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Aether

Keycaps designed by Alexotos
Creative Assistance by Kris Twum
Keycaps produced by Infinikey and The Key Company

æther or ether 
/aether (/ˈiːθər/)/

noun According to ancient and medieval science, aether (quintessence) is the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere.

Renders by Metallic Charles / Alexotos.

Renders are currently being recolored to better match the prototype. Here is an image of the current proto colors which best reflects my vision with the set in terms of vibrancy and colors. I will be taking more photos once these prototypes arrive at my studio.

Prototype Photos

What is Aether?

Aether was designed out of some of my favourite colours and fine-tuned to best match the Switch Swirl desk pad. With that in mind, I wanted there to be a gradient between the darker keycaps without it being overwhelming.  From the bright and bold red found on the mat, to the darker shades of purples and blacks, Aether was born.  The name ‘Aether’ was suggested to me by my friend and colleague, Kris Twum. Aether is the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere. Kris Twum actually played a big role in the creative process, from fine-tuning colors and concepts.

We also didn’t want to pick a generic font so we went with Titillium. Which is a clear choice as it’s a widely used web font that features an aesthetic we could get behind, and that we felt best suited the set. The mod icons were also altered to be slimmer and to match the width of the font, rather than the traditional offerings. To top it off, Kris Twum and I collaborated on a space scene to match the universe aspect of Aether and we made some awesome desk mat art with it.

Choosing these colors was a new experience for me. I wanted to ensure the colors were as close to the original colours in the desk mat. I was happy to have found these Pantone colours that were so close to the originals!

The Typeface

My initial thought was to pick a rounded typeface for the set, but I also wanted something a bit more refined and well known. Titillium has also been one of my favourite web typefaces so I figured, why not bring that to the keyset.

Titillium is born inside the Accademia di Belle Arti di Urbino as a didactic project Course Type design of the Master of Visual Design Campi Visivi.

Desk Mat Art

This all started with the switch swirl mat that thekey.company and I ran. I decided to take those colors and make the Aether keyset. The new desk mat offering is some gorgeous concept art that Kris Twum had made I colorized and added detail to.

These desk mats can be found at The Key Company.

key switch wide wallpaper
Final
Concept

Extras

A few fun extras! First up a the Ungødly metal artisan keycap that you can find here.

As well as a matching Space Cable to go with the set found here.

Special Thanks

Renders: Metallic Charles
Creative Assistance: Kris Twum
Illustrator flat lay: One Creative Mind
Prototyping and assistance: Rise and the TKC team