Hi there! Thanks for the feedback.
I also have a hard time with the cursive font, & there's a toggle for it in Settings. With that turned off, anything that uses it (codex, etc) will be switched to the block font automatically.
Every part transformation has a keyboard equivalent - the panel is intended to be a point of reference for learning those keys (or a backup if you don't want to touch the keyboard). Each of the transform buttons' tooltips lists its key, and they're all clustered around WASD for easy access. It should be pretty easy to add a menu with a keyboard/mouse diagram to show the currently mapped controls too.
We actually meant to redesign the moon icon before release and/or highlight it with the same effect we use for the puzzle description button for the first puzzle. I definitely agree that it doesn't really tell you anything about what it does and we'll be changing it for the next patch.