$ pip install ascii-banner · 328 fonts · color & borders · zero dependencies · by nvk

A History of ASCII Banner Art

a visual history — 300 BCE to 2026
↓ click or scroll ↓
the ancient roots

300 BCE

         *
        * *
       *   *
      *     *
     *       *
    *         *
   *    W I    *
  *   N   G   S  *
 *                 *
  *               *
   *             *
    *           *
     *         *
      *       *
       *     *
        *   *
         * *
          *

Greek poets shaped verse into wings, eggs, and altars.
George Herbert's Easter Wings (1633). Lewis Carroll's mouse-tail (1865).
Text as image is older than paper.

the mechanical canvas

1893

          __         __
         / /\       / /\
        / /  \     / /  \
       / / /\ \   / / /\ \
      / / /\ \ \ / / /\ \ \
     / / /  \ \ \ / /  \ \ \
    / / /    \ \ V /    \ \ \
   / / /      \ | /      \ \ \
  /_/_/________\|/________\_\_\
Butterfly · Flora Stacey
     _____
    /     \
   | () () |
    \  ^  /
     |||||
     |||||
Portrait · Paul Smith

Flora Stacey draws a butterfly. First artwork from a writing machine.
Julius Nelson's ARTYPING (1939) systematizes the craft.
Paul Smith spends a career overtyping characters to build portraits. 


  ascii

  /'æski/

  noun

  (computer science) a code for information
  exchange between computers made by different
  companies; a string of 7 binary digits
  represents each character; used in most
  microcomputers

  Synonyms:  american standard code for
             information interchange
the standard

1963

 !"#$%&'()*+,-./
0123456789:;<=>?
@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNO
PQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_
`abcdefghijklmno
pqrstuvwxyz{|}~

95 characters.

The entire palette.

American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
Every piece of ASCII art ever made uses
some subset of these 95 glyphs.

bell labs · line printers

1966

.......::::::;;;;;;;iiiiillllllll
......:::::::;;;;;;iiiilllll1111l
.....::::::::;;;;;iiiilll1111111l
....::::;::::;;;;;iiill111111!!!!
...::::;;::::;;;;iiill111!!!!!!!=
..::::;;;::::;;;;iill111!!!===+=+
.::::;;;;::::;;;iill11!!!=====+++
::::;;;;;:::;;;iill11!!=====+++++
:::;;;;;;:::;;iill11!!====++++**+
::;;;;;;;:::;iill11!!=====+++****
:;;;;;;;;::;;ill111!!====+++*****
;;;;;;;;;::;iill11!!====+++******
;;;;;;;;:::iill11!!!===+++*******
;;;;;;;:::iill11!!!===+++********

Kenneth Knowlton & Leon Harmon print a nude portrait
on an IBM 1403 using FORTRAN and punch cards.
"Studies in Perception I" — exhibited at MoMA, 1968.
First museum showing of computer-generated art.

the space age

1969

                                      (
         ,
       \_=|_
     _[_## ]_
_  +[_[_+_]P/    _    |_       ____      _=--|-~
 ~---\_I_I_[=\--~ ~~--[o]--==-|##==]-=-~~  o]H
-~ /[_[_|_]_]\\  -_  [[=]]    |====]  __  !j]H
  /    "|"    \      ^U-U^  - |    - ~ .~  U/~
 ~~--___~~~--__~~-__   H_H_    |_     --   _H_
-. _  ~~~#######~~~     ~~~-    ~~--  ._ - ~~-=
           ~~~=~~  -~~--  _     . -      _ _ -

       ----------------------------------
      |  Here Men from the Planet Earth  |
      |   First set Foot upon the Moon   |
      | We came in Peace for all Mankind |
       ---------------------------=apx=--

       _________
      (=========)
      |=========|
      |====_====|
      |== / \ ==|
      |= / _ \ =|
   _  |=| ( ) |=|
  /=\ |=|     |=| /=\
  |=| |=| USA |=| |=|
  |=| |=|  _  |=| |=|
  |=| |=| | | |=| |=|
  |=| |/  | |  \| |=|
  |=|/    | |    \|=|
  |=/NASA |_| NASA\=|
  |(________________)|
  |=| |_|__|__|_| |=|
  |=|   ( ) ( )   |=|
 /===\           /===\
|||||||         |||||||
-------         -------
 (~~~)           (~~~)

