Dingbats-UK
More than 2000 individual dingbat fonts are listed alphabetically by name/topic in our Dingbat Helper,
and in the 'Lost Dingbats' download archive more than 400 are available direct from D-UK
Great resources for making graphics — take a look!
Ramblings . . .
Wasn't Dingbats-UK once called Moss Valley?
It was . . . a few years ago the pages of font links used to be called the Moss Valley Dingbat Links, but they were moved here to their own domain in mid-2003. We've gradually been changing over to use the 'Dingbats-UK' name exclusively, but it's taken time as some folk still search for or link to the original name.
How did the links begin?
Late in 2001 Rénald Lévesque discontinued a collection of PSP (Paint Shop Pro) tutorials, tubes, brushes and links at his PSP Resources site. Most of the pages were quickly adopted, but his dingbat links remained: I asked to take them over and Renald kindly agreed. They got me started and formed the backbone of the current pages. Although greatly expanded these days, the basic idea and format of identifying, listing and linking to individual font titles remain very much his — not sure there's anything else quite the same. Renald continued online with a different focus, and finally closed his site in 2005, but I'm still very grateful for all the visitors he sent along till then. In the late 1990s Rénald created dingbat fonts of his own, and these are available for download at D-UK.
How up to date are the dingbat links?
Other commitments mean the external links often need to look after themselves for quite long spells, and links do 'die' in those periods unfortunately. Some additions and corrections are made intermittently 'as we go along', but a blitz on the whole collection is only possible now and again: all existing link URLs are then checked and hopefully more added — always looking around for more titles! The download archive here on the site has expanded to include many "lost" fonts no longer available as collections from their creators' sites — more than 400 titles in all.
Probably no sane answer to that! Clever and versatile — but really it's a fascination for fonts and typography in general. It must have started with my first computer in the mid-90s: I used Word more than anything else, and it wouldn't have been long before I found all the different fonts and clipart, along with those little symbols in WingDings. Online for the first time in 1998, suddenly I found there was stacks more being given away! But even then I didn't 'cotton on' to dingbats straight away — probably not till getting PSP a bit later. Then I began looking at online tutorials and realised how useful they were. Still hooked and still collecting . . . but I love display caps too and many other styles. I've also really enjoyed learning more about how fonts are made and the history of typography. Having come to appreciate a little about how much hard work and time can be involved, I have great admiration and respect for those skilled in the art of font-making.
Would you like to make some dingbats?
For many years I hadn't, so the stock answer was 'I'd love to'. But then I took the plunge and made two :) Without the real skill required I couldn't make a proper regular text font (nor even a genuinely original dingbat font, as I can't draw to save my life); but these days, with ready-made clipart or a scanner, help from PSP or something similar to clean up the images, and programmes around like ScanFont and Font-Creator, it's possible for anyone to have a stab at amateur font-making, and without a huge outlay. Even more reasonable is Softy by Dave Emmett: quite an old programme which I'm not familiar with myself, but many people report using it, or at least starting off with it. I've been dabbling with ScanFont, but need a lot more practice! My efforts will never be anything other than amateur, but it's an extremely enjoyable way to while away some hours if there's time.
It's never been a hard and fast rule, but it was Renald's way of linking to dingbats which I've tried to continue where possible — mainly because you save what the author intended you to have. Just a foible, but personally I prefer to save an 'original' if possible, rather than a file from another source which — as an example — may not have its readme any longer (if one was provided originally), and may also have had its filename and/or date changed. At the designer's own site you're sure to get the latest version if there's been an update, you can read any info or terms of use at first hand, and you can also look at what else they have. Sending visitors direct is also a way of acknowledging their work and bringing it to the attention of a wider public — we owe a lot of enjoyment to these guys, and they deserve the credit.
However, many dingbat creators are no longer online or never had a site of their own; and the number who disappear or pull out of offering free dingbats and other fonts increases all the time. More come along to replace them of course, but where dingbats are concerned there seem to be far fewer offering substantial collections than there used to be in, say, the second half of the 1990s. If a designer can no longer be found and a direct link isn't possible I'll point to other sources and archives: notably the Lost+Found or Designers sections at typOasis, pages at 1001 Fonts, or DaFont. If certain collections aren't available there or elsewhere, and assuming the titles were always freeware or downloadable shareware, I'll consider offering them here so they aren't lost (see the download section). TypOasis are the real masters, making a superb job of preserving and showcasing designers' past work so we can all continue to enjoy it. I only wish more would consider donating their fonts in this way when they move on to other things, whether it's to typOasis or somewhere else . . . maybe even here :)
Unfortunately it's reaching a stage where I may have to be more selective about what to offer for download over and above what there already is. Though it hasn't been exceeded yet, bandwidth could become an issue before too long: steadily increasing visitor numbers is great to see, but the number of files being downloaded rises as well, and having already upgraded the hosting package twice to accommodate this I'm not sure if I could manage the cost of doing so again. But don't worry, we're not quite there yet! :)
And finally, you are . . . ?
A 50-something Brit who most folk call AJ. The 'day job' is secretarial, but I work for another business from home as well so time is limited. Home has been in the country in Wales for almost 40 years, currently with a mad (and enormous) cat and a lot of junk! (If you like cats too, take a look at my brother's site, Purr 'n' Fur — he writes all the material, I make the pages.) It's probably quite evident that making web pages is self-taught, but I'm unlikely to progress much further through lack of time. Messing around on the computer is my main pastime these days, but I also enjoy photography and family history research.
Last modified 31 August 2007
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