[IC] DSA PBT color selection

[Broadmonkey]

I don't like Charcoal.
I actually thought there would have been more support for the warm grey set!

[Muirium]

If I had a third vote, I'd vote for warm grey. But cold grey is very nice, like my Acer 6312.

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Acer_6310_series

That PBT is rough like pumice. Can we have some like that? Feels nicer than my PBT Ducky sets.

I doubt SP offers different kinds of PBT, but I honestly don't know why these caps feel that way. The caps don't look rough, they just feel it. In a good way.

Speaking of texture: DSA is (usually) a rough matte finish. Does that work well for dyesub?

[matt3o]

the problem with pure gray is that it will be either white+gray or gray+dark gray. We basically miss that nice light neutral gray.

Anyway there would be another option. if we find 1 color in common we could make 2 color combos (use the dark gray of one as light gray of the other), but I don't know if that is actually feasible.

@Muirium, the texture of the spacebar I have is exactly the same of the ABS DSA, but the material is nicer to the touch, imho. I hope printing won't be a problem, but I will ask a proof to SP.

[Muirium]

Very smart, thanks Matt.

This 3 colours idea could be enough to please everyone, if you can pull it off without disaster on the price. It would actually open up multiple colour combos, similar to Round 5. Promising! And terrifying!

[matt3o]

Looking at the gray gradient



maybe the most appealing pure gray combo is GKK + GEC, which is pretty dark, but the alternative would be to use white for alpha methinks...

[Muirium]

I'm pro-white alphas. Ideal contrast for legends, and for all mods.

If you do go three colour, white is right for one of them.

[matt3o]

if we go 3 color and we start from white we can't reach charcoal (too far in the gradient).

GKK + GEC + GQT might be a nice progression.

Pure gray could be GKK + GEC or WAN + GMC (very light)

EDIT: unfortunately WAN has an almost reddish shade, GSH is a light beige, and WDG is pure white

[jdeblese]

I could go for that GKK/GEC/GQT progression. I guess you'd have alphas printed on the first two, and symbols on the last two?

I like the high contrast of a white keyboard, but charcoal is growing on me and is probably visually more interesting as well, I think. My vision's not so bad that I'd *need* black on white yet

[Muirium]

Neither do I. (Routinely type on blanks in fact.) But I love the look of a good strong legend, too. I'd take a blank black HHKB over the dyesubbed one, for instance. Though white dyesubbed is the true HHKB and a good example of what I'm really looking for!

[matt3o]

Sublimation is more complicated than it may seem. Sublimating pure black on pure white is not the easiest and it requires a lot of experience. SP --by their own admission-- is not a typography and I'd like to reduce the error rate as much as possible. So basically, if we go pure white, the legends will be dark gray (not black).

[Muirium]

Any other known dyesub gotchas we should consider?

SP's been making doubleshots for decades (I think even my 1983 Honeywell is by them) but dyesub I guess not. I like my black dye IBMs, but IBM was IBM…

Wonder who does Topre's / PFU's dyesubbing? The white HHKB is essentially perfect.

[matt3o]

are the caps pure white in the HHKB?

[Muirium]

Doubt it. I've no way to know for sure, unless someone's taken pictures of one next to sample chips.

Certainly the eye can lie about these things. My Model Ms seem brighter than the muddy beige they match against in your samples.

[Acanthophis]

Also take input/output of digital images into consideration.
The best picture is no use with a bad monitor and vice versa.

[Broadmonkey]

My Model Ms seem brighter than the muddy beige they match against in your samples.

That is exactly what I thought when I saw the Model M posten in the first pic. Although I only have a an M2, and it's a lot more clean in it's colors, but it looks really good! So do anyone know how big a difference there is between a Model M and an M2?

Colors is a bit off due to the light

8.jpg (769.77 KiB) Viewed 4477 times

[Muirium]

Light is another factor in the photo vs. display formula! Anyway, here's a bunch of pictures of some of my Model Ms. They don't seem dark to me.

http://deskthority.net/photos-videos-f8 ... t6407.html

Oh, and the Kishsaver:


That's a 10 year spread between those keyboards.

The dark mods are very dark. But the light alphas are just as light.

[fart_toast]

cold grey taking the lead....I personally wasn't as keen on this as the others as it looks similar to 7 bit's Round 5 sphericals. Still in for some nice DSA PBT thought!

[matt3o]

my model m doesn't seem that beige too, but when you start putting color chips on it that is the end result. Samwisekoi also checked it and got the same result. Maybe we both have yellowed keyboards, but anyway, since we are going to do the pure gray combo this is not really an issue.

[7bit]

^^^ This is how beige a Model M is ^^^ / Granite mouse (newer series), IBM Model M, Ambra Model M and SGI Indy, on oak writing desk.

[matt3o]

thanks Seven!

[Muirium]

Nice yellow Model M you got there 7bit…

Anywho, we're leaning towards 3 neutral colours for Cold Grey and Charcoal, right? Unless there's a pricing horror.

[matt3o]

speaking of which... PBT+Dye sub doesn't come cheap. So it is better to concentrate on few well stabbed kits

[7bit]

Nice yellow Model M you got there 7bit…

Anywho, we're leaning towards 3 neutral colours for Cold Grey and Charcoal, right? Unless there's a pricing horror.

The problem with picures of beige keyboards is that the auto white balance ensures that it looks more or less white. Only in comparison to something really white (or colod grey as in the picture) it becomes visible, both to us and the camera.



modifier color on the left, alnum color on the right. Photographed on a lightgrey G80-1501 case.

[Muirium]

True. Always suspect colours unless matched. Especially if your M is butter yellow.

Re: dyesub and kits… Øk, îf wē müst hævè ôñé græté bíg længûægè påck, sø bê ït.

[matt3o]

Our "whites"

[Muirium]

They're so pretty. Let's just go with those!

Seriously though, GSH, WDG and WAN all look awesome, and GKK isn't bad either.

[matt3o]

the only pure white is WAN. GSH and WDG are spoiled whites. GKK is the only very light gray

[Acanthophis]

So the 2 in 1 is set in stone?

[matt3o]

sorry?

[Red_Fracture]

1 would be awesome