As designers/artists, we have always had a favorite artist, masterpiece or art period. Many times we’ve tried to imitate that artist or create art that mimics a certain art period. Since imitation is the greatest form of flattery…now is your chance to show the rest of us just how well you can imitate your favorite artist or art period. The next theme is…Art and Artists!

Rules

1. The ambigram has to be the name of an artist (Dali, Bosch, Beardsley, etc), the name of an art period (Dada, Surrealism, Renaissance, etc.), or the name of a specific artists’ masterpiece (Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Thinker, etc.) If you are unsure whether your word choice is eligible or not, please email us with the question and we’ll get back to you with an answer as soon as possible.

2. For this challenge, your ambigram will also be judged on how closely it reflects the style of the artist/art period. Of course, if your ambigram is ‘SalvadorDali’, it would still need to be as ‘surrealist’ as possible while still remaining legible and reflecting Dali’s style. This is the biggest challenge of this ACAC!

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. The ambigram(s) have to be created from scratch specifically for this challenge.

4. To better track the designs, please name your submissions as follows:[NAME]-[DESIGN].jpg

For example, “JohnDoe-Ambigram1.jpg“

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

Deadline

All artwork will need to be submitted by midnight on Sunday, September 12th, 2010 to qualify. Email your designs to challenge@ambigram.com . 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 Sunday, September 26th, 2010, 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.

And I leave you with this question: are ambigrams considered fine art, graphic design, a combination of  both, or a completely different classification? Email us with your answers, and we are looking forward to some unique submissions!

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…

Ambigram.com Andrey, tell us a bit about yourself. How did you become interested in graphic design and typography?

Andrey Shch I am a human, a male as such. That I know for sure. Any other characteristics of myself and what I do bore me to death. They just don’t seem colorful enough to me for describing something as grand and mysterious as art.

I would say that I have been granted a permission to live in art’s minor region called Graphic Design, or rather in a small corner of it called Typography. Someone or something from that world got interested in me and invited me in which I am sincerely grateful for, and doing what I do simply seems like most appropriate way of returning the favor.

Ambigram.com Your typography work has an amazingly precise feel to it, especially the hand-drawn pieces. How long did it take you to master such a lettering technique?

Andrey Shch I mastered this technique one windy autumn day during my apprenticeship among Chinese monks of Hunan province. Didn’t really take that long… The precision embowered me while chasing mosquitoes with chopsticks. 20 hours of such exercise each day and you will be mastering it just as well. 30 or 45 years is more than enough. You will probably need some luck though.

Ambigram.com Where does your inspiration come from? Do you have a favorite designer, typographer, artist, or art period that consistently influences you and your work?

Andrey Shch The main source of inspiration is those bottomless eyes of beautiful, wise women which hide crystal clear hearts deep within. No designer, typographer or calligrapher in the world is able to replicate or describe with words the things they can do to you with those eyes. In my opinion, there is no inspiration without being slightly in love in some beautiful women beyond one’s reach, and each creative period of mine is simply a time of being in love.

Ambigram.com Your work aesthetic has a very wide range, from highly decorative to elegant and reserved. How do you know where to draw the line (no pun intended)?

Andrey Shch There is no absolute certainty in my works. Not in a single line. I go along with my intuition and just let my hand feel where to do draw the line and where to curve it, what to do or not to do. It’s like being in love – you never know what comes next, you just trust the feeling to lead you in the right direction. You just follow it.

Ambigram.com Do you prefer to incorporate hand-rendered graphics into every project, or do you only do so at the client’s request?

Andrey Shch I do try to enchant each work with that special element, whether it is hand-rendered graphics or some other yet unknown sort of graphics which has no name, but may only be expressed by the line’s bend. Even though it is not always visible, it does live in every piece.

Ambigram.com :When did you first hear about ambigrams? Do you remember the first ambgiram you’ve ever seen?

Andrey Shch I toyed with ambigrams since childhood. Me and my school love exchanged love poems written on small pieces of squared paper during math classes. If we got caught, the teacher could only see simple numbers and formulas which only two of us could turn around just right. We did it for a long time – hiding our feelings behind fractions and equations.

Therefore, yes. I do remember my first ambigram, how could I forget? It was my first love. You just don’t forget such things.

Ambigram.com Here we have several ambigrams you’ve designed (here I will use the two examples you gave me.) Were these personal projects or requested piece? Do you have any other ambigrams you can share with us?

Andrey Shch I see each piece as a personal project and I don’t undertake projects if I can’t see myself contributing with something of my own, if I can’t make them personal. Just like a composer, I play my own music and if the spectators pay for the show… Well, that’s a nice bonus. And yes, I do have other ambigrams you can take a look at.

Ambigram.com Are there any ambigram artists that you admire?

Andrey Shch This is an interesting question and I would like to fluctuate a bit from the obvious answers if you don’t mind. This is amazing, but I do get a lot of personal letters, especially from ladies, and I do prefer to see them as artists in this particular context. Solving their complex ambigrams is a constant source of inspiration. Simple letters and handwriting can hide so much more complex and even ambiguous things! It never stops to amaze me. Inspiring indeed…

Ambigram.com Let’s go back to your hand-lettering for a minute. Can you provide some suggestions to designers & artists that want to experiment with hand-lettered graphics and typography? What tools would you recommend? Can you recommend and specific techniques and approaches?

Andrey Shch I really couldn’t be sure if what I do is calligraphy. It’s a very unprompted, natural thing for me.

