The font thing is bigger than people might think. As soon as I saw the number row, I had such an immediate and harsh reaction to it that it surprised me.
I almost couldn't believe that was the cause, but when I waited for the device to turn around again, that was definitely it.
I don't even have to look at my fingers often, but I wouldn't be able to stand walking by those numbers on a regular basis. I don't think I've ever had such a visceral response to an aesthetic choice before.
I agree - for me I like the keyboard as a whole, but the bits that bug me are:
- the rotary encoder. I don't see what the aim of this is - what's the intended usecase?
- the font on the numbers. I feel like it should match the font used on the other keys instead, which I think I like but it's hard to tell because there's no good actual picture of the keyboard as a whole
- drop the model name on the right. I get that you've made a keyboard that is a design statement, but it would bug me as an owner. Move it to the bottom.
edit: for context, I already have a not dissimilar in terms of concept Keychron K3. That puts page up/down/home/end in that blank space on the right where you've put the model name. It does make the keyboard feel more cluttered, but I do find myself using those keys frequently.
oh, and is it backlit? I am assuming not from the specs, which is unfortunate. an understated, not too bright, white only backlight would be really nice to have on a keyboard like this.
> the rotary encoder. I don't see what the aim of this is - what's the intended usecase?
I actually have a separate USB rotary encoder next to my keyboard. Glad to see it integrated into the design. It's like a more comfortable mouse wheel. If you need to scroll a lot (editing audio, for example), the constant "scroll a little, lift finger, scroll a little, lift finger" routine gets old real fast. But if you've got a wide enough knob, you can just spin it around indefinitely in one circular motion.
I've had a dual boiler espresso machine (La Spaziale S1) for 10 years that's a typography horror show. There are less than 10 words on the device and they managed to use 4 completely different fonts: their logo font (which I actually like), a squat serif thing for 'S1', an ugly script font, and worst of all for the 'BOILER' and 'ON/OFF' buttons: Comic Sans. It occasionally bothers me but most of the time I'm able to forget about it and enjoy using it.
The egregious use of fonts (at least 4 different?) and the terrible mismatch of the historical Apple font and current product text on back of the keyboard is what brought me to the comments.
I even had to google images of your espresso machine to see what you were talking about. Wow....
Sometimes things have their own personalities and I came to love that and stop obsessing over how I wish they were designed. At the end of the day we’re free to design and build things ourselves. What’s more irking to me is bad functional design that makes awkward to use things.
I agree. The fonts don't bother me so much as the ISO layout does, and even that's kind of a "meh" and something I likely wouldn't care about so much as the otherwise clean styling and the fact it's projected to have some features I like (Bluetooth, low profile, mechanical switches, etc).
Truthfully, from a quick search it appears that the Kailh low profile switches are reasonably easy to find key caps for. I like blank keyboards (uh, don't ask), so I'd probably just buy some blank caps and replace the ones that it comes with. I had to do that with some of the keys on my Das anyway because the stems broke after < 1 year of use, and I've been contemplating PBT key caps for a while.
To each his own! I'd probably buy this, if I were honest.
Sure but these types of keyboards are niche and not likely to hit mass production. The font on the number keys reminds me of OP-1, a niche luxury synth with a hefty price tag. It’s a good market to budge in because select people are willing to dispense larger sums of money. I wonder how much this one costs.
I almost couldn't believe that was the cause, but when I waited for the device to turn around again, that was definitely it.
I don't even have to look at my fingers often, but I wouldn't be able to stand walking by those numbers on a regular basis. I don't think I've ever had such a visceral response to an aesthetic choice before.