Post by @gdc@typo.social

2026-06-15 13:36 UTC

My pre-ASCII art / pictorial typography / text art archive site is out now! People have been making ASCII-like text art on letterpress for over 300 years, building pictures entirely out of metal type, ornaments, and rule. The practice has often been dismissed as "tasteless", "wasted effort" and "nothing to do with art", which is why I think it's gone largely undocumented. So, I've spent the last 8+ years collecting ~2500 of these works into an archive. Thanks to @adelfaure@mastodon.art, who developed the site, it's now online for everyone to browse: https://garden-of-flowers.heikkilotvonen.com/ or read more about it at https://garden-of-flowers.heikkilotvonen.com/?essay

Replies (9)

@pixelambacht@typo.social 2026-06-15 13:48

@gdc@typo.social @adelfaure@mastodon.art ping @goto80@post.lurk.org

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@mwichary@mastodon.online 2026-06-15 13:55

@gdc@typo.social @adelfaure@mastodon.art cc @glennf@zeppelin.flights

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@triple@typo.social 2026-06-15 14:16

@gdc@typo.social @adelfaure@mastodon.art Oh wow, very very impressive!!!

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@bodypoetic@assemblag.es 2026-06-15 14:50

@gdc@typo.social @adelfaure@mastodon.art This is so cool!!!

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@colinmford@typo.social 2026-06-15 23:51

@gdc@typo.social @adelfaure@mastodon.art amazing! Thank you so much for making this available online!

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@davebauerart@mastodon.social 2026-06-16 00:16

@gdc@typo.social @adelfaure@mastodon.art I love this kind of work and I am always impressed at the perseverance of the artists.

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@vilmibm@tiny.tilde.website 2026-07-10 18:47

@gdc@typo.social @adelfaure@mastodon.art amazing <3 <3 <3 <3 thank you for this curatorial work

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@strutsulf@mastodon.social 2026-07-10 19:59

@gdc@typo.social @adelfaure@mastodon.art Splendid! Thank you!

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@zillion@freeradical.zone 2026-07-12 16:17

@gdc@typo.social Incredible! I would pay a pretty penny for a print version. Crowdfunding? Who's with me?

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