Creating My ASCII Self-Portrait
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From Nokia Pixels to Animated ASCII
When I was a kid, my dad owned a Nokia 3315—a phone that, for many, was just a means of calling and texting. But for me, it was a gateway to creativity. The Nokia 3315 had a simple, black-and-white pixel art editor, and I spent countless hours meticulously positioning every pixel to create my own tiny masterpieces. There were no YouTube tutorials or guides back then; it was just me, my imagination, and a lot of trial and error.
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“Picture Editor again helps satisfy my desire for uniqueness. I design my own pics and use them as Screen Savers.”
Those early days taught me the joy of creating art within limitations. The screen was tiny, the palette just black and white, but the possibilities felt endless. Each pixel was a deliberate choice, and every finished piece felt like a small triumph.
Fast forward to today, and I’ve brought that same spirit to my latest project: an ASCII art self-portrait with glitch animation. Using modern coding tools, I’ve recreated the experience of building images from simple characters—this time, revealing my own face and adding a dynamic, glitchy twist. It’s a nod to those childhood hours spent with the Nokia, but with a new layer of interactivity and motion.
The nostalgia of those early pixel experiments still inspires me. Whether it’s pixel art on a monochrome Nokia screen or ASCII animations on the web, I’m always chasing that feeling of discovery and creative freedom.
You can see my animated ASCII self-portrait right here on my website. I hope it brings back memories for anyone who ever doodled on an old phone—or sparks curiosity for those discovering digital art for the first time.