Mechanical Keyboard Sound Isn't That Simple
Figure 1: I couldn't think of a more literal way to represent this article if I tried... Looking back just a few years ago, there’s no doubt that the huge influx of people that joined the hobby at the peak of the COVID pandemic were drawn to keyboards by way of YouTube, TikTok, and other audio-visual content platforms. Even as the output from these content creators has waned in recent months, their collective impact and legacy on the keyboard hobby is rather firmly etched in the history books. As a result of all of their sound tests, build logs, and opinion videos, the message is clear to any new person joining the hobby: mechanical keyboards are all about the sound. Thock this, clack that. Whether it’s keyboards, keycaps, or even singular switches, seemingly everyone new to the hobby meticulously pores over each component of their keyboard not in an attempt to figure out how it will feel in hand, but how it will sound as they’re furiously grinding their way out from...
Mar 27, 2024
I knew from the start, however, that it wouldn't have much appeal without a matching themed case to go with it, and I originally thought that a flat aluminum case in seafoam green would do the trick. But the more I thought about it the more I felt that something more ambitious was needed, and I worked up some 3D renders of what I would want the case to look like. Little did I know how good MassDrop was at turning concepts into reality!
What you see here is everything I hoped this tribute keyboard would become, and I hope keyboard enthusiasts and vintage typewriter enthusiasts alike will be as excited as I am to have this baby on their desktops!
the keycaps do show the arrows, but now sure where we can put them on this layout.
I think he would.
In this particular case, the keycaps will be Signature Plastics VCO green and VAF green. My renders are approximations of those colors based on RGB values obtained from scans of SP's color chips that I myself did not create. You have to look at those renders and realize they are only giving you a reasonably good, but not perfect idea of what they will look like in person, to your eyes.
My goal for the case color is to try and match the VAF green color, but final aesthetic calls will generally rest with me and I make no promises that the case will match the renders 100%. It is the general spirit of the Hermes Rocket typewriter that is the goal, not perfect color matching to the concept art.