A little background

The idea for the Ambigrammy Awards first came about when the staff at Ambigram.com was discussing how to bring recognition to the talented participants within the ambigram community. We have had many Ambigram Challenges, but how would we fuse them together and recognize the crème de la crème of the ambigram community? Then, we had an epiphany.

Every industry had their own award ceremony that recognized & paid tribute to the best of the best.  Music? The Grammy. Television? The Emmy. Live Theater? The Tony. The Internet? The Webby Award.

The ambigram community? The Ambigrammy Awards.

This wasn’t going to be an ordinary award ceremony. Considering the international level of talent represented on Ambigram.com and in the Ambigrammy Award Nominees, we thought it would be appropriate to gather an international panel of judges that are recognized and respected in the creative industry. And now, without further adieu, here are your Ambigrammy Award Winners!!

Ambigrammy Award Winners

First Place
John Langdon – Joy To You

Second Place
Daniel Dostal – Cinematographie

Third Place
Johan Skylling – A Lot Of Love

Please note that clicking the images above links to the original entries without the Ambigrammy Award graphic. The winners will be emailed a graphic of the badge which they can place on their design as they deem most appropriate.

Comments from the judges

The judges were very generous in contributing their time and effort in reviewing the Ambigrammy Award nominees. The intricacy of the designs, complexity of the lettering and overall beauty of all the Ambigrammy Award nominees made judging a very challenging task! In addition to the judging, our judges were kind enough to provide some detailed commentary.

Von Glitschka
Joy to You Simply beautiful and beautifully simple.
A Lot of Love The best 3D implementation of an ambigram I’ve ever seen.
Lumiere/Cinematographie An incredibly difficult word executed with brilliance.

Bryn Mooth
Joy to You The beauty is in the simplicity: this design works perfectly on both those levels. I love the organic, naturalistic shapes of the letters that feel a little William Morris-ish. I generally abhor drop shadows on type, but here the shading gives a nice bit of dimension.
Lumiere/Cinematographie This design is impressive because of the complexity of the two words. The stylistic difference in the two words helps maintain legibility, which would have been otherwise lost with the layered type.
A Lot of Love The dimensionality of this design really blew me away. The designer didn’t go overboard with the lettering itself — the words are very readable — but the luminous shading and the movement of the type make this design sing. It looks like ribbon candy.

Stefan G. Bucher
A Lot of Love is like Marian Bantjes doing a lettering headstand at Christmas. It’s well constructed, beautifully executed, and nicely presented. It’s my favorite entry.
As for the other ambigrams, many were well conceived, but suffered from somewhat overwrought presentation. Too much embellishment distracts from the actual ambigram. Better to let the piece stand on its own. Do something, recognize that it is finished, and get out of the way.

Luba Lukova
Joy to You stands out with its beautiful proportions and elegant simplicity. I thought this would be the winner from the first look I took at the entries.
Lumiere/Cinematographie has a charming nostalgic feel of a past age, beautifully rendered with the two intertwined words.
A Lot of Love is rich and seductive with its shiny red ribbon. You almost fell a taste of dark chocolate when looking at it.

Nikita Prokhorov
Joy to You A beautiful design which is perfectly balanced in every aspect.
Lumiere/Cinematographie It is hard to determine which part of this design is more impressive: the overall complexity of the design, the legibility of each word, or how well they work together.
A Lot of Love The 3d effect doesn’t diminish the legibility of the ambigram, nor does it seem like extra eye candy. Instead, it fuses beautifully with the design and makes it complete.

Meet the judges

At last, the moment that all of you have been waiting for. Say hello to our judging panel for the Ambigrammy Awards!

Von Glitschka

Von is principal of Glitschka Studios and has worked in the communication arts industry for over 24 years. His work reflects the symbiotic relationship between design and illustration. This duality of skills within his own creative arsenal, inspired him to coin the phrase and title of “illustrative designer.”

