Random Article Summary #98

A stick figure is a very simple drawing that uses straight lines for the body and limbs, usually with a circle for the head. Some details like hands, feet, or a neck may be included, and the head can have extra features such as a face or hair, though simpler versions can look disproportionate or show unclear emotions. Stick figures are widely recognized around the world and appear in many different languages, places, and groups. Their roots go back more than 30,000 years, and they are often drawn by children because they are easy and flexible. Because of their simplicity, stick figures are used in infographics, signage, animations, storyboards, and other visual media. With the rise of the World Wide Web, stick figures also became important in Flash animation. Stick figures have been around for thousands of years, appearing in prehistoric cave paintings and petroglyphs worldwide, often showing people, animals, and everyday activities. As writing developed, they were also used as simple pictorial symbols in early manuscript traditions. Later, they influenced modern pictograms, including Olympic signage in 1964 and designs for the 1972 and 1974 Olympics and transportation systems, whose symbols are still widely used today. Tom Fulp started making 2D stick figure animations on his Amiga computer in the early 1990s, mainly for fun and entertainment. On April 19, 2001, animator Zhu Zhiqiang posted a 75-second video called “Xiao Xiao” on Newgrounds, using Hong Kong martial arts films as inspiration. It featured stick-figure fights and later appeared in different forms, such as animation and video games. In September 2005, NASA engineer Randall Munroe started xkcd, a webcomic that uses stick figures to make jokes, often about topics like science, philosophy, technology, programming, and internet culture. He has also written six books related to the comic.