Interest CheckKeycaps

SA Welles - SUSPENDED

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Description

Why Welles?

This kit initially had a working concept: "I wanted to do a dramatic but adult theme." I want something a bit understated and cool, like jazz music. One of my favorite bits of media is the movie LA Confidential, which introduced me to the concept of Film Noir and the world of gritty pulp fiction novels. If you have not seen the movie, it's a fantastic use of 2 hours of your time.

However, if this is the starting point, why is the set called Welles?

Welles was the master of the Noir art form. His films, such as Touch of Evil, The Lady from Shanghai, and The Stranger, set the standard for cinematography and storytelling.

I wanted this set to match the aesthetic of these films, which used shades of grey and red, along with the warm beiges standard in mid-century consumer electronics to tell complex and nuanced stories. To this end, I also needed a keycap profile that matches this aesthetic. Thus, I used the SA profile for its vintage look and excellent sound qualities. In a nod to modernity, I will use the more comfortable 1-1-2-3-4-3 profile for this set, designed around stock SP colors (TU, RBC, and GSS).

This preliminary design is the first one I was happy to share with others. Right now, because of the use case I foresee, I am only designing a base kit and a numpad kit, with a mind to potentially move towards thinking through noir/pulp-themed novelties and an accent kit.

The Concrete Blond- Basekit

This kit is named after the 1994 Michael Connelly Novel, an excellent example of a modern work that updates noir and pulp novel sensibilities.

This base kit accommodates 60-TKL, UK ISO, and Alice keyboards. It also features a minivan 3-key for limited 40 percent keyboard support. To save cost, the IC form includes questions to gauge interest in each keyboard configuration. I am balancing cost and coverage with the kit.

99 River Street- Numpad Kit

This is the Numpad kit, named after the 1953 noir classic.

The Bad Sleep Well- Novelty Kit

Named after the 1960 Akira Kurosawa Noir

A History of Violence- Extra/Extension Kit

Named after the 2005 Neo-Noir

The Small Back Room - 40s/Ergo

Named after the 1949 Noir

Renders

Last Render to show how the colors change under different form of light- the physical chips do the same.

Colors

This set uses Signature Plastics' in-house stock colors.

TU- Warm Beige
GSS- Blue-Grey
RBC- Deep Red