In 2002, he founded Glitschka Studios, a multi-disciplinary creative firm. The studio shines as a hired creative gun for ad agencies, design firms, and in-house corporate art departments working on a diverse range of design projects.

Von also enjoys working with small business owners and start ups to create compelling identity that enables them to compete on the same visual level as multi-national corporations.

Von has written four books and speaks at local AIGA chapters and design conferences nationally on the topic of design, illustration, marketing, creativity, and the creative process.

Bryn Mooth

Bryn is an experienced, energetic and creative writer/editor focused on inspiring people to eat locally, cook simply and enjoy healthy lifestyles. She writes the Midwest-based food blog Writes4Food.com, which shares recipes and kitchen wisdom and explores regional foods and producers.

Bryn comes from a long line of cooking enthusiasts. Her grandmother, Dorothy Mengering, published a cookbook based on recipes from her family, friends and travels (“Home Cooking with Dave’s Mom,” Atria, 1996), and her parents are both accomplished home cooks. Her brother is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute and has taught at cooking schools in Tuscany and Chicago.

Bryn and her husband, Rob, are avid cooks, wine lovers and advocates for the Cincinnati food community. They’re weekly customers at Findlay Market, and they shop community farmer’s markets around the area. In season, they enjoy produce from their small vegetable garden.

Writes4Food.com represents Bryn’s second career: Previously, she spent 20 years writing about design, business and creativity for HOW magazine, a leading publication for the graphic design field. For 13 years, she led the HOW brand, a multimillion-dollar, multi-platform franchise that included an award-winning magazine, well-regarded events, a successful book line and several online outlets. Prior to HOW, Bryn created, launched and managed a lifestyle publication for more than 200,000 American Express incentive cardholders. She has a bachelor’s degree from the Indiana University School of Journalism.

Her expertise includes content development for print and web, writing and editing, social media and online communication. Bryn is an enthusiastic collaborator, described by her colleagues and contacts as “intelligent, energetic, connected, organized and highly communicative.

Stefan G. Bucher

Stefan G. Bucher is the man behind 344design.com, and dailymonster.com. He is the author of the books 100 Days of Monsters, All Access, The Graphic Eye, You Deserve a Medal, and the brand-new 344 Questions – The Creative Person’s Do-It-Yourself Guide to Insight, Survival, and Artistic Fulfilment. He has created designs for Sting, David Hockney, director Tarsem, and The New York Times. D&AD has honored him with a Yellow Pencil, and the Art Directors Club of New York declared him a Young Gun back in 2004. His time-lapse drawings appear on the Emmy-award winning TV show “The Electric Company” on PBS.

Luba Lukova

Regarded as one of the most distinctive image makers working today, Luba Lukova has held solo exhibitions at UNESCO in Paris, DDD Gallery in Osaka, La MaMa in New York and the Art Institute of Boston. She’s been awarded the Grand Prix Savignac at the International Poster Salon in Paris, the Gold Pencil from The One Club in New York, and Honor Laureate at the International Poster Exhibition in Fort Collins, CO. Her work is represented in the collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Library of Congress, and Bibliotheque Nationale de France. She is the author of the critically acclaimed Social Justice poster portfolio containing visual reactions to many of the pressing issues of our time. The portfolio has been exhibited widely in the U.S. and around the world and was recently included in the permanent art collection of the World Bank. Lukova’s new book, Graphic Guts (Clay & Gold), featuring her social commentary art will be published later this year.

Moshik Nadav

Moshik Nadav was born in Israel on the 21 of February 1983, in the northern town of Kiryat Shmona. Since childhood he was exposed to graphic design and Calligraphy by his father, Jacov Nadav – a graphic design and calligraphy artist. When Moshik was 10 years old he got his first Apple Macintosh computer (IISi) with Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Freehand Software. Since than he Kept on learning the software. After he finished his army service in 2005, he decided to take his passion to graphic design and typefaces and become a professional. A few months later he signed in to study visual communication in the Avni institue in Tel Aviv. At the same time He started working in a prominent advertising firm in Israel as a graphic artist. After two years at the Avni institute Moshik felt he needs to go on and got accepted to Visual Communication studies at Bezalel – Academy of art and design in Jerusalem. At that time Moshik knew that he was going to improve his Typography skills and become a Typographer. On June 2011 he graduated his studies in Bezalel at the Typography department. He specialize’s in Typeface design and Graphic design based on Typography. Since 2005 Moshik is working as a freelancer Graphic Designer. Moshik see’s typography as a distilled form of design.