Line printers at NASA. Apollo missions documented in ASCII.
The same technology that put art on paper put humans on the moon.

the terminal awakens

1978

 _    _ _____ __  ___   ___
| |  | |_   _/_ |/ _ \ / _ \
| |  | | | |  | | | | | | | |
| |  | | | |  | | | | | | | |
|  \/  | | |  | | |_| | |_| |
 \____/  |_|  |_|\___/ \___/

ESC[31m RED   ESC[32m GREEN   ESC[33m YELLOW
ESC[34m BLUE  ESC[35m MAGENTA ESC[36m CYAN

DEC VT100. ANSI X3.64 escape codes.
Color, cursor movement, and animation.
The canvas becomes dynamic.

the platforms diverge

1979–82

+--+--+--+--+
|##|  |##|  |
+--+--+--+--+
|  |##|  |##|
+--+--+--+--+
|##|  |##|  |
+--+--+--+--+
|  |##|  |##|
+--+--+--+--+
ATASCII · Atari 400/800
1979
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
\/  P E T S   \/
/\  C I I     /\
\/  C = 6 4   \/
/\            /\
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
\/   demoscene \/
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
PETSCII · Commodore 64
1982
+==============+
|  IBM PC 437  |
+==============+
|  ░░░▒▒▒▓▓▓  |
|  ███████████  |
|  ┌───┬───┐  |
|  │ A │ B │  |
|  ├───┼───┤  |
|  │ C │ D │  |
|  └───┴───┘  |
+==============+
Code Page 437 · IBM PC
223 characters

Every machine spoke its own visual dialect.
Each encoding spawned a distinct artistic subculture.

the golden age

1990

           ___    ____ _ ____
          /   |  / ___(_)  _ \
         / /| | / /   | | | | |
        / ___ |/ /____| | |_| |
       /_/  |_|\____ /|_|____/
   ____                _            _   _
  |  _ \ _ __ ___   __| |_   _  ___| |_(_) ___  _ __  ___
  | |_) | '__/ _ \ / _` | | | |/ __| __| |/ _ \| '_ \/ __|
  |  __/| | | (_) | (_| | |_| | (__| |_| | (_) | | | \__ \
  |_|   |_|  \___/ \__,_|\__,_|\___|\__|_|\___/|_| |_|___/

 _______________________________________________
|                                               |
|  WELCOME TO THE UNDERGROUND                   |
|  ============================================ |
|                                               |
|  [1] File Areas        [5] Message Boards     |
|  [2] Upload/Download   [6] Door Games         |
|  [3] User List         [7] Sysop Chat         |
|  [4] Bulletins         [8] Logoff             |
|                                               |
|  Time Left: 45 min     Calls Today: 127       |
|_______________________________________________|

ACiD Productions founded. ICE as rival.
Artists traded logos and screeners for board access.
ASCII art as digital currency in the pirate BBS scene.

warez culture

1993

        _/  _/  _/  _/  _/  _/  _/
      _/  _/  _/  _/  _/  _/  _/
  ___/  _/  _/_____/  _/  _/  _/___
 /       __/         _/  _/       /
/  _____/ _________ /__________  /
\       \/         \/          \/
 \___    \    _    /    ___   /
     \    \  | |  /    /   \ /
      \    \_| |_/    / ___ |
       \             / /   \|
        \___________/ /
                     /
  ---- release.nfo --------
  Title...: Application v2.1
  Date....: 1993/12/25
  Size....: 3.2 MB [3x 1.44]
  Cracker.: [handle]
  ---------------------------

.nfo files: the signature art form of warez groups.
Every release carried a visual identity.

the underground

1984

                    _   _
                   ((___))
                   [ x x ]
                    \   /
                    (' ')
                     (U)

              CULT OF THE DEAD COW

   _   _                                              _   _
  ((___))                                            ((___))
  [ x x ]           cDc communications               [ x x ]
   \   /                presents                       \   /
   (' ')                                              (' ')
    (U)            file 319 of 401+                    (U)

