ASCII art spikes in popularity around holidays, especially Christmas and Halloween. I’m an ASCII artist and I display my art and the work of others. I had the idea to group them by niche. Not a really new idea but it has given me some extra insight into how ASCII art is used and when people look for it online.
Birthday art is, by far, the most popular collection. However, there isn’t a lot of unique art created around birthdays. Once you look at the birthday cake and balloons there are slim pickings.
I would say, from my research, Christmas is the next in popularity and then Halloween. Those are traditional favourite holidays and they fall on the same days every year.
You may be expecting the next niche to come up would be Thanksgiving, or some other traditional family holiday. But, you would be wrong. Next up are weddings and marriage. I created an ASCII art picture for my husband and myself when we were married and it seems others like the idea. No doubt they remove my own wedding date and our names before they use the happily wedded bride and groom.
So, you can see there is more to holiday art than the typical family holidays. There are events too. I’ve ended up calling them all celebrations, for lack of a better word. Even a solemn celebration, like Remembrance Day, is a celebration in some way.
What does all this mean? It means ASCII art is still important, for one thing. It means people still like to celebrate holidays, occasions and events for another. It also means that people creating art in a commercial way should consider more than the standard events and holidays.
Think about events in the average human life this day and age. What could you create for celebrating a divorce, getting a driver’s licence, anti-Father’s Day for people growing up with single Mothers. Think beyond the average and the ordinary.
This works for writers too. Greeting cards need to be written for less traditional events. People should be made aware that our modern society can celebrate being a single parent. It’s not 50 years in the past when that was a unique situation.
For me, this means I’m going to create art for birthdays. Art that isn’t about a birthday cake and thinking it’s great to be 12. I’m going to think about someone turning 50 and how it feels to be somewhere in the middle of your life. I’m going to make birthday art for a range of people and experiences. Then I will make art for those single parents who need a little encouragement. Then all those newly divorced people. There should be an ASCII art for that. The list goes on.
I know not everyone makes ASCII art. Most people may not know what it is. Many people may like it and send it in email to a friend on their birthday. Some people decorate their blog with a little Christmas ASCII art because it’s free and available to use. (Please keep the artist initials on it). Basically, I’m saying ASCII art isn’t washed up, or a lost cause. The world needs more ASCII art cause there are a lot more reasons to celebrate and share those life events with family, friends and whoever happens to read your blog that day.