Nikita Prokhorov

You know Nikita Prokhorov as the content editor at Ambigram.com, but there is a lot more that you may not know. After receiving his Master of Fine Arts from the Savannah College of Art & Design, he began to impart his design philosophy upon numerous students at a university in Connecticut, at the same time continuing his career as a freelance graphic designer. His work has been featured in HOW Magazine, several editions of the Logolounge logo series, Logolounge Master Series, Logolicious, and 1000 Fonts. His writing has been published by HOW Magazine and ICOGRADA, The International Council of Graphic Design Association. In 2008, along with two fellow designers, he started CINQ Partners, a design firm dedicated to the foundations and principles of great design with a strong focus on small to mid-size companies. Currently, he is living & freelancing in New York City.

When he is not freelancing or teaching, Nikita creates numerous tessellations & ambigrams, as well as continuing to explore his passion for good, clean & unique typography. His sketchbook and pencils are always by his side.

Conclusion…and future happenings!

This concludes the first ever Ambigrammy Awards! An enormous thank you to the participants, the winners, and especially the judges!!!

Coming soon to Ambigram.com…
- This week, we will be posting a new Ambigram Challenge. Don’t miss it, as this will be truly be an amazing challenge! In addition, this marks the start of the next round of nominees for the Ambigrammy Awards 2012. After reading this article, you now know what it takes…
- Keep an eye on the Interviews, Real World Ambigrams & More! section. We have a new Real World Ambigram article that will be posted soon, along with an incredible designer & artist in the next few weeks.
- Next week, we will resume the weekly Quick Draw challenges. If you are interested in being a participant, email me at nikita@ambigram.com.

Here are the details of the gallery exhibit:

John Langdon - "Depth Perception"

Math Encounters — Symmetry, Art, & Illusion — Scott Kim

Also take a look at the ambigram in the background of the poster.

Scott Kim - "Symmetry, Art & Illusion"

The proceeds benefit the “Museum of Mathematics”, opening in Manhattan in 2012. For more information, visit mathencounters.org.

Oxford Dictionary

On March 24th, 2011 the word “ambigram” was finally added to the Oxford English Dictionary: The Definitive Record of the English Language!

Congratulations to everyone on this site for playing a part (however big or small) in making that happen.

If you look at the list of words being added to the OED, you will see that the word “ambigram” is being inducted along with some other overdue classics like “stonewash” and “rubberization”, so it is in very good company.

So, how do these new words get “discovered”?  Well, it seems that a lot of them are sent in by mail (you know, the kind delivered on paper) to the OED offices.  In the YouTube video about Oxford Dictionary’s word selection process for the dictionary, you can see that they have a stack of suggestions for the dictionary in an “inbox” on a desk in one scene.  Then the OED editors evaluate if the word has enough mainstream clout to make the cut.

Apparently, the word “ambigram” is in widespread use enough to convince the editors that it is time that the word was added to the dictionary.

A special shout-out is in order to Dougles Hofstadter who originally coined the term “ambigram” back in the 1980s.  How many people can say that they coined a word that later made it into the dictionary!

Of course, what that also means is that this site is now a “generic domain” web site, following the “[dictionary word].com” pattern.

We’re also proud to be the first site on the internet to let you know the big news that the word “ambigram” is now officially recognized.

As you know, the Quick Draw challenges take two people who are interested in trying their skills at creating an ambigram, assigns them both the same word to turn into an ambigram, and gives them a fairly short deadline to complete the design.