Lubbock, Texas. 1984. The oldest surviving US hacker group.
400+ text files. Hacktivism. Back Orifice.
The cow skull framed every release.

the hacker quarterly

1984

  .oooo.       .ooo     .oooo.     .oooo.
.dP""Y88b    .88'      d8P'`Y8b   d8P'`Y8b
      ]8P'  d88'      888    888 888    888
    .d8P'  d888P"Ybo. 888    888 888    888
  .dP'     Y88[   ]88 888    888 888    888
.oP     .o `Y88   88P `88b  d88' `88b  d88'
8888888888  `88bod8'   `Y8bd8P'   `Y8bd8P'

       _______________
      /            __   \
      |           (__)  |
      |                 |
      | .-----.   .--.  |
      | |     |  /    \ |
      | '-----'  \    / |
      |           |  |  |
      | LI LI LI  |  |  |
      | LI LI LI  |  |  |Oo
      | LI LI LI  |  |  |`Oo
      | LI LI LI  |  |  |  Oo
      |           |  |  |   Oo
      | .------. /    \ |   oO
      | |      | \    / |   Oo
      | '------'  '-oO  |   oO
      |          .---Oo |   Oo
      |          ||  ||`Oo  oO
      |          |'--'| | OoO
      |          '----' |
jgs   \_________________/
The Payphone · jgs
                     2600 Hz
                       |
     /\    /\    /\    |    /\    /\
    /  \  /  \  /  \   |   /  \  /  \
   /    \/    \/    \  |  /    \/    \
--/-----+-----+-----+-+--+-----+-----\--
  \    /\    /\    /  |  \    /\    /
   \  /  \  /  \  /   |   \  /  \  /
    \/    \/    \/    |    \/    \/
                       |
    |-- one cycle -----|-- one cycle -|
    |   (1/2600 sec)   |             |

     ______________________________
    /                             /|
   /  [B L U E   B O X]        / |
  /-------------------------------/  |
 |  .---.  .---.  .---.         |  |
 | | 1  | | 2  | | 3  |  (())  |  |
 |  '---'  '---'  '---'        |  |
 |  .---.  .---.  .---.        |  |
 | | 4  | | 5  | | 6  |  2600 |  |
 |  '---'  '---'  '---'       | /
 |  .---.  .---.  .---.       |/
 | | 7  | | 8  | | 9  |       |
 |_____________________________|
The Frequency · The Blue Box

2600: The Hacker Quarterly. Named for the 2600 Hz tone
that seized AT&T trunk lines. Emmanuel Goldstein. HOPE conference.
First Friday meetings at payphones worldwide since the 1980s.

the longest-running hacker zine

1985

                     ______ _                    _
                     | ___ \ |                  | |
                     | |_/ / |__  _ __ __ _  ___| | __
                     |  __/| '_ \| '__/ _` |/ __| |/ /
                     | |   | | | | | | (_| | (__|   <
                     \_|   |_| |_|_|  \__,_|\___|_|\_\

                            ==Phrack Inc.==
               Volume One, Issue 7, Phile 3 of 10

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  "I am a hacker, enter my world...

   I made a discovery today. I found a computer.
   Wait a second, this is cool.
   It does what I want it to.

   This is our world now...
   the world of the electron and the switch,
   the beauty of the baud.

   I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto.
   You may stop this individual,
   but you can't stop us all...
   after all, we're all alike."

                         +++The Mentor+++
                      January 8, 1986

Phrack: November 1985. The Hacker Manifesto: January 1986.
The \/\Conscience of a Hacker/\/ by Loyd Blankenship.
The foundational text of hacker identity.
No graphics needed. The power was entirely in monospaced text.

the great hacker war

1990

     _________________________
    /                         \
   |   LEGION    OF    DOOM    |
   |       founded 1984        |
    \_________________________/
            |||       |||
            |||       |||
       _____|||_______|||_____
      /     |||       |||     \
     |  LOD |||  1984 ||| LOD  |
      \_____|||_______|||_____/
LOD · Legion of Doom
Lex Luthor · Erik Bloodaxe · The Mentor
  __  __  ___  ____
 |  \/  |/ _ \|  _ \
 | |\/| | | | | | | |
 | |  | | |_| | |_| |
 |_|  |_|\___/|____/

