Layout Optimization Best Practices: The Corpus (Part 1)
In this series we are designing our own custom keymaps, logical layouts, you name it. We’ve laid the groundwork by looking into how good/bad QWERTY is, the power of layers (SpaceFN), and also the huge potential of alternative layouts and custom keymaps. Today, we take the first step in designing your ultimate keymap by exploring our options for compiling a corpus. What's a corpus? Essentially, it's just a fancy term for a big chunk of text. In this context it means a usually large collection of textual data used directly or indirectly as an input for our layout optimization algorithms. Often literally a single text file. Why does it matter to you? Because a well-crafted, personalized corpus is crucial for keymap wizards. If you're aiming to design your own custom logical layout, the corpus plays a key role in determining the language statistics that reflect your typing habits, thus the outcome of the optimization. These statistics, which we extract through analysis of...
Aug 19, 2024
Where it all began In a small Pacific-coast town, a little north of Seattle and a little south of Canada, is a family-run business that’s had an indelible impact on the keyboard world. Owned and operated by the father-daughter team of Bob Guenser and Melissa Petersen, Signature Plastics has produced countless DCS, SA, DSA (and more!) sets over the last 45 years. Last month I reached out to Bob and Melissa for an interview, and they were kind enough to answer my questions, as well as supplying me with the “Story of SP”, an in depth look at the history of their company. I highly encourage you to read the article which they recently published in KBD News. It’s a fantastic read, and really pulls back the curtain on the keyboard industry over the last 50 years. At the end of the article is Bob’s surprising news that SP is “currently searching for buyer candidates …who are also committed to preserving and continuing the legacy tied to that history” so if you are passionate about the hobby and would like to take over producing super high-quality keycaps, you have an opportunity! In his email communication with me, Bob stressed the importance of not tying Signature Plastics just to the SA profile. After all, SA was invented in 1980, DSA in 1983, and the market (and the world) has changed a lot since then. “I don’t feel that Signature Plastics’ legacy should be tied to a single keycap family, like SA. Many of the keysets we sell today” he continued “are produced from molds that were designed on drafting tables and machined on manual mills by German craftsmen over 45 years ago. Because they took pride in what they were building, they were able to achieve tolerances of 0.0002” on critical components without the assistance of SolidWorks or CNC machines. The fact that we are still able to produce a premium product from these molds today speaks volumes about the quality of their craftmanship and the materials they used to build them.” Bob described Signature Plastics as much more than a hobbyist keycap manufacturer, calling SP a successful injection molding company that over the years has produced keysets and components for business computers, POS systems, lottery machines, airline terminals, phone systems and literally thousands of other commercial applications. I asked Bob to list some of the best keycap designs SP has produced over the years, and he replied that “one of the first keysets produced was DSA Lilly designed by Techkeys in 2013. DSA Valentine, designed by Son Lee, followed by several keysets designed by Samual McLagen, Matt Artley, and Matt3o including DCS Miami, DCS Toxic, SA Penumbra, DSA Retro, DSA Skull Squadron, and the timeless DSA Granite keyset. Mito’s very popular SA Pulse keyset helped establish Signature Plastics as a preferred supplier in Drop’s global marketing network.” Following the news that SP was selling, I reached out to DROP, and everyone I spoke to had glowing remarks, a fond memory, or a great story about this pioneering company and their impact on the hobby. Word on the street At a recent keyboard meetup, I had a great conversation with one of my Chicago Discord buddies, Obsidiank, who shared a story about an interaction he had with Melissa from Signature Plastics a few years back. Obsidiank predates my entrance to the hobby by a number of years, and in the late teens, he describes the market as being very select with very few options for keyboard enthusiasts. Especially in the area of alternate keyboard sizes. In 2020, as 65% keyboards were just beginning to grow in popularity, he was struggling to find a keycap set that would cover the specific shift and bottom row keys necessary to build a 65. He reached out to Melissa, who worked with her team and came out with a black on white 65% kit. As he tells the story, it’s clear that in that space and time, he truly didn’t expect that kind of response from a manufacturer, and was blown away by the customer service experience. He sent me a picture afterwards of his SA board, and said that it’s still one of his favorites.