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Crazy idea: Make a Colemak T-shirt?

  • Started by DreymaR
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  • From: Viken, Norway
  • Registered: 13-Dec-2006
  • Posts: 5,343

I was looking around the net, and suddenly realized that it's really simple to make personalized products today! T-shirts, coffee mugs, mouse mats - you name it. Download an image or two, choose design, click and pay!

An increasing number of "good causes" are selling merchandise now, even fringe phenomena such as AutoIt3 and The 8-bit Theatre (a geeky-funny web comic, no less! - their stash is found at http://www.zestuff.com/8bit/ if anyone want to see a genuine "+1 shirt" lovingly designed for the roleplaying buffs).

Look at this for instance: http://www.choiceshirts.com/item/k/pf-000226/ "Our hearts belong to Colemak!" - cute?  :)  And the price doesn't scare me off - I could even do my own Norwegian one.

Or a more austere look with just a small layout in the pocket position, if you prefer that. Anything's possible, really. Saw one you could make for about $15.

But I lack good, hi-res, colorful layout images to use. The ones we have so far are either too small or too gray. It'd be so nice if someone knew a colorful person they could persuade...

(Maybe I should pester my mother-in-law, hehe. After all, she is an AD.)

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  • From: NYC
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lol...that's interesting idea

let us know if you actually get a colemak t-shirt

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  • Registered: 17-Nov-2006
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I agree! I would definitely buy one.

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I'm really good with photoshop, I could make something to put on it.

You guys got any ideas?

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  • From: Viken, Norway
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I suggest a colorful Colemak with keys that bulge and waver; a bit Mac-style (chunky, tasty, 3D, colorful graphics), a bit like a fluttering flag. My image (below) has colors, but this could easily be even more colorful. A rainbow-like appearance might not be a bad idea though.

Colemak_background.png?dl=1

Last edited by DreymaR (19-Mar-2019 14:57:07)

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Rainbow?
Pale colors can be just as pleasing.

Furthermore, is a keyboard the right idea? It is a layout, so it might make a good faded background, but it probably shouldn't be the focus point. I was sorta thinking like a saying or a benefit of some kind.

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Mac?
Here's something made by a fellow user (Vilem):
Colemak_1024x768.gif

https://forum.colemak.com/viewtopic.php?id=149

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  • From: Köln, Germany
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Umm... yeah, that took me like 10 minutes, so any suggestions fooor improvement? I should maybe make the 'reflection' more discrete...

go to https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ … 24x768.gif and click the pic for full resolution.

Last edited by vilem (14-Apr-2007 14:12:03)
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Ugh, we want people to become curious and get just a little info from this. That logo is nice for the site where you know what's going on – or for the backside of the shirt for that matter. But for the front, I envision something that actually tells you that Colemak is a keyboard layout.

The ideal would be to capture the spirit of the Windows dynamically wavering flag logo and Apple's chunky-yummy Safari/Aqua/Illuminous(?) design.

xp-flag-256x256.png?dl=1
Dynamic, bright, colorful, slick – the thought of a letter block like that makes my mouth water

Thing is, color use is related to size and environment. If you do a huge design all over the shirt you might have to choose between a visual shout and toning it down. Whether the shirt's background color is pure white or dark also matters a lot. Personally, I think that a white T-shirt with a bright and catchy design on is a good thing, but ymmv. A rainbow theme can still be very nice in toned-down form:

Colemak_light.gif?dl=1

A stronger color scheme would be ideal for a smaller design. One could make a more stylish, "golfer-like" apparel with a pocket logo. Neat.

Last edited by DreymaR (19-Mar-2019 14:44:22)

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  • From: Köln, Germany
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Wouldn't it look kinda nerdy to run around in a t-shirt with a keyboard layout printed on it though?

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  • From: Viken, Norway
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At work, one of my coworkers has a T-shirt with "Talk nerdy to me" printed on it. At the 8-bit theater (ZeStuff), you can buy a "+1 Shirt" which is a joke only roleplayers will get. At T-Shirt Hell you can buy downright nasty shirts (I won't get into that). And people who like Colemak have already proven that they are unafraid of taking the less traveled but better path. I don't think you have much to worry about.

The degree of nerdiness is also related to how good the design is. If it had the graphical quality of that Windows flag above, it wouldn't be a problem at all I feel.

My personal favourite in the world of weird and wonderful T-shirts would have to be the ThinkGeek Heavy Metal shirt:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/science/8953/zoom/

But that's only up to the day I can don a really nice Colemak shirt. Then the Colemak layout image on my coffee cup won't feel lonely anymore.

*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
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  • From: Köln, Germany
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How 'bout you show us your mug? I wonder what it looks like...

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I don't think you have much to worry about.

I have a "Got Root?" sweater, a "Live in your world, get pwnd in mine" T-shirt, a caffeine molecule t-shirt, and I was considering getting a "there's no place like 127.0.0.0".


Just a thought, It should definitely include the name... otherwise there's no point...

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Oo, I want that "no place like home" one. Or maybe the "roses are #FF0000, violets are #0000FF" one instead. Maybe I'm too white and nerdy?

Yes, the name should definitely be included. Either on the back, below a graphical design, as a part of the graphical design or a combination.

*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
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lol i want the "roses are #FF0000, violets are #0000FF" one!

