Ascii art in HTML comments - fad or function?

Question

Lately I've seen several websites with large ASCII art headers in their HTML. I don't get the point and it seems like this must just be a fad. For instance, tumblr.com has it:

<!--

        .                                 .o8       oooo
      .o8                                "888       `888
    .o888oo oooo  oooo  ooo. .oo.  .oo.   888oooo.   888  oooo d8b
      888   `888  `888  `888P"Y88bP"Y88b  d88' `88b  888  `888""8P
      888    888   888   888   888   888  888   888  888   888
      888 .  888   888   888   888   888  888   888  888   888    .o.
      "888"  `V88V"V8P' o888o o888o o888o `Y8bod8P' o888o d888b   Y8P

--> 

Adding this art to the file increases the size of each HTML download, which could equate to actual bandwidth cost increases on popular sites. I can't imagine why someone would do this on purpose unless they are just trying to be hip and cool and don't care about the extra bandwidth.

Is there a valid business reason for doing this? Is it a branding technique? Is it used to deter people from ripping off HTML and site designs?

Answer 1

Adding this art to the file increases the size of each HTML download, which could equate to actual bandwidth cost increases on popular sites.

You already answered your own question. It is Art! It is not supposed (or at least, it is not required) to have mundane functional value. :)

Seriously: as far I know, it has zero technical justification. It's all about decoration, and an insider's way of leaving a mark (after all, most people are not going to look into the markup). It's also fine: In times where DSL speeds are the norm in many target markets, the "bandwidth" argument is mostly a weak one. Every family photo you download weighs dozens, hundreds or thousands of times more.

The only useful use of ASCII art in HTML that I know of is using it as padding for 404 pages to prevent some browsers from showing their standard error page.

Answer 2

Actually, I really like this. Of course it's "useless", and it consumes some bandwidth. But maybe it also generates some traffic, as people notice this and show it to each other. It's funny and can be understood by anyone, but still smells of engineering.

Maybe this is a step towards more people appreciating the beauty of our creations and "materials", the same way a lot of people appreciate nice (and useless) detailing on car engines, watch movements and bridges without really knowing anything about the inner workings? I certainly hope so :)

Answer 3

I can't imagine why someone would do this either. Then again, I'm not much of an artist. ;-)

The images almost certainly serve no useful function, and you're right about increasing the size of the HTML files per download (although, the amount by which you increase the size is probably negligible with the ubiquity of high-speed connections today).

I'm also not sure it can properly be labeled a "fad"—I haven't seen this nearly often as other social fads like crocs and iPods.

There's no way this would deter people from ripping off HTML and site designs. If you have no conscience that stops you from blatantly ripping off people's designs and source, you'll have absolutely no reason not to yank out the giant comment block at the top, whether it has a pretty design or not.

It's probably best to think of this like an "easter egg" in a traditional software program. Relatively few people are likely to see it (the average person rarely looks at a page's source code), but it's the programmer's way of leaving their individual mark on their work.

Answer 4

I know this is super old but some HTML comment art does serve a purpose. I would suspect it serves a double purpose, to be art (as other answers have pointed out) and to act as a test which I would guess makes it worth the extra bandwidth.

The "meow duck" is famously a feature with its own set of unit tests to make sure it's always present in the output code. - Reddit user Skookah

Answer 5

From what it seems to me to have understood, the Ascii art serve to break in a strongly visual way a piece of code from another.
For example, if you have a piece of code in html and we want to add a piece of javascript inline, with the script tag, then you can put an Ascii Art. For my codebase I create them from here:

http://patorjk.com/software/taag/#p=display&f=Graffiti&t=Type%20Something%20

They are of every shape and size!