   Masters of Deception
       New York City
MOD · Masters of Deception
Phiber Optik · Acid Phreak · Scorpion
  =========================
  =   LOD/H Technical     =
  =      Journals         =
  =========================

LOD vs MOD. 1990–1991.
The logos were battle flags. The text files were propaganda.
ASCII art as identity, territory, and allegiance.

digital graffiti

Defacement Art

                    uuuuuuu
                uu$$$$$$$$$$$uu
             uu$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$uu
            u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$u
           u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$u
          u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$u
          u$$$$$$"   "$$$"   "$$$$$$u
          "$$$$"      u$u       $$$$"
           $$$u       u$u       u$$$
           $$$u      u$$$u      u$$$
            "$$$$uu$$$   $$$uu$$$$"
             "$$$$$$$"   "$$$$$$$"
               u$$$$$$$u$$$$$$$u
                u$"$"$"$"$"$"$u
     uuu        $$u$ $ $ $ $u$$       uuu
    u$$$$        $$$$$u$u$u$$$       u$$$$
     $$$$$uu      "$$$$$$$$$"     uu$$$$$$
   u$$$$$$$$$$$uu    """""    uuuu$$$$$$$$$$
   $$$$"""$$$$$$$$$$uuu   uu$$$$$$$$$"""$$$"
    """      ""$$$$$$$$$$$uu ""$"""
              uuuu ""$$$$$$$$$$uuu
     u$$$uuu$$$$$$$$$uu ""$$$$$$$$$$$uuu$$$
     $$$$$$$$$$""""           ""$$$$$$$$$$$"
      "$$$$$"                      ""$$$$""
        $$$"                         $$$$"

+============================================================+
|                                                            |
|          THIS SITE HAS BEEN OWNED BY [GROUP]               |
|                                                            |
|    GreetZ: cDc, LOD, Phrack, 2600, L0pht                  |
|    FuckZ:  [redacted]                                      |
|                                                            |
+============================================================+

The GreetZ and FuckZ. The skull and crossbones.
Website defacement as digital graffiti.
Attrition.org kept the mirror archive.

peak production

1995–97

100
'91
250
'92
400
'93
600
'94
800
'95
850
'96
900
'97
500
'98
200
'99
80
'00
~5
'06

Artpacks released per year.
~900 packs in 1997. Tens of thousands of individual pieces.
Then the internet happened.

the artists

1996

            .
           / \
          / _ \
         | / \ |
         ||   ||
         ||   ||
         ||   ||
    _.oood||   ||booo._
   d      ||   ||      b
   |      ||   ||      |
   |      ||   ||      |
   q      ||   ||      p
    \_____||   ||_____/
          ""   ""
          ||   ||
          ||   ||
     ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
     \___/ \___/ \___/
Joan Stark (jgs)
       .---.
      /     \
      \.@-@./
      /`\_/`\
     //  _  \\
    | \     )|_
   /`\_`>  <_/ \
   \__/'---'\__/

    ___
   /   \
  | o o |
  |  ^  |
  | '-' |
   \___/
    |I|
   /   \
  |     |
  |     |
GeoCities Gallery
Hundreds of originals
                           *     .--.
                                / /  `
               +               | |
                      '         \ \__,
                  *          +   '--'  *
                      +   /\
         +              .'  '.   *
                *      /======\      +
                      ;:.  _   ;
                      |:. (_)  |
                      |:.  _   |
            +         |:. (_)  |          *
                      ;:.      ;
                    .' \:.    / `.
                   / .-'':._.''-. \
                   |/    /||\    \|
             jgs _..--"""````"""--..._
           _.-'``                    ``'-._
         -'                                '-

Joan Stark opens her ASCII Art Gallery on GeoCities.
Christopher Johnson's collection (1994) becomes the largest archive.
In 2023, the Jgs Font is released in her honor.

meanwhile, in japan

Shift_JIS · 2channel

(^_^)    (T_T)    (o_O)

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

( ˘ω˘ )   (>_<)   (¿_?)

