The Rebirth of a Classic Keyset
Sanctuary Rebirth is a revival of the original Sanctuary keycap set, a bold red and black set with a unique font and an iconic row of red keys. Here’s a brief interview with Jebbra, who brought the classic design back—a rebirth—with some design updates.
Tell us a little about yourself.
Hi, I introduce myself as Jebbra on the internet—that’s actually my Dota2 IGN for quite a long time, but along the way I decided to just use the name for my online persona. I run a graphic design studio in my day to day and act as an art director there.
The original Sanctuary keyset ran back in 2013. Why did you want to revive it?
To be honest, this was not my idea, haha. There’s this one friend of mine, a keyboard friend from the same country—lewynlight, who was looking for the OG Sanctuary set for himself but couldn’t get one. So he asked the original creator, got the green light, and contacted me to help him design it. I told him I was willing to help only if I could make adjustments from the original design, and here we are.
How does Sanctuary Rebirth compare to the original Sanctuary keyset made in 2013?
Most of the elements of the set are derived from the 2013 set, like the roman numerals and the red number row stripe. That’s what people remember and look for from Sanctuary. The font is the same too: Exocet, the same font used by the inspiration itself.
This is where the adjustment I wanted to make comes into play. The 2013 set uses a light version of Exocet, which I think is too thin for a display. I changed that and adjusted it further to look the best on a keyboard.
I changed the “format” too, from icon modifiers to text mods because I couldn’t find a good balance among Exocet and icons and the wide space of modifier keys. I spent quite a good amount of time on the typesetting—kerning and whatnot—which I think still has flaws after all of that, lol.
I teamed up with my ex-intern to make the illustration for this set, which I think was the best decision I made for this project.
Exocet, by Emigre Fonts
What’s BRED?
Actually, Infinikey BRED is not my creation. Jason of The Key Company made it as a “normal” version of Sanctuary—the same colors but without the fancy font.
What keyboard do you plan on putting your set on?
I'm still looking for one LOL. I want to put it on Thermal—a black one with red inserts, but I was late in joining the GB, and not yet getting a spot on the extras. But for sure it will be at max a 65%, because I hate using big keyboards (but I admit they’re pretty to look at!).
Thermal, designed by Wilba
Do you have any suggestions for what board people can put Sanctuary and BRED on?
All black or all red won’t go wrong with this set. Naturally black and red is quite “normal” nowadays so I think you can mix and match your desk easily. Not to mention they give a handsome gaming vibe too.
Do you have any last words?
I CAN’T WAIT TO HOLD THEM WITH MY OWN HANDS!! (And of course thanks for everyone who still stuck until the end with me, especially lewynlight and Jason.)
Sanctuary Rebirth with C³Equalz Tangerine switches.
Limited extras of Sanctuary Rebirth and BRED PBT are available July 8 at 9pm ET →
Follow Jebbra and his work on Instagram →
Here’s a sneak peak of Jebbra’s next project.
