Ever since I started using computers, I’ve always been interested in ASCII art. I remember how cool I thought I was as a 10 year old making faces like };^> (the devil). When I found the internet the level of ASCII art stepped it up a few notches. Being able to draw crazy pictures in IRC using macros once again made me feel cool.
I’m more grown up now. I only laugh half the time when people burp or say the word “penis” (haha!). ASCII art no longer strikes me with awe as much as it once did, but there are still actually a couple of fun uses for it.
Three Fun Uses for ASCII Art
First, If you use any instant messaging client like AIM or Skype, dropping a ASCII picture on an inspecting friend can always get a great laugh. It’s almost as fun as rickrolling someone.
Some sites do not allow image links in their comment sections, so the second unusual use for ASCII art is to use them in comments. You have to hope that the site will actually format the post with the right number of characters per line, but if it does, it can really pay off. Depending on the crowd, other people will be very impressed by your crazy ASCII Art. (Without knowing the audience and author of the blog, this might not be appropriate according to blog comment etiquette; sometimes it is fun to break the rules… I would lol if someone did this on my blog)
The third and more practical use is branding your theme, code, and/or plugin. You see, most code writers just have a little byline that no one ever notices or sees when they are skimming over the code. Most people don’t even think twice about the person who wrote the free theme they are using and there is nothing to catch their attention.
This is where ASCII art comes in. If you add in a comment at the top of each piece code that you write with an ASCII art picture of yourself or your webpage logo, people are far more likely to notice. Once you have their attention, you can ask them to visit your webpage, follow you on twitter, or signup for your mailing list.
Use ACSII-O-Matic For Your ASCII Art Needs
You can spend hours trying to figure out how to make cool ASCII pictures, or you can just use the ASCII-O-Matic tool from typorgansm.com. Typorganism has some really cool tools, but the coolest is the ASCII Art tool. Just resize your image to 60×50 (weird dimensions, I know) and upload it to their site.
You can have your image rendered using either letters or squares, and they can be in color or in black and white. As you can see by the two images above, the square makes a slightly more distinct and clear picture. You really have to use color to get the most of the letter setting.
Just click the Generate HTML button, and you’ve got yourself some wicked ASCII art to surprise your friends with or put in your theme.
I look forward to seeing what nonsense comments I get over the next couple of months because of this.
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Dana@Online Knowledge Says:
October 27th, 2009 at 2:41 AM
I just know we can use ascii like that. Thanks for this interesting info my friend. :)
Rocky Garcia Says:
October 27th, 2009 at 4:35 AM
That was interesting and cool stuff. Maybe I can use that in making prints for T-shirts. :-)
Blake Waddill Reply:
October 27th, 2009 at 11:12 AM
That’s a great idea. I should have put that on the list.
Ben Hardy Says:
October 27th, 2009 at 4:07 PM
Your a one-man Wikipedia. Thanks for some most interesting info on ASCII.
Rocky Garcia Says:
October 28th, 2009 at 3:20 AM
Lol! Agree with Ben. Keep it up man! :-)
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