＼(◎o◎)／    ╰(*°▽°*)╯

( ´ • ω • ` )    ( ＾∀＾ )

Kaomoji: displayed upright, not sideways.
Proportional fonts. A completely parallel evolution.
Mona, Yaruo, Densha Otoko (2004).

frank, ian & glenn's letters

1991

 _____ ___ ____ _      _
|  ___|_ _/ ___| | ___| |_
| |_   | | |  _| |/ _ \ __|
|  _|  | | |_| | |  __/ |_
|_|   |___\____|_|\___|\__|

  ___ _              _            _
 / __| |_ __ _ _ _ __| |__ _ _ _ __| |
 \__ \  _/ _` | ' \/ _` / _` | '_/ _` |
 |___/\__\__,_|_||_\__,_\__,_|_| \__,_|
Standard
   _____ __            __
  / ___// /___ _____  / /_
  \__ \/ / __ `/ __ \/ __/
 ___/ / / /_/ / / / / /_
/____/_/\__,_/_/ /_/\__/
Slant
.______    __    _______
|   _  \  |  |  /  _____|
|  |_)  | |  | |  |  __
|   _  <  |  | |  | |_ |
|  |_)  | |  | |  |__| |
|______/  |__|  \______|
Big

Glenn Chappell writes "newban," inspired by a friend's email signature.
443+ fonts. Ported to C, Python, JS, Rust, Go, Perl, PHP, Java.

the font explosion

677+ Fonts

 ____
|  _ \  ___   ___  _ __ ___
| | | |/ _ \ / _ \| '_ ` _ \
| |_| | (_) | (_) | | | | | |
|____/ \___/ \___/|_| |_| |_|
Doom
  ________            .__
 /  _____/___  _  ____| |__
/   \  __\   \/ \/  _ \ |_ \
\    \_\  \     (  (_) )  _/
 \______  /\_/\_/\____/|_|
        \/
Gothic
 _____      _
| ____|   _(_) ___
|  _| \ \ / / |/ __|
| |___ \ V /| | (__
|_____| \_/ |_|\___|
Epic
    _/    _/            _/
   _/_/_/_/    _/_/    _/  _/  _/_/
  _/    _/  _/    _/  _/_/    _/
 _/    _/  _/    _/  _/  _/  _/
_/    _/    _/_/    _/    _/  _/
3D
 _  _  _  _  _  _
| || || || || || |
| || || || || || |
|_||_||_||_||_||_|
Banner
._______._____.___.
|   _   |  _  |   |
|.  |   |   __|   |
|.  |   |  |_ |.  |
|:  1   |   _||:  |
|::.. . |:  1 |::.|
`-------`--' `---'
Graffiti
the three styles

Oldskool · Newskool · Block

    __
   / /  ___  __ _ _ __
  / /  / _ \/ _` | '_ \
 / /__|  __/ (_| | | | |
 \____/\___|\__,_|_| |_|

  _____.___.
 /     |   |
 \_    |   |
  /    |   |
 /_____/   |
       |___|
Oldskool · _/\-+=.()<>:
$   $  $$$$$ $   $
$$  $  $     $   $
$ $ $  $$$$  $ $ $
$  $$  $     $$$ $
$   $  $$$$$ $   $

xXx  oOo  #X#  xOx
XxX  OoO  X#X  OxO
xXx  oOo  #X#  xOx
Newskool · $#Xxo shading
██████╗ ██╗  ██╗
██╔══██╗██║ ██╔╝
██████╔╝█████╔╝
██╔══██╗██╔═██╗
██████╔╝██║  ██╗
╚═════╝ ╚═╝  ╚═╝

