Keymap wizardry: Typing out the Harry Potter saga
Typing out all the Harry Potter books would be crazy, right? What would be the point? Seems like a weird flex even by keyboard enthusiast standards. Yep, that's right. Typing it out once makes no sense. That's why I'm going to type out the books a few million times! For the benefit of humanity and especially of you, fellow keymap wizards. This is a demonstration of the power of alternative/custom layouts. Given the huge extent of this topic, we can barely scratch the surface here so consider this write-up a mere teaser. Imagine you are an aspiring writer with a brilliant idea, just about to start typing out your magnum opus, staring at a yet empty document on your screen. Cursor blinking, annoying orphan relatives locked up in the cupboard under the stairs. Your story, about a young boy who ends up saving the world, is quite complete. You "just" have to type out heaps of your manuscripts and notes: about 6.5 million keystrokes. Everything is prepared for the...
Jun 4, 2024
Hey! I've only just stumbled onto the world of mechanical keyboards after seeing them pop up in a lot of my other hobby networks, and it gave me an idea. I'm a game & graphic designer with a love of good world & production design. I've always loved the graphic and production design by Ron Cobb for Alien (1978) and decided to do a layout inspired by his Semiotic Standard design. Yes, there are very littoral extrapolations of his work (re: copies) but I wanted to develop something unique but likely from the same universe (with a pinch of 1982's Blade Runner in there too).
So, I need help making these! I am going to do a first test set at WASD, but beyond that turnkey approach I have no idea how to have a set produced to cover more options. Some questions I need help with:
- Which companies should I contact to have these produced?
- How/where do I organize a group buy?
- What key profile pleases the most people?
- What alternate & extra keys should be included as a minimum?
- Are there any good templates out there for other keycap styles?
- Is there anything else I should know?
Thanks!Richard Flanagan
www.richardeflanagan.com