ANSI Art (BBS Scene)

ANSIアート / 1985–1997 / Style / Lettering

Login screens and group art packs drawn in the 16-color text mode of the BBS age. Block-character shading and inter-group competition made the summit of pre-web screen decoration.

ANSI Art (BBS Scene) — Example of ANSI art — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Example of ANSI art — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

ANSI Art (BBS Scene) — BBS login screen (CC BY-SA 3.0) · © Warren Leadbeatter — BBS login screen (CC BY-SA 3.0) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · © Warren Leadbeatter

ANSI Art (BBS Scene) — ANSI art by ACiD Productions 1996 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · © Ranunculoid — ANSI art by ACiD Productions 1996 — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · © Ranunculoid

At a glance

Visual cues

16-color text mode
Shaded block characters
Art-group signatures
The login-screen format

Best used for

Decorating a splash screen or heading where only characters are available
Bringing signature and crew credit into a distributed pack of work

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Dictionary entry

Type: Letterforms built from block characters and completed with box-drawing pieces
Composition: Eighty columns respected while the vertical runs on like a scroll
Material: Sixteen foreground and eight background colors, shading made by character density
Caution: Shown in a proportional environment the columns break and the picture is gone, so building without fixing display conditions destroys it.
Further study: the ACiD-iCE rivalry / art-pack culture / the modern textmode revival

Related entries

ASCII Art (アスキーアート)Same Lettering lineage.Compare ANSI Art (BBS Scene) and ASCII Art
Terminal UI (ターミナルUI)Shared effects: Technique / Rebellion.Compare ANSI Art (BBS Scene) and Terminal UI

Often confused with

ASCII Art (アスキーアート)compare

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