░░░░░ ▒▒▒▒▒ ▓▓▓▓▓ █████
Block / ANSI · ░▒▓█ box-draw
the daemon

1993

               ,        ,
              /(        )`
              \ \___   / |
              /- _  `-/  '
             (/\/ \ \   /\
             / /   | `    \
             O O   ) /    |
             `-^--'`<     '
            (_.)  _  )   /
             `.___/`    /
               `-----' /
  <----.     __ / __   \
  <----|====O)))==) \) /====
  <----'    `--' `.__,' \
               |        |
                \       /
           ______( (_  / \______
         ,'  ,-----'   |        \
         `--{__________)        \/

  ```                        `
 s` `.....---.......--.```   -/
 +o   .--`         /y:`      +.
  yo`:.            :o      `+-
   y/               -/`   -o/
  .-                  ::/sy+:.
  /                     `--  /
 `:                          :`
 `:                          :`
  /                          /
  .-                        -.
   --                      -.
    `:`                  `:`
      .--             `--.
         .---.....----.
FreeBSD Orb
 ___            ___ ___ ___
| __| _ ___ ___| _ ) __|   \
| _| '_/ -_) -_) _ \__ \ |) |
|_||_| \___\___|___/___/___/

  ___                   ____ ____  ____
 / _ \ _ __   ___ _ __ | __ ) ___||  _ \
| | | | '_ \ / _ \ '_ \|  _ \___ \| | | |
| |_| | |_) |  __/ | | | |_) |__) | |_| |
 \___/| .__/ \___|_| |_|____/____/|____/
      |_|
The BSD Family

Beastie — the BSD daemon. Pitchfork, sneakers, horns.
FreeBSD (1993), OpenBSD (1995), NetBSD (1993).
Boot screens as ASCII art galleries.

unix culture

1999

 _________________________________________
/ All I need is 95 printable characters   \
| and a mass of mass of mass of           |
\ imagination.                            /
 -----------------------------------------
        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||

$ neofetch | lolcat
$ fortune | cowsay | lolcat
$ figlet "DEPLOY" && rsync ...
$ cmatrix
$ cbonsai -l

   [""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""]
   [ \--------MARS PATHFINDER MISSION - 1997-----~~~~~~~/ ]
   [ |                                          {USA ///} ]
   [ |      ...Go America! Mars or bust!!       {32 /*\/} ]
   [ |                                          {  /* *\} ]
   [ |              __                       _   ~~~~~~~| ]
   [ |             /\ `\_                   /\`\_       | ]
   [ |___________/________\_____|_________/______\______| ]
   [ |   .^^____  ^       ______|_^.^  ___ ^ .  _ .^^  .| ]
   [ |.^. _/   _\_^  Q]-,  | __ |_  ^ |   \ ^^ / \  ^. ^| ]
   [ /--------------------------------------------------\ ]
    """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

cowsay (1999). Neofetch. cmatrix. cbonsai.
Mars Pathfinder (1997). Star Wars ASCIImation (1997).
Tools designed for piping. Terminal as playground.

the secret sauce

Smushing

Full Width:     H   E   L   L   O

Fitting:        H  E  L  L  O

Smushed:        HELLO

Rule 4: [ + ] = |    { + } = |    ( + ) = |
Rule 5: / + \ = |    \ + / = Y    > + < = X
Rule 1: X + X = X    # + # = #    | + | = |

Six horizontal rules. Five vertical rules.
The algorithm that makes banner text compact and readable.
Controlled smushing for border characters. Universal for everything else.

the quiet years

2006

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

   "What was the point of creating
    ASCII artwork if it would only