Then, we get to take a look at their creative thought process by seeing the sketches, hearing their thoughts, checking out their final designs and basically seeing if we agree with the artistic decisions of another person.  In other words, we get a sneak peak inside their brains!

…and we get to look at some REALLY nice brains here.

Ahem.  You know what I mean.

So, this quick draw challenge pits Ambigram.com’s hardworking and beloved Content Director and graphic designer Nikita Prokhorov against MegaMind himself, Stamford PhD, founder of ShuffleBrain, and co-inventor of ambigrams Scott Kim!

Each of them was given the word “FASCINATING”.  Yeah, something they could have a little fun with.  I mean really, who on earth would make a boring ambigram that says the word “fascinating”.  It would be against the laws of nature.

Even though I thought it might have been a tricky word to turn into an ambigram, they both did a great job with it, using solutions I wasn’t expecting.

Anyway, let me step aside and let these two tell you about their designs in their own words, and I’ll do some final comments at the bottom.

Nikita, since your design came in first, you’re the first to go:

Nikita Prokhorov

All I can say that it was fun to participate! It has been a while since I designed an ambigram (aside from commissioned work) where someone else picked the word…and it was one heck of a word!!

My initial approach to ambigram design is probably strikingly similar to most of the designers who start out with the traditional pencil and paper approach. First, I wanted to determine how to split up the word.

Initial Thoughts

The “N” jumped out as the obvious choice for the central point because of its symmetry. I also dabbled with the idea of the “NA” being the central point, but the seeing as the letters would break after doing a very quick sketch, I decided to use the “N” as the central rotating point.

After determining the center of the ambigram, I quickly did some evaluation sketches to see what would work and what would be a challenge.

Initial Sketches

You’re not seeing all of my sketches because a few of them were so miniscule and rough that they would make sense only in my head and in the context of my sketchbook, so I elected to show the most clear and understandable sketches.

The “N” was an easy solution. The “CI/A” flip looked to be pretty workable as well. After I got to the “A/N” split, I realized that had to stray from my inital desire to make the ambigram all uppercase and mix in some lowercase as well. The only flip remained was the “S/TI” flip, and I could see that it would be trouble. I usually try to seek out the most complex flip in the ambigram, because I know that if I can solve the most complex flip, I can also solve the easier ones! So…on to the “S/TI”!

S / TI Exploration

The “S/TI” exploration proved to be a very challenging one, and I still feel that I did not solve it successfully. I tried a range of solutions, from connecting the letters in the center (which made it seem like an S in both directions!) to separating the letters and relying on the human brain/eye/intuition and some decorative flourishes to define the flip. In the end, that proved to be the more welcomed option, as I simply did not see another way to solve this flip.

"Fascin" Explorations

In the next series of on-paper explorations, I focused on placing all the characters together and experimenting with different widths, heights, and weights of the letters. The last sketch in the bottom right hand corner seemed to work well on paper, so I transitioned to the computer.

Digital Explorations

This image shows the transformation of the ambigram and the various digital alterations I explored. In some of them, the difference was as minute as changing the width of the stroke from 1 to 2 points or adjusting the dimensions of the letterforms by a few clicks of the keyboard. Towards the end you can see the ambigram starting to take shape.

Fascinating Ambigram

The final ambigram is the finished piece that I think is acceptable. There are a few letterforms that I still want to work on, especially that pesky “S/TI” flip. I look forward to what fellow ambigrammists have to say…and once again, this has been a blast!

Scott Kim

For my contribution to this Quick Draw I wanted to illustrate two of my particular ambigram obsessions — to explore one word with several different symmetries, and to try unusual symmetries that will be less familiar to most ambigram.com readers. So I made three ambigrams out of FASCINATING, using three different symmetries.

Here are the sketches for the designs.

Scott Kim - Fascinating - Sketch 1

First sketches. All the ideas are here, but unrefined.

Scott Kim - Fascinating - Sketch 2

Second sketches. More refined, but still not quite right. I altered the Slide ambigram considerably after I traced it into Illustrator.

