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2/12/24

Atari Breakout Name Art

I was born in 1972, which means I was four years old when Atari Breakout debuted in 1976. I never played that original version with 8 rows of bricks. The Breakout of my childhood, with a 6-row rainbow of colors, was released in 1978 for the Atari 2600. I'm not sure exactly when our family got our Atari, but I'm guessing 1979. Breakout quickly became one of my favorite games. (Other games I remember playing a lot include: Adventure, Pitfall, Outlaw, Haunted House, and Night Driver.) I have a lot of fond memories of playing Atari with family and friends. Hence, Breakout Name Art. Affiliate links below. 

Name art inspired by Atari Breakout


Atari Breakout Name Art


Materials: 


Steps:


Use the paper trimmer to cut a piece of black cardstock so that it is approximately 10.5 x 11". You will be gluing it to a sheet of 12x12" grey paper. (Change the measurements accordingly if you're starting with paper that isn't 12x12". Basically, you want a wide border of grey to show on the top and narrow borders of grey to show on the sides.) Set the grey aside for now. 

Cut strips of red, pink, orange, yellow, green, and blue cardstock that are 3/8" tall and 11" wide. Glue them to the black cardstock. 


Use a piece of graph paper to translate your name into pixels. It may take some experimentation to get the spacing right. If you're struggling with a letter, try switching the capitalization; some letters are easier using either uppercase or lowercase. 

When you're happy with your name, transfer it (in pencil) to your Breakout rainbow. I colored in each letter as I went because I was confident about the spacing. You can see below that I've colored in CIND and that the Y is ready for black ink. 


Cut a strip of red paper for the paddle and glue it to the paper. Then cut a single pixel from the grey background paper and glue it in place. This is the ball. Orient the grey paper so that the cut part is at the bottom, then glue the black paper on top. This will hide the missing part of the grey paper. 

Name art inspired by Atari Breakout

If you're feeling nostalgia for Breakout (or never played it because you're too young), I strongly recommend getting an Atari Flashback! Yes, they are for sale and yes, they are just as awesome as you remember. Better, actually, because the games are preloaded instead of having to switch out cartridges. I even found a Breakout t-shirt on Amazon. It's available in a lot of colors, which I'd ordinarily appreciate, but Breakout has to have a black background or it's just not Breakout. I'm a purist that way. 

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