    be admired by other artists?"

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

A couple of art packs per year.
The BBS commodity exchange is gone.
Native images everywhere. Unicode replaces encodings.
The motivation evaporates.

code brutalism

2025

 ____            _            _
|  _ \ _____   _(_)_   ____ _| |
| |_) / _ \ \ / / \ \ / / _` | |
|  _ <  __/\ V /| |\ V / (_| | |
|_| \_\___| \_/ |_| \_/ \__,_|_|

 ___          _
|   \ ___  __| |_____ _ _
| |) / _ \/ _| / / -_) '_|
|___/\___/\__|_\_\___|_|
Docker
 _ _  _ __ _ __
| ' \| '_ \ '  \
|_||_| .__/_|_|_|
     |_|
npm
    _          _   _
 _ | |___ _ _ | |_(_)_ _  ___
| || / -_) ' \| / / | ' \(_-<
 \__/\___|_||_|_\_\_|_||_/__/
Jenkins
 _  __    _                      _
| |/ /  _| |__  ___ _ _ _ _  ___| |_ ___ ___
| ' < || | '_ \/ -_) '_| ' \/ -_)  _/ -_|_-<
|_|\_\_,_|_.__/\___|_| |_||_\___|\__\___/__/
Kubernetes
 ___          _             ___           _
/ __|_ __ _ _(_)_ _  __ _  | _ ) ___  ___| |_
\__ \ '_ \ '_| | ' \/ _` | | _ \/ _ \/ _ \  _|
|___/ .__/_| |_|_||_\__, | |___/\___/\___/\__|
    |_|             |___/
Spring Boot
 _  _               _
| || |___ _ __  ___| |__ _ _ _____ __ __
| __ / _ \ '  \/ -_) '_ \ '_/ -_) V  V /
|_||_\___/_|_|_\___|_.__/_| \___|\_/\_/
Homebrew

Monospaced type as resistance to AI homogeneity.
Signal over noise. Friction as aesthetic.
Developers never stopped using terminals.
High-DPI makes monospace look crisp, not cheap.

the frontier

2026

phm-shinonome
13,133 characters

Japanese + Korean + Greek
Cyrillic + Hebrew + Emoji

Unicode 16.0 · ANSI Color · Octant Characters
Sextants · Large Type Pieces · Braille Patterns

CGA · VGA · Minecraft · C64 · DOS

Philippe Majerus pushes FIGlet into Unicode 16.0.
23+ fonts. The format designed in 1991 still evolves.
The largest FIGlet font ever created.

timeline
300 BCE
Greek
pattern poems
1867
Typewriter
invented
1893
First
typewriter art
1939
ARTYPING
manual
1963
ASCII
standardized
1966
Knowlton
Bell Labs
1969
Moon landing
Space age art
1978
VT100
ANSI codes
1979
ATASCII
Atari
1982
PETSCII
Commodore
1984
cDc · 2600
founded
1985
Phrack
Issue 1
1986
Hacker
Manifesto
1990
ACiD · LOD
vs MOD
1991
FIGlet
"newban"
1993
FreeBSD
Beastie
1994
Johnson's
Collection
1996
Joan Stark
GeoCities
1997
900 packs
PEAK
1999
cowsay
released
2006
production
nadir
2010
Structure
ASCII art
2025
Code
Brutalism
2026
Unicode 16.0
FIGfonts
      .-"""-.
     /=      \
    |- /~~~\  |
    |=( '.' ) |
    \__\=_/__/
     {______}
   /` *       `'--.
  /= .     [] .     {
 /  /|ooo     |`'--'
(   )\_______/
 ``\/       \
  `-| ==    \_|
    /         |
   |=   >\  __/
   \   \ |- --|
    \ __| \___/
    _{__} _{__}
   (    )(    )

  ___  ____
 / _ \| ___|
| (_) |___ \
 \__, |___) |
   /_/|____/

       _                          _
   ___| |__   __ _ _ __ __ _  ___| |_ ___ _ __ ___
  / __| '_ \ / _` | '__/ _` |/ __| __/ _ \ '__/ __|
 | (__| | | | (_| | | | (_| | (__| ||  __/ |  \__ \
  \___|_| |_|\__,_|_|  \__,_|\___|\__\___|_|  |___/

  _        __ _       _ _
 (_)_ __  / _(_)_ __ (_) |_ ___
 | | '_ \| |_| | '_ \| | __/ _ \
 | | | | |  _| | | | | | ||  __/
 |_|_| |_|_| |_|_| |_|_|\__\___|

                     _ _     _ _ _ _   _
  _ __   ___  ___ __(_) |__ (_) (_) |_(_) ___  ___
 | '_ \ / _ \/ __/ __| | '_ \| | | | | __| __/ _ \/ __|
 | |_) | (_) \__ \__ \ | |_) | | | | | |_| ||  __/\__ \
 | .__/ \___/|___/___/_|_.__/|_|_|_|_|\__|\___|___||___/
 |_|