Scott Kim - Fascinating - Sketch 3

Better sketch of rotation ambigram, with more conservative letter shapes.

Scott Kim - Fascinating - Sketch 4

Better sketches of reflection ambigram. I liked the curves of the third sketch, so I went with that version.

Scott Kim "Fascinating" - Rotation Ambigram

Here are the 3 final designs, with comments on each one.

Rotational symmetry. This is a rather easy word to do in rotation symmetry…all the letter shapes are ones I use commonly. The challenge here is simply to keep the calligraphic style consistent.

Scott Kim "Fascinating" - Reflection Ambigram

Reflection symmetry (about a vertical axis). Reflection symmetry works well for FASCINATING — both A’s turn easily into N’s — except for one truly bizarre combination: CI into T. The curly-cue lettering style serves to justify the crazy flourish on the crossbar of the T, and to give the word a fanciful whimsical flair that seems to fit the meaning of FASCINATING. To create this sort of tapering I trace my sketch with a single spline in Illustrator, outline the stroke to get the edges of the stroke, then displace some of the spline points slightly to thin out the ends of the stroke.

Scott Kim "Fascinating" - Slide Ambigram

Slide symmetry. The final word is made of two copies of the same set of strokes, with one copy slid to the right slightly. This is the visual equivalent of a musical canon like Frere Jacques, where two copies of the same melody harmonize when one copy is delayed slightly in time. I’ve got several examples of this type of design on my site scottkim.com, most notably a slide ambigram of JOHN MAEDA. Note that the beginning works rather easily: F slides over to become part of the A. The lettering style was somewhat influenced by Mackintosh / Frank Lloyd Wright geometric forms. In this type of design it is very difficult to achieve even letter spacing.

Final Comments

It never ceases to amaze me the awesome quality of material you guys submit to these challenges month after month, and this article is no exception.  Nikita shared a step-by-step process for ambigram creation that could easily be worked into a tutorial, and Scott Kim submits not one, but THREE awesome final designs, all of which are signature Scott Kim works of art.  In fact, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen ANYONE else do a slide ambigram, and Scott has done many.  I’ve never tried one myself, but it sure looks hard!

So, thanks for tuning in to this Quick Draw.  Feel free to share your comments about these designs below.

…and a cash prize for second place.

…and even a cash prize for third place!

Have we got your attention yet?

OK, here are the details:

Magic Man Ambigram Challenge

Dan Chan, Magic Man

For this Ambigram.Com Ambigram Challenge (ACAC), we will be working to develop some outstanding artwork for multitalented magician, juggler, pick-pocket and mind-blowing, award-winning entertainer Dan Chan, the Magic Man.  Dan will be using the final design(s) on products that he intends to give away to his clients.

You have free reign over the style and a degree of flexibility in word selection, but keep in mind that Dan Chan himself will be the sole deciding judge on this one, so you’ll need to make him happy.  We recommend visiting his web site to determine a style that Dan would love.  Here are the words that he recommends that you choose from:

Upright, the ambigram should say one of the following:

• Dan Chan
• Dan Chan Magic
• Dan Chan Magic Man

When the rotational ambigram is viewed inverted, it should say one of the following:

• Dan Chan
• Dan Chan Magic
• Dan Chan Magic Man
• danchanmagic.com
• acrobat
• pick-pocket
• juggler
• magician
• bian lian  / change of face
• bullet catch

Prizes

There will be three(3) separate prizes given out for the winning designs.  We have the prize money in escrow, so the payout is guaranteed and will be awarded when the artist(s) of the winning designs turn over the copyright of the design(s) to “Dan Chan”, to use as he wishes. All prizes will be paid via Paypal from Ambigram.com.  All dollar amounts are in USD.

1. First place will receive $100
2. Second place will receive $50
3. Third place will receive $25

So, there is a good chance for a cash prize in this contest.

A single artist may win no more than 2 of the prizes, and in fact, may submit no more than 2 designs to the challenge. Please save all files with your name in the file name, for identification purposes.

