Sometimes it’s the small details in a web design that make it distinctive, whether it be icons or bullets or some other small element used as a bar between articles or posts on a blog, or combined into a border between elements. And there is no better way to create these elements than using one of the thousands of Dingbat Fonts available for free on the web!

Dingbats are scalable to be any size you wish, from tiny to huge, and can be filled with any color, gradient, or texture you want, so using them as a large background image or creating a very smallscale overall wallpaper is an easy operation in any good web graphics program. They can be created as a background bullet for lists, or used as an iconic element in a frame. They can be high contrast for an eye grabber, or very low contrast as an overall background.

There are so many decorative dings, and ones that are germane to a number of subject areas that it’s pretty easy to find a ding font that will suit whatever project you’re working on, whether it be a business project that requires simple icons, or a themed site that can benefit from decorative elements that match its subject matter.

The general font sites, such as my fave, DaFont.com, have a good overall selection of dingbat fonts which are arranged by subject matter, but there are also some really stellar sites out there that specialize in DingBat Fonts. Here are a few for you to enjoy.

• DingBats-UK– though this isn’t the easiest of the font sites to use, it does, however, have links to Ding Fonts (and other fonts!) you won’t find anywhere else. It’s well worth poking around in here, since you may find that font that’s been buried for years and is perfect for your needs. Expect to waste a few hours if you get started. This one is a VAST resource.
• The DingBat Pages– nicely organized archive with a fair bit of stuff in it.
• DingBat Depot– another well arranged DingBat specific archive.
• Pure Confection DingBats– There are both free and pay dings here. Very SWEET!

And here are some ideas on how to use those DingBat fonts:

• DingBats- Design Elements to Go
• 3D DingBats, a tutorial series
• CommunityMX, Fun with WingDings and WebDings

Have FUN!

Technorati Tags: Designing with DingBats, Icon Design, Bullet Design, Border Design

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 at 3:53 pmunder Web Design and . Comment RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.