Yup, I wrote a "generator" that randomly combines elements to build up the characters. It has a rule system to make the characters distinctive and keep them looking good (at least most of them). I love doing that kind of generative art stuff. The original plan was to maybe even have the generator be built into the Ethereum contract, but it became pretty clear right away that you need to minimize the amount of computation in the contract, or you will blow out the gas limit very quickly. So, the art was generated outside of the contract, but is inextricably linked. More detail: https://github.com/larvalabs/cryptopunks