The winning designs will be featured here (of course), and also on Dan Chan’s facebook page and blog, and will be linked back from all three locations to the artist’s web site (if available).

Judging

Unlike most ambigram challenges, this one will be judged exclusively by the sponsor of the contest.  These are designs that he intends to use for his company, so pleasing him is the goal.  This won’t be a theoretical judging.  The final designs must have real-world utility for the sponsor.  Dan’s judgment shall be final, although we will provide additional commentary when the results are posted.

All designs should be submitted by Friday, February 4th, and the judging will take place soon after.  Results will be posted as soon as the sponsor has selected the winner(s).  Cash prizes to immediately follow.

Since Dan will be the judge of the contest, the challenge will be open to everyone without restrictions.  The goal is to give Dan a nice collection of quality artwork to pick from, so whether or not you have participated in the past, give it a shot.

We will send a boilerplate document to the winner(s) that simply assigns the copyright of the design to “Dan Chan”.  Sending the document back to Dan will be a condition of payout.

Best of luck to everyone.  This should be a blast!

Illuminati Diamond Signed Print

Each print will be hand signed and numbered.

Dan Brown describes this ambigram in “Angels and Demons” as:

“A flawless diamond, born of the ancient elements with such perfection that all those who saw it only stand in wonder.”

To find out more about this limited offer, please click on the thumbnail below for the full ordering details:

Signed Print Offer Details

The winning design says “Wilfred” upright and “Cynthia” upside-down.  Wilfred and Cynthia are the winning artist’s cousin and his wife, and they still don’t have wedding rings after several years of marriage.  Well, they will now!

The back story had nothing to do with the judging, but its great to know that the rings will be used for a very good cause.  No married couple should go without wedding rings, and these ambigram rings will be a couple of the coolest wedding rings around!

The Results

[NOTE: All designs are copyrighted by the respective artists. We have permission to post them here, but you must get permission from the artist for any other use of their design, or to post them elsewhere.]

1. Rebecca May – http://sites.google.com/site/ambigramgreetings/nameart

Cynthia Wilfred - Ambigram Ring Winner!

This is a classy, highly readable and apparently simple ambigram, but anyone who creates ambigrams knows that creating one that appears simple is anything but!   The ‘nt’ to ‘fr’ combination must have been particularly tricky, but within the context of this design, it comes together quite nicely.  Congratulations, Rebecca!  Please wish your cousin and his wife our best.  Your rings (one of which is shown here in an actual photo) are on their way.

2. Alessandro Pocaterra – http://picasaweb.google.it/alepoc69/Ambigrams?feat=directlink

Emily Frida Ambigram

This ambigram placed highly in the contest probably due to its simplicity and ease of turning into a reproduced design on an ambigram ring (Cascadia Design Studio, the manufacturer of the winning ambigram ring was one of the judges for this round).  This is one of the few submissions we received that had no tapering of the lines to form the design.  It is possible that with more traditional typographic elements, this could have claimed first place, as the solution itself of the artist’s daughter’s name is quite good.

3. Clayton Mabey – www.CustomAmbigrams.com

Libby Clayton Ambigram

Clayton Mabey submitted this design of himself (Clayton) and his wife (Libby) of 15 years.  He claims to have married her before he knew that he could create an ambigram of their names, but if you ask me, ambigram name compatibility should be one of the primary considerations of matrimony.

4. Ihsan Ekaputra – http://aikambigram18.blogspot.com

eik nia ambigram

This design uses a great deal of typographic acrobatics to pull off this EIK / NIA ambigram, which is the nickname of the author flipping over to become his wife’s name.  The Yin/Yang symbol at the point where the dots on the i’s meet is a nice touch.

