Images created using alphanumeric and special keyboard characters, which are often referred to as ASCII art, are by no means the product of recent decades.
Artworks and illustrations consisting of keyboard symbols, or typographical ornaments, predate even the advent of typewriters, as examples of such images, dating back to 1740 – which can be found at the Providence Public Library Special Collections Department, located in the US state of Rhode Island – go to show.
Read more about this early “ASCII art” here.