Pixel Art
ピクセルアート / 1970s– / Technique / Digital Image Techniques
Treats the pixel as an honest unit, building clear form from limited resolution and palette.
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At a glance
Visual cues
- Visible pixels
- Limited palettes
- Tiles
- Sprites
Best used for
- Icons and controls for small screens that stay clean when scaled up
- Game characters and terrain that must read apart at tiny sizes
Use this style
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Detailed guidance and sourcesProduction rules, reference works, comparisons, research and citation formats
Dictionary entry
- Type
- Draw letters on the same grid, fixing cap height in pixels
- Composition
- Scale only by whole multiples and keep every element on grid
- Material
- Limited palette, dark outlines, neighboring hues to soften the steps
- Caution
- Downscaling a photograph skips the decision behind every single pixel, and the contours turn muddy the moment the image is enlarged.
- Further study
- sprite art / tile maps / demoscene graphics
Related entries
- Web 1.0 (ウェブ1.0)Shared effects: Nostalgia / Play.Compare Pixel Art and Web 1.0
- Kidcore (キッドコア)Shared effects: Play / Nostalgia.Compare Pixel Art and Kidcore
More from Digital Image Techniques
Continue through styles in the same Digital Image Techniques family, prioritised by shared effects.
- Dithering (ディザリング)Shared effects: Technique / Nostalgia / Play.
- Voxel Art (ボクセルアート)Shared effects: Play / Technique / Nostalgia.
- Datamosh (データモッシュ)Shared effects: Play / Technique.
Browse all Digital Image Techniques entries
Cite this entry
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- Link
- https://indexstyle.org/styles/pixel-art
- Markdown
- [Pixel Art — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/pixel-art)
- HTML
- <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/pixel-art">Pixel Art — IndexStyle</a>