5. Michael Irving – http://michaelirvingambigrams.blogspot.com/

Robert Emily Katie James

One of the most consistent top-5 finishers in the ambigram challenges is Michael Irving, and this challenge is no exception.  I’m not exactly sure how we would have put this design onto a ring if Michael would have won, but it looks like putting an ambigram on the front, and another on the back would have done the job.  The artist didn’t mention who the people are in the ambigram, but since there are 4 of them, I assume that they are someone’s kids (Robert, feel free to comment below to let us know).

The Results

Some other designs that we thought were excellent:

Cleber Faria – Cleber/Dayane Ambigram

Cleber Dayane Ambigram

Imriaylde – Jacob/Jen Ambigram

Jacob&Jen Ambigram

Kai Hammond – Multilingual Kai/家进 ambigram (Kai in Chinese)

Kai - 家进 Ambigram

Thanks to everyone who submitted a design for this challenge.  Keep up the good work!

We will be announcing the next challenge shortly…

You are going to love this challenge!

For this challenge, you get to create an ambigram of a couple you know (perhaps you and your partner, the names of your kids or some friends of yours), and if your design is the contest winner, you will get an actual aerospace-grade titanium ring created with your design deep-engraved and anodized directly into the metal (a $229 value!).  This is our most valuable prize yet.

Ed Ferguson of Cascadia Design Studio, a maker of titanium rings, has generously offered to create a ring containing the winning design for the next contest and to ship it to the winner!  All costs are paid.

Since this is a really nice prize, we want to make sure that the ground rules for the contest are clear.

Rules:

1. The ambigram needs to be a different name in each orientation (a “symbiotogram”).  It could be you and your partner, two of your kids, the names of a special bride and groom to be (wow, what a great gift!), etc.
2. Please don’t waste the prize: Make sure that you actually know 2 people with these names so the ring will have a good home (OK, we can’t actually verify this, so you will be on the honor system here)
3. Please submit no more than your 1 or 2 best entries, and make sure that they are “finalized” before emailing them.  We are getting swamped with some participants sending entire collections of designs, or they make frequent revisions and expect us to keep track of it all.
4. In fact, to better track the designs, please name your submissions as follows:[NAME]-[DESIGN].jpg

   For example, “Worhol-CampbellsSoup.jpg“

   Otherwise, it can be easy to lose track of which design belongs to which artist, especially if we get a lot of submissions.

5. Please submit a ring size with your submission, in case you win.  This should be the ring size for the intended recipient, of course.  So, think about who would be getting the ring if you win, and send us their gender and ring size with your submission.  Yes, we will ideally need this up front.  If that is absolutely not possible for you, you MUST get the ring size to us on the very day the contest ends.
6. For this particular challenge, stick to good old black-and-white.  There is no benefit to having a background, decorations or other embellishments.  The design will be going on a ring, so it’s only the design that matters.

Design Guidelines

Your artwork will be cut with a tiny rotary ring cutter directly into a solid piece of high quality titanium.  This is not some cheap surface etching, but a deep engraving, so you need to think about the intended use as you create your design.  The rotary cutter can not produce thin lines, textures, double-lines, etc. so when you create your design think “marker pen” and not “fine lead pencil”.  Designs with small loops, fine script or closely spaced lines won’t reproduce well.

This graphic of an ambigram that says “Sheri / Tony” illustrates the “widening effect” that the cutting process adds to the design in the finished ambigram ring:

Think "Marker Pen", not "Fine Lead Pencil"

Judging

We will have a guest judge on the panel for this contest: Ed Ferguson from Cascadia Design Studio (the donor of the ambigram ring prize).  Ed will be scoring and ranking the design not just for artistic appeal, but also for how well the design will reproduce on a ring.

Deadline

All artwork will need to be submitted by midnight on July 16th, 2010 to qualify. Email your designs to challenge@ambigram.com, and please name your attachment according to the rules above. The contest is open to everyone, whether or not you have participated in the past, so give it a shot.

The results will be published on August 6th, 2010 (along with an actual photo of the finished prize before it is shipped), and the next challenge will be announced at that time.

Please be sure to include a web site URL that we can link to if your design makes it into the top 5 list.  We will contact you for a shipping address if you are selected as the winner.

