[sdiy] Designing front panels for synths

[David G Dixon]

First of all, sorry for the "CAUTION: Non-UBC Email" message that now
accompanies most or all of my responses -- I usually forget to remove it
before I reply.  It is something that our IT people decided we just had to
have to warn us of the dangers of incoming email.  After 30 or more years of
using email, I figure I was pretty well aware of the dangers, and I begged
them (twice) to remove this "feature" from the system.  They did reduce it
(it was originally a yellow banner across the top of the whole email message
extolling the various dangers of phishing, etc), but they won't eliminate it
unless, I guess, we storm their building and take them all hostage and
threaten bodily harm, but, really, who has the time? 
 
Anyway, about panels.  My panels are all, more or less, inspired by DJ
Thomas White.  Many years ago, I was very impressed with the clean look of
his panels, so I asked him how he made them, and he gave me all of his FPD
files.  Ever since, I have used his font choices.  Whenever I want to make a
panel, I simply copy the file for the last panel I made in FPD to a new
filename and alter it accordingly.  As far as pot and switch placements, I
now almost always lay out panel PCBs for all the panel components, and this
is in Excel, like all of my layouts, and I do it on a strict 0.1" grid.
This is very convenient for FPD, where the components can be moved precisely
where you want them on an X-Y grid.  So, now, in addition to having nice
readable graphics, my panels are all compatible with my panel PCBs.  This
makes panel assembly a snap, since all of the components are already
soldered in place, and just have to be poked through the holes and have the
nuts installed.  Plus, these panel PCBs require little or no wiring.  As far
as spacing, I just try to make things evenly spaced to make everything
accessible.  I also largely conform to the MOTM standard of having all the
jacks along the bottom, since I don't like reaching through a bunch of cords
to access knobs and switches.  Plus, this allows me to make jack PCBs (which
are separate from the panel PCBs, since the jacks are a lot taller, so the
PCBs are on different levels).
 
Here's a picture of my best panels -- the challenge was to get 18 jacks onto
it without taking up too much space.  I think it turned out pretty well.


  _____  

From: Synth-diy [mailto:synth-diy-bounces at synth-diy.org] On Behalf Of
ColinMuirDorward
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2020 1:10 PM
To: Gordonjcp
Cc: *SYNTH DIY
Subject: Re: [sdiy] Designing front panels for synths


[CAUTION: Non-UBC Email] 
My best panels were made by cutting out a piece of graph paper to panel
size, and then playing "chess" with knobs and jacks till I found an
ergonomically optimal layout.
But that only gets you the controls/io positioning. 

As for surface treatment, I think this is so subjective that it would be
impossible to come up with any guidelines to suit all tastes.
For me, despite that I'm an artist (painter), I still go for a "designed by
engineer" look. I just want my modules to be legible, without a lot of noisy
distractions to make them harder for me to use/see. 

Why not just choose an existing style you already like, and copy it? If it's
just for personal use, I don't see the harm in following a good example.
Curious to hear how others approach panel design.

Cheers,
Colin




On Tue, Oct 13, 2020 at 12:41 PM Gordonjcp <gordonjcp at gjcp.net> wrote:


No, no, not whether you should use Inkscape or Excel or some CAD package,
actually designing them so they look good.

There's got to be some overlap on this list with people skilled in the
visual arts.  How do you lay out the controls, connectors etc. on a panel so
they look good, and don't look like the nightmarish "designed by engineer"
crap that a lot of stuff seems to be?

I'm guessing there's some simple but non-obvious principles at work that
could be explained if you could get past all the forum discussion of whether
toner transfer is better than photoresist or Eagle is better than
Illustrator or whatever.

-- 
Gordonjcp
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-- 

https://www.instagram.com/colinmuirdorward/
- <https://www.instagram.com/colinmuirdorward/> 

https://www.instagram.com/ssdp_synthesis/
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