Don’t concern yourself with techniques so much! You will never be able to say you’ve mastered something as elusive as some unspecified technique. You will always be running after some bus which you don’t need in a first place just to find out later that you have a free lifetime ticket for a transportation mode of your choice.

Experiment with your brain instead. It is always near at hand and it never runs out of ink or battery. Your own personal style will shape itself when you realize you’re doing what you love and you’re doing it the way you want to. Try not to listen to advices too much. Really. And take mine with a lot of skepticism and irony as well. For example, this one – Your head is guiding your hand and your hand is guiding the pencil. Learn to control your thoughts and you will be able to do wonders. And while you are drawing, don’t think about anything else but drawing. You don’t need any other thoughts while you do that. As soon as you start thinking whether or not something you do will be modern, rated, saleable, famous or scandalous – just stop and walk away, away from your piece, from your desk as far as you can. Stay away until you stop thinking and feel peaceful again. Now you can continue.

Ambigram.com Can you name a favorite project of yours? Why is it your favorite?

Andrey Shch Vogue. A project where the client had full respect and understanding for my artistic perspective and gave me liberty of action for realization of the original idea.

Ambigram.com What is your favorite typeface?

Andrey Shch Those which are time-tested just like Cheops Pyramid. Non-commercial ones, created thoughtfully, thoroughly, to a tee.

Early Chinese writing from The Shang Dynasty ages, found in Jiahu. They are dated 1765-1027 BCA – supposedly the Chinese writing’s time of birth. They are about 8600 years old. And very beautiful.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Andrey, thank you so much for interviewing with Ambigram.com and providing examples of your beautiful work! For more examples of Andrey’s work, please visit http://www.sgr.kiev.ua/.

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

The ‘Where In The World‘ ACAC challenge has been one of the best we’ve seen! We received more than 30 entries, and almost half of them were new participants!  This can only be attributed to the success of the previous challenges and all the fantastic work that has been submitted by the artists.

For this challenge, we don’t know what to be more ecstatic about more: the number of entries, the wonderful quality of the work, or all of the above! It is quite challenging to select the top ambigram, because every single submission has some quality that isn’t found in any of the other entries, and each ambigram has its own unique style.

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. John Langdon - http://www.johnlangdon.net/

This ambigram is beautiful, and probably one of the finest ambigrams ever created. Not only is the ambigram formed from the city and its description, but the complexity is mind-boggling.  One can only imagine the time involved in creating such a design.  Not only is the solution impressive, but the lettering strokes have been tweaked to perfection, with nothing noticeably out of place.  John made all the right decision in terms of design & aesthetics, and has shown us once again how a master practices his craft.

2. Elwin Gill –  http://elwin-gill-designs.com/

The hand-rendering here is exquisite, and that is part of the charm and appeal of this ambigram. Too often artists & designers forget to step away from the computer, stop relying on technology, and pick up a pencil & paper. Elwin does just that, and this is the first completely hand-rendered submission to place in the top 5 list.  Fantastic job Elwin!

3. Bastian Pinnenberg – http://unterart.wordpress.com/

Another spot-on submission from Bastian. Smooth & consistent lettering, and a great mini-ambigram “City by the Bay”, which San Francisco’s nickname.

4. Scott Kim - http://www.scottkim.com/

San Francisco seemed to be a popular pick for this challenge, with another artist making it into the top 5 with the same city choice.  This is another beautiful submission from Scott Kim, another well-known name in the ambigram world. This ambigram is a perfect example of how well-executed lettering can make an ambigram stand on its own, without depending on additional elements or decorations.

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

The top 5 is rounded off by Michael Irving.  It wasn’t necessarily the quality of the ambigram that put this one into the top 5, but the challenge that Michael took on in attempting it.  New York City is a challenging city name to turn into an ambigram, and Michael does it quite well using his signature style. He has become a consistent contributor throughout the ambigram challenges, and his style has developed quite nicely over the course of his submissions.

With the top 5 ambigrams selected above, here are 5 more “honorable mention” ambigrams without comments to round off the top 10.

6. Renzo Bongocan – http://www.behance.net/Zoner

7. Johan Skylling

8. Daniel Dostal – http://daneel75.wordpress.com/

9. Daan Juttmann – http://dahtamnay.blogspot.com/

10. Dave Bailey – http://www.davebailey.us/

We would like to thank all the participants in this challenge. It proved to be another great round of ambgirams!

Next Challenge: Ambigram Couples Ring

Design an ambigram couples ring, and if your design is the contest winner, you will receive an actual aerospace grade titanium ring deep-engraved with your design!  This is our best contest prize yet, so don’t miss your chance to win this beauty.

Just be sure to read the instructions, as the judging is partially based on your ability to follow directions.

Check out the Ambigram Couples Ring Challenge.

1. Miracle Whip? While the M/W is an obvious ambigram, I never thought I would see this on a container of mayonnaise from Kraft! My girlfriend picked this out of a crowded store shelf in a blink of an eye, and I cannot believe I didn’t see it first!

2. The Sun microsystems logo has been around for 28 years before it was acquired by Oracle in 2010. While the company itself doesn’t technically exist anymore, the ambigram logo survives!

3. Say what you while about Hyundai quality, but at least part of their logo is an ambigram!

4. Xpedx is a simple yet effective ambigram, and in my mind embodies what a corporate ambigram should be: readable, legible, and aesthetically suited for the business.

If any of our readers see ambigrams in the real world, take a photo and send me an email, telling me where you saw the ambigram & what you think of it. We might just feature it in the next “Real World Ambigrams.”

This has the potential to be the most international challenge yet! Keeping this in mind, the staff at Ambigram.com would like to ask all