Results

The results for this challenge have been posted, and are available here

Once again, the challenge saw many regulars, and a bunch of new challengers!  Welcome aboard to those artists just joining us, but we have to warn you… the competition around here has been getting fierce.  As always, the challenge brought out some excellent entries.

While some artists focused on generic words like “music” or “melody”, most of the ambigram submissions were for specific musicians or musical groups.  In fact, I bet we could learn a bit about the musical tastes of the artists just from looking at their design submissions!

OK, let’s get down to the results…

The Results

[NOTE: All designs are copyrighted by the respective artists.  We have permission to post them here, but you must get permission from the artist for any other use of their design, or to post them elsewhere.]

1. Daniel Dostal – “Chopin”

Chopin (Daniel Dostal)

Comment: After taking the silver medal (second place) in 3 of the last 4 ambigram challenges, Daniel Dostal breaks through with this amazing “Chopin” ambigram, which would be very worthy of being featured on the cover of a CD.  The legibility of the design is enhanced with the overall classical music “feel” of the typography, as well as the sheet music incorporated directly into the design.  The hiding of the first name partially in the flourishes probably wasn’t completely necessary, but it shows that Daniel pays attention to every detail.

Congratulations on making it to the top of the ambigram challenge, Daniel!

 
2. Michael Irving – “Beatles”

Beatles (Michael Irving)

Comment: Another consistent top 5 finisher is Michael Irving, with this excellent second place finish of his “Beatles” ambigram set.  Not only did Michael do a great job with the band title, he incorporated 4 secondary ambigrams with the names of the Fab Four below, each of which would have made a great ambigram on its own.  While Michael had several good submissions in this challenge, this particular design snagged him the silver medal.  Nice work, Michael.

 
3. Scott Kim – “Brahms”

Brahms (Scott Kim)

Comment: Scott Kim is back with his “Brahms” ambigram.  To really appreciate this ambigram, you need to recognize the tremendous interconnectivity of the letters.  There is not a single one-to-one letter inversion in the entire design!  Ambigrams of this complexity are incredibly hard, and legibility often suffers, but the co-inventor of ambigrams shows with this design that he still has lessons to teach us all.  Nice work, Scott!

 
4. Johan Skylling – “I Love Rock n Roll”

I Love Rock n Roll (Johan Skylling)

Comment: Fresh off his gold medal rookie win in the last challenge, Johan Skylling comes back into the top 5 with this “I Love Rock n Roll” ambigram.  This is another complex design that begs you to follow the letter contortions to see how they form the opposite orientation.  While not quite as legible as the top 3 entries in this round (or his amazing entry in the last contest), this design again shows that Skylling is going to be a force to contend with in future contests.

 
5. Jennifer Thorn – “Pachelbel”

Pachelbel (Jennifer Thorne)

Comment: Jennifer Thorne breaks into the top 5 list with what we believe is her first submission to the ambigram challenge.  Her tribute to the classical composer is another entry that would have made a fine CD cover, and her expert use of flourishes in one orientation that become functional in the other is a sign of great things to come from her in the future.  Excellent work, Jennifer!

 
As always, we restrict the “winner’s list” to the top 5 entries, but as always, there are other designs that we want to highlight as well.

Here are some other entries that deserve an “honorable mention”:

Regar Julis – “Decrescendo / Crescendo”

Decrescendo / Crescendo

Regar Julius submits a great first submission that is the only symbiotogram (an ambigram reading differently in each direction) in the challenge.  It was also the only hand-drawn design.

 
Michael Irving – “rhythm”

rhythm (Michael Irving)

Although Michael was already in the top 5, his other designs were excellent, too.  We particularly liked this ambigram of the word “rhythm”.

 
Ihsan Ekaputra – “Sing”

Sing (Ihsan Ekaputra)

Sound of Music (Nanda Kumar)

Congratulations to all of our challenges in the Music challenge.

The next challenge will be announced on May 1st.  Stay tuned…