History articles
The story of Wingdings, Webdings and dingbat fonts, from printers’ ornaments to Unicode, plus the myths around them.
- History
From Printers’ Ornaments to Emoji: A Short History of Dingbat Fonts
What a dingbat is, how printers' ornaments became Zapf Dingbats, Wingdings and Webdings, and how Unicode turned picture fonts into real characters.
- History
Webdings vs Wingdings: Why Microsoft Made a Second Picture Font
Webdings was made in 1997 so web pages could show pictures without image files. How it differs from Wingdings, who designed it and the NYC easter egg.
- History
Who Designed Wingdings? Bigelow & Holmes and the Lucida Fonts
Wingdings was built by Microsoft in 1990 from Lucida Icons, Arrows and Stars by Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes. The full story and timeline.
- History
The Q33 NY Wingdings Hoax, Debunked
The chain email said Q33 NY in Wingdings predicted the September 11 attacks. Why the flight number was fake and how the hoax was built.
- History
The NYC Wingdings Controversy of 1992
Why typing NYC in Wingdings shows a skull, a Star of David and a thumbs up, what Microsoft said in 1992, and the I love New York reply in Webdings.