Creating ASCII Art in Your Terminal

Published January 2026 · 6 min read

ASCII art might seem like a relic of the BBS era, but it remains surprisingly practical in modern development. From startup banners in CLI tools to decorative comments in source code, text-based graphics add personality and polish to terminal applications.

Why Use ASCII Art in 2026?

Despite high-resolution displays and emoji support, ASCII art offers unique advantages:

  • Universal compatibility: Works in any terminal, any font, any system
  • No dependencies: Pure text requires no image libraries
  • Version control friendly: Diffs cleanly in git
  • Low bandwidth: Perfect for SSH sessions and remote servers
  • Nostalgic appeal: Gives your tools a distinctive retro character

Quick Wins: Text Banner Generators

The fastest way to create ASCII art is using a text-to-ASCII converter. The ASCII text generator at ascii.co.uk offers multiple font styles and instant preview.

For command-line generation, figlet is the classic choice:

$ figlet "Hello World"
 _   _      _ _        __        __         _     _ 
| | | | ___| | | ___   \ \      / /__  _ __| | __| |
| |_| |/ _ \ | |/ _ \   \ \ /\ / / _ \| '__| |/ _` |
|  _  |  __/ | | (_) |   \ V  V / (_) | |  | | (_| |
|_| |_|\___|_|_|\___/     \_/\_/ \___/|_|  |_|\__,_|

Install with: apt install figlet or brew install figlet

Using ASCII Art in Python CLI Apps

Here's how to add a startup banner to your Python command-line tool:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
BANNER = """
╔═══════════════════════════════════════╗
║   ____             _     _____        ║
║  |  _ \  _____   _| |___|_   _|__     ║
║  | | | |/ _ \ \ / / __/ _ \| |/ _ \   ║
║  | |_| |  __/\ V /| || (_) | | (_) |  ║
║  |____/ \___| \_/  \__\___/|_|\___/   ║
║                                        ║
║         Developer Tools v2.1          ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════╝
"""

def main():
    print(BANNER)
    # Your application logic here

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()
Pro tip: Use box-drawing characters (─│┌┐└┘├┤┬┴┼) for clean borders. These are part of the extended ASCII set and render consistently across modern terminals.

Creating Custom ASCII Art

For custom graphics beyond text, you have several options:

1. Image to ASCII Conversion

Convert logos or images to ASCII using tools like jp2a or online converters. The key is starting with high-contrast images:

$ jp2a --width=60 logo.jpg

2. Manual Creation

For precise control, create ASCII art manually. Use a reference like the ASCII art gallery for inspiration and techniques.

Key characters for drawing:

Shading:  . : - = + * # @ (light to dark)
Lines:    | - _ / \ 
Corners:  + / \
Curves:   ( ) { } [ ]

3. Box Drawing Characters

Unicode box-drawing characters create professional-looking borders:

┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Modern terminals support Unicode    │
│  box-drawing characters perfectly.   │
├──────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Use them for tables and frames.     │
└──────────────────────────────────────┘

Best Practices

  1. Test across terminals: What looks perfect in iTerm may break in Windows Terminal
  2. Stick to monospace: ASCII art assumes fixed-width characters
  3. Consider width: Keep it under 80 columns for compatibility
  4. Use raw strings: In Python, prefix with r to avoid escape issues
  5. Add comments: Document where the art came from for future maintainers

ASCII Art in Code Comments

Some developers use ASCII diagrams to document complex logic:

"""
Request Flow:
                                
  Client ──► Gateway ──► Auth ──► Service
     │                      │
     │                      ▼
     └─────────────────► Cache

"""

These diagrams are particularly valuable because they live with the code and require no external tools to view.

Resources

To get started with ASCII art, bookmark these references:

ASCII art adds character to your terminal applications with zero dependencies. Whether it's a simple startup banner or an elaborate logo, these text-based graphics make your tools more memorable and enjoyable to use.