ASCII art is a graphic design technique that uses computers for presentation and consists of pictures pieced together from the 95 printable characters defined by the ASCII Standard from 1963 and ASCII compliant character sets with proprietary extended characters. The term is also loosely used to refer to text-based visual art in general. ASCII art can be created with any text editor, and is often used with free-form languages. Most examples of ASCII art require a fixed-width font such as Courier for presentation.
A bulletin board system (BBS), also called a computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user performs functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through public message boards and sometimes via direct chatting. In the early 1980s, message networks such as FidoNet were developed to provide services such as NetMail, which is similar to internet-based email.
The computer art scene, or simply artscene, is the community interested and active in the creation of computer-based artwork.
ACiD Productions (ACiD) is a digital art group. Founded in 1990, the group originally specialized in ANSI artwork for bulletin board systems (BBS). More recently, they have extended their reach into other graphical media and computer software development. During the BBS-era, their biggest competitor was iCE Advertisements.
Christian Wirth, better known by the pseudonym RaD Man, is an American computer artist and historian. He works in the field of ANSI art, a method of creating art using a limited set of text characters and color escape codes based loosely on the relevant ANSI standard.
Michael Jan Friedman is a New York City born American author of nearly 60 books of fiction and nonfiction, more than half of which are in licensed tie-in products of the Star Trek franchise. Ten of his titles have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. Friedman has also written for network and cable television, radio, more than 150 comic books, most of them for DC Comics.
Soulz at Zero (SAZ) was a lit group formed in 1994 by Jack Flack and The Stranger. SAZ released 25 monthly packs over a period of two years, beginning in September 1994 and ending in September 1996. The group took its name from a Souls at Zero poster Flack had in his bedroom at the time, with the trailing "s" in "Souls" changed to a "z". Soulz at Zero was so well known that their name was added to the "Elite Acronym List," which was used to separate "lamers" from "elite users."
Fire, later known as Fire Graphics, is an underground computer artscene group that released ANSI, ASCII, and high resolution artwork from 1994 to 1998, and from 2021 onwards.
Richard Jones is a Canadian voice actor, voice director, writer and content developer. Since 1982, he has worked with Alphanim, Cinar and Nelvana. Jones has been nominated for a Gemini Award twice in 1988 and 2003.
textfiles.com is a website dedicated to preserving the digital documents that contain the history of the bulletin board system (BBS) world and various subcultures, and thus providing "a glimpse into the history of writers and artists bound by the 128 characters that the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) allowed them". The site categorizes and stores thousands of text files, primarily from the 1980s, but also contains some older files and some that were created well into the 1990s. A broad range of topics is presented, including anarchy, art, carding, computers, drugs, ezines, freemasonry, computer games, hacking, phreaking, politics, computer piracy, sex, and UFOs. The site was created and is run by Jason Scott.
Aces of ANSI Art was the first group of artists specifically organized for the purposes of creating and distributing ANSI art. The group was founded and operated by two BBS enthusiasts from California, "Zyphril" and "Chips Ahoy", from 1989 through 1991.
Jay Robert Hart is an American set decorator who has worked in Hollywood since the early 1990s. Hart and production designer Hannah Beachler won the Academy Award for Best Production Design for Black Panther (2018). Prior to that, Hart and art director Jeannine Oppewall were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction for L.A. Confidential (1997) and Pleasantville (1998).
Donald Eugene D'Ammassa is an American fantasy, science fiction and horror critic and author. He is chiefly known for his numerous reviews, written over a period of more than thirty years. He writes as Don D'Ammassa.