Emails today look very different from those in the 1980s, which were text-based only. Email art was created using keyboard characters, and users added them as a signature design. Email graphics take up more space than plain text, making text emails more desirable for those with limited bandwidth. Monospaced fonts are used for email art, and they are often found in signature lines. Both email clip art and text-based email art are widely used today.
Email sent today tends to look very different from email commonly sent in the 1980s when email and computer networks were becoming popular. Images, imaginative designs and a variety of colors can decorate your email now. Early messages, however, were text-based only and could not contain email graphics or other image-based designs; The email art had to be created using only characters available on a standard keyboard. To accomplish this art, users arranged letters, numbers, punctuation, and symbols to create images that were often added to the end of messages as a type of signature design.
The first electronic message that traveled from one computer to another was sent in the 1970s between two computers sitting next to each other. The message was nothing like emails sent today, but it marked a turning point for computer networks. In the late 1980s, email was becoming a popular way to communicate among those with computers and basic Internet access. Email art gave users a way to express themselves with a type of image or design composed of common keyboard characters, while keeping the file size small.
Every electronic file, including email, takes up a certain amount of space which is measured in bytes. If an email contains very few bytes, it will take less time to send and receive than a larger file. Email graphics and clip art typically take up more space than plain text messages because they can contain thousands of bytes or more. This is why many people today still use text-based email art instead of large graphics that take longer to send. The amount of space something takes up as it travels to and from a server is known as bandwidth. Some people still pay for a limited amount of bandwidth usage per month, making text emails more desirable than image-heavy emails.
Email graphics are almost always created using a monospaced font. This font occupies the same width on a page or screen for every letter, number and symbol. Courier is an example of a monospaced font that can be used to create clear email art. E-mail graphics done in a proportional font, such as Times New Roman, may have lines that are shorter or longer than desired. This is because proportional fonts contain varying widths which will affect the overall look of the design.
Email graphics and art are often contained within the signature lines of messages. The signature is the space at the bottom of the email that typically contains the sender’s name. Sometimes the sender’s email address, website links, and other information are also included. A user can find email art online to copy into a signature line, or they can create an original design. Both email clip art and text-based email art are widely used today.
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