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Roses are #FF0000
Violets are #0000FF
Colemak is omgwtf1337gglolz!!!1!11!one
And so are J00  ^_^

There's both our slogan and our new T-Shirt motif, all at once. Pure genius. Pure. Pure. Genius.

As for the other one I mentioned, here it is in all its glory:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/generic/724a/zoom/
The love of it is staggering.

*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
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So... if you guys could throw together some sample images, I could create a Colemak t-shirt design.

I have no idea what you're looking for. You've mentioned something about macs and chunky... no clue what that looks like.

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ColemakNo_test_flutterflag.gif?dl=1
                               COLEMAK – WITH FLYING COLORS


Not too happy with it really (although it's growing on me). The letters are too distorted in the horizontal direction; it's a bit too blurry; I think I'd like the keys to seem more separated from each other and more 3-dimensional like in the Windows flag logo I linked to above. But I'm no photo wizard. At all. Can still have some fun of course.  :)

[edit: Another suggestion might be a fount of color like in the late Beatles movies, with those thick bulbous letters. I'll see if I can find an example.]

[edit2: No luck with the Beatles color fountain, but another idea: A quite compact letter block (10x3 or so), psychedelic style. It'd be so swirly-blocky-nearly-unreadable-but-oo-so-nice that people might not realize at first glance that it was a keyboard layout. Look at: http://www.identifont.com/find?similar=Love+Solid or http://www.identifont.com/similar?5HJ for instance; something a little like Wes Wilson's funky posters (http://www.flashfonts.com/flashsite/peace-lovepage.htm). Could be in black, in many colors, in any color really.]

Last edited by DreymaR (19-Mar-2019 14:50:49)

*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
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ColemakNo_test_bulgefun.gif?dl=1
      COLEMAK – A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE!


Not because it'd be perfect, but because I find it amusing.  :)

The corner letters are gone, but I don't think that matters so much. Incidentially, this also takes away most of the difference between the standard Colemak and national layouts since those differ in the corners. That means I could use such an idea while thinking of the Norwegian layout, and most other people would think of the standard Colemak from such an image. Interesting effect.

Last edited by DreymaR (19-Mar-2019 14:51:22)

*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
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  • From: Houston, Texas
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Cool!   Now imagine combining that with post#7 by NeoMenlo and that is an awesome shirt I
would definitely want.


Black t-shirt   (or white t-shirt with black background box)


    NeoMenlo's  mirrored Colemak lettering in white

    Your keyboard ball image

    underneath in white -> A World of Difference!


----

I want one Yesterday!   :-)

Last edited by keyboard samurai (24-Apr-2007 23:36:35)
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I've done a ton of work with globes and space before.

This is actually what i did it for, to give you an idea of what I can do.
http://www.neomenlo.org/Files/Promotion … htbulb.jpg

I'm kind of swamped right now, but I will get to it. Probably in a week.

In the mean time, how about you guys collaborate, or at least confirm what you want and put it in a definitive list, like Keyboard Samurai just did.

I like Keyboard Samurai's idea. I can visualize it pretty easily.

I'm not to happy with the coloration of the keyboard though. I'm afraid it has to many colors and that it will end up looking too much like a test skin.

Just so you know, when I do it in 3D I can easily get the keyboard to be in the center of the ball, so it doesn't clip it and repeat it in the wrong places.

I'm also not to happy with "A world of difference". It doesn't sound like proper English, even for a fragment, and I don't think it gives the right idea. I would suggest picking your favorite out of the "Awesome Slogan Idea" topic.
Another idea would be to say "A world apart" and have a chaotic QWERTY globe and to the side of it, have a pretty and organized Colemak globe.

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I'd almost certainly buy a t-shirt if it was sedate and the proceeds helped support the site/Colemak.

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Ooops!  I didn't give correct credit to vilem

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ … 24x768.gif

so how about on a black tshirt

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ … 24x768.gif 

(NeoMenlo's improved colemak keyboard globe - faint world map?)

"A better world by design"   [white lettering]

or

"Let your fingers travel the world in comfort"

or

"Typing for the world by design"

or

"Typing for all of us"

or

The first option on the front and the second or fourth options on the back of the shirt.

Last edited by keyboard samurai (30-Apr-2007 07:39:22)
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Never mind KBS! I have in fact made another 'logo' which works well with a white background!! I'll upload it tomorrow or so..

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"Never mind KBS" – does that mean keyboards? If so, you're on the wrong page; this is all about keyboards. You can make all the fancy logos in the world but they'll only look like a clothes brand or computing logo or something if they don't tell the viewer that the Colemak is a keyboard. But maybe you meant something else.

New idea: The classic cartoon motion/flash blur cum skew/parallellogram effect. A keyboard is already staggered, but it could be made so that the keys are leaning in addition and there's a motion blur behind. Colemak to QWERTY is like a tuned-up car to a rustbucket (and it may be faster too; but we won't say that out loud since we don't know for sure).

Colemak - tune your keys! kind of concept. Pimp my board.  :)

viper-in-motion.jpg

In this theme it'd be optimal to ditch my much frowned-upon rainbow schemes  ;)  and go for a chrome-like appearance. Maybe silver chrome, maybe red or blue; something car-like and highly reflective. Keyboard Samurai posted a Mac screenshot that shows a somewhat chromelike appearance; it could go much farther still:

colemak.png

Last edited by DreymaR (19-Mar-2019 14:52:56)

*** Learn Colemak in 2–5 steps with Tarmak! ***
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