Tag Archives: keycaps

Max Keyboard Offer Custom Printed Keycap Sets: Goodbye Group Buy

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Mechanical keyboards have exploded in popularity in recent years, including swappable keycaps. You can easily find mass-produced keycap sets online, but if you truly want to stand out or have trendy or niche designs, your best bets are limited run or artisan keycaps. Aside from being expensive, custom keycaps are often made by small businesses that have to meet minimum orders. That’s why custom keycap designers or shops usually resort to group buys — limited-time full-price pre-orders that are announced in forums several months or even a year before they are produced and delivered. But if you’re willing to make a few compromises, you can design and order your own custom keycap set with Max Keyboard.

Max Keyboard sells entire mechanical keyboards, keyboard parts, and yes, custom keycaps. For the latter, you can choose between a 60%, TKL, or full set. The configurator has a limited selection of keycap fonts, colors, and modifier key names. But its flexibility comes in their downloadable keycap image templates that let you create and upload your own keycap designs, such as the ones in these pictures.

The keycap sets consist of Cherry MX keys. You can choose to have prints on the top, side, or both. You can also choose the size of the spacebar. I have not tried ordering from Max Keyboard, but from what I can see, their configurator has a basic preview and so requires a bit of imagination. But with prices starting at just $25 (USD), this is definitely worth considering.

[via randomfrankp]

The “Smorgasboard” Is a Keyboard with Only Food Keycaps

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Because I write thousands and thousands of words every week, I got myself a fancy $200 mechanical keyboard with good clicky switches and schmancy RGB backlighting just for fun. I’ve thought about getting some custom keycaps too, but I don’t think I’d be able to type very fast if all of my keys were made to look like food.

Artist Tiny loves to create custom keys for mechanical keyboards and has been spending months creating a series of keys that look like miniature foods. She recently completed the collection, and now has an entire keyboard filled with food. And no, I’m not talking about the Cheetos and Doritos dust that some of us might find between our keys.

Among the food keys are a cheeseburger, a cinnamon roll, a pink donut with sprinkles, french fries, and more yummy treats. I especially love how she made the longer keys like the submarine sandwich space bar and the watermelon and hot dog shift keys. Tiny walks through all of the keys and how they relate to their letter position on the keyboard then performs a typing speed test in the video below:

You can check out more of Tiny’s amazing custom keys over on her Instagram feed, where you can find everything from a Spongebob Squarepants keycap to keycaps that look like butts.

[via Nag on the Lake]

UnAlice: An Awesome Keycap Set Inspired by Alice in Wonderland

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Head down the rabbit hole every time you use your computer. That’s the notion behind this keycap set that features imagery inspired by the Lewis Carroll classic “Alice in Wonderland.”

Designed by keyboard enthusiast Rafal Hrynkiewicz, the UnAlice keycap set comes in a creamy Winter White color, with a skinny, easy-to-read typeface. There are lots of neat little details like a backspace key with a backwards “E”, and topsy-turvy Caps Lock key, and all kinds of fun illustrations for function keys and the like.

The arrow keys are mushrooms, while the Cheshire Cat turns up in various spots, along with a caterpillar smoking a hookah, an upside-down flamingo, Alice, the Queen, mouse in a teacup, playing card suits, and other playful images on the available novelty keys. Curiously, the Mad Hatter is nowhere to be found. Hmmm, this just gets curiouser and curiouser.

 

The main set goes for $105, or you can purchase individual key collections for different sections of your keyboard as well. They’re available for pre-order on Pimp My Keyboard now, with a release set for 2/17/20.

[via GeekHack]