Give me the finger

July 11, 2007 12:19 PM

I'm looking for a large version of the classic Victorian "this way finger". A vector file would be ideal, but any large enough raster images would do as well. Also, what exactly would you call that thing? I know it would be considered a dingbat but I can't imagine shopowners ordering signs saying "Give me that finger thing, you know, the uhh, finger?" I was able to find some pointing fingers but they're too clean. The Victorian style in the first link is what I'm looking for.
posted by mjbraun to media & arts (14 comments total)

Dover always has lots of these (on CD even), and I seem to remember they call them "pointing fingers."
posted by small_ruminant at 12:21 PM on July 11, 2007

☜☝☞☟☚☛

Also, I rather like this one.
I would call it a pointing finger or a pointer finger.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:27 PM on July 11, 2007

small_ruminant: Bugger and Blast. How could I forget the Dover Pictorial Archives?!? If it's good enough for Edie Freedman, it's good enough for me. I can't yet find one there, but I think a bit of digging may turn something up.

ikkyu2: That's exactly what I'm talking about.

Many thanks!
posted by mjbraun at 12:33 PM on July 11, 2007

The dingbat you're looking for is called a "fist." Look for it under that name and you'll find hundreds.
posted by KRS at 12:35 PM on July 11, 2007

I've got a great detailed copy of this archived in an "signmakers" EPS set at home, drop me an e-mail and I'll forward it to you when I get a minute to pull it off the DVD. I'm not particularly aware of any specific nomenclature regarding this usage, however.
posted by prostyle at 12:35 PM on July 11, 2007

A great deal of the Dover catalog, including pointy fingers, can be found in raster form at clipart.com.
posted by ldenneau at 12:38 PM on July 11, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Another option is the Wood Type font from the Adobe library.

The version in that font doesn't have as extensive shading in the hand as your first link, but it does in the sleeve.
posted by roooooot at 12:44 PM on July 11, 2007

I forgot to ad I could create an outlined eps of that glyph as well if you wanted it.
posted by roooooot at 12:45 PM on July 11, 2007

And this is why I love ask.mefi. The Hive Mind is a beautiful thing.
posted by mjbraun at 1:30 PM on July 11, 2007

One of the pointy fingers offered by Briar Press.
posted by Foam Pants at 2:55 PM on July 11, 2007

If you have PowerPoint (I'm using PowerPoint 2003 for pc), go to insert -> picture -> clip art. Then put "pointing" in the search field. Amongst the results, I get three Victorian-style pointer hands. They are vector images and can be ungrouped and manipulated.
posted by SampleSize at 2:55 PM on July 11, 2007

P22 makes a Victorian font set, along with two "ornaments" (dingbats, mostly) fonts to go with it. There is at least one pointing finger ornament, possibly more, and the fonts are great fun.
posted by amtho at 3:41 PM on July 11, 2007

It's also built into Illustrator. Create a line and then Effects > Stylize > Add Arrowheads, numbers 23-26.
posted by ChuckLeChuck at 5:42 PM on July 11, 2007

I've been wondering what the name of this symbol is for years. It's often used as a section divider in literature. Like the pointy finger, it seems to be a timeless piece of graphic design.

Maddeningly, amtho's link to P22 offers another example but no reference!

(Apologies if it's not kosher to add a question within a thread, I couldn't tell from reading the posting guidelines.)
posted by FissionChips at 11:14 PM on July 11, 2007