 60%:
- MATRIX_B.png (55.7 KiB) Viewed 2675 times
Tab and Back tab back to their more traditional homes (temporally anyway) and escape finds a new home. Addition of Hyper, Page up, and Page down.
Now for a very non-standard TKL layout:
- MATRIX_C.png (73.12 KiB) Viewed 2675 times
Addition of Function keys, Cut, Copy, Paste, Reset, Print Screen, Insert mode, Scroll lock, Caps lock, Clear, Break, Pause, Step over, Step into, Macro, Home, and End. Tab and Back tab have found their permanent locations, and Caps lock is up and out of the way. I know Scroll lock probably doesn't get much love, but I use it in three different programs. The white function keys are specified as deep dish to compensate for having them all crammed together. I also decided to move the number row up a quarter width to touch the function row, because I like it aesthetically and when we get to full size (see below), I like the idea of having those keys a little bit removed from the numeric part of the numeric keypad.
Next up, full size:
- MATRIX_D.png (85.39 KiB) Viewed 2675 times
Addition of Save, Load, Prev, Next, and numpad keys, including Num lock, plus extra comma and equals keys on the numpad.
Now for the ridiculous:
- MATRIX_E.png (146.87 KiB) Viewed 2675 times
Addition of twelve more function keys, dedicated macro keys, and a bunch more keys for the numpad, including its own space and back space, other symbols, and parentheses and brackets. Oh, and greek letters, because reasons.
Anyway, just a design exercise at this point, while I am waiting for my round 5 order, and the plate I ordered for something unrelated to what you see above.
