As I have in several SVG Open conferences in the past, I would like to suggest ways to make SVG richer visually and more refined in color and form.
This time I would like to take a look at using Unicode shapes - the Dingbat Range, Arrow symbols, Miscellaneous Technical shapes, Miscellaneous Symbols, Box Drawing Characters and Geometric Shapes - to make pattern and shape relationships in an interesting and economical ways.
Here is a sample of some of the hundreds of shapes which are available.
There are a number of very simple of ways of working with these characters in SVG - I chosen to use <symbol> <pattern> and <fill> for most of my examples.
Here are four different hex series presented as patterns:
| Example series 1 2640 - f |
Example series 2 2740 - f |
Example series 3 2600 - f |
Example series 4 25c0 - f |
And here are individual shapes, repeated and changed in placement an opacity and background color:
| &x2756 | &x2745 | &xa1d5 | &x2442 |
| &x2590 | &x2591 | &x2592 | &x2593 |
| Patterns of different colored background panels | |||
| &x2727 | &x2729 | &x2637 | &x2638 |
| Repeating and grouping | |||
| ⇳ | ╦ | ɟ* | ║ |
| Field and pattern | |||
| ◯ | ▛ | ✢ | ✠ |
| Some possible applications | |||
| Greek text | Presentation | Symbol | Opening page |
In conclusion I would like to make an appeal for browser support for patterns and text flow - presently the first is only supported by Firefox and the later isn't supported at all.
I believe both would extend and enrich how SVG can be used on the internet.
