science

Webdings

Webdings is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Webdings rather than just read about it. In short: Webdings is a TrueType dingbat typeface developed in 1997. It was initially distributed with Internet Explorer 4.0, then as part of Core fonts for the Web, and is included in all versions of Microsoft Windows since Windows 98.

Key takeaways

Webdings belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Webdings to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Webdings from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Webdings is a TrueType dingbat typeface developed in 1997. It was initially distributed with Internet Explorer 4.0, then as part of Core fonts for the Web, and is included in all versions of Microsoft Windows since Windows 98. All of the pictographic Webdings glyphs that were not unifiable with existing Unicode characters were added to the Unicode Standard when version 7.0 was released in June 2014.

Symbol types

There are some "categories" of symbols in Webdings, i.e., groups of similar symbols. Symbol trends like this in the font include weather icons, land with different structures built on top, vehicles and ICT. Symbols which are the Webdings equivalent of characters not available on an English keyboard also exist in the font (for example, the dove and Earth symbols). An unusual character in the font is the "man in business suit levitating". According to Vincent Connare, who designed the font, the character was intended as a nod to the logo of the British ska record label 2 Tone Records. The character has since been adopted as an emoji: U+1F574 🕴 MAN IN BUSINESS SUIT LEVITATING. Connare also designed the lightning bolt symbol to resemble the one on the cover of the David Bowie album Aladdin Sane. Following the controversy over possible antisemitic messages in the Wingdings font, Connare intentionally rendered the Webdings character sequence "NYC" as an eye, a heart, and a city skyline, referring to the I Love New York logo.

Code page layout The table below also shows the equivalent Unicode code point for each character.

Vincent Connare The man who created Webdings also created several other fonts including Comic Sans and Trebuchet MS. Webdings was created due to the demand of the new digital age; hence Connare was told to draft up a font that was "creative," "friendly" and "hand-drawn". Jennifer Niederst, author of "Web Design in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference," talks about Connare's work with type, including Webdings. Niederst states in her book, "These fonts have generous character spacing, large x-heights, and open, rounded features that make them better for online reading," which further comments on the kind of fonts Connare was told to create.

Opportunities People such as Karl Pentzlin have proposed that dingbat typefaces, such as Webdings, be encoded to Apple devices or more handheld devices in general. There are also organizations and individuals such as Michal Suignard who have created proposals for Webdings to be encoded in the "international character encoding standard Unicode". Both of these proposal examples also include other dingbat typefaces such as Wingdings. Webdings has also been used to help create artwork. In the case of Pat Boas, it has been stated that in Boas's work titled, Abstraction Machine, she "began by typing 'poison' in the font called 'Webdings,'..." which helped Boas to create a painting that challenged the audience to de-code its meaning. Boas also notes how the artwork captures a dialogue between the Webdings typeface, which is based in logic, and the handpainted artwork, which is "sensuous".

See also Core fonts for the Web Wingdings

References

External links Webdings font information (Microsoft typography) Webdings info page (Microsoft typography) Downloadable version of Webdings for Windows (Core fonts for the Web)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Webdings

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Webdings claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Webdings before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Webdings ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Webdings

In research: Webdings appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Webdings in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Webdings is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Infographics, Symbol typefaces, Typefaces and fonts introduced in 1997, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Webdings outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Webdings in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Webdings means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Webdings out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Webdings in simple terms?

Why does Webdings matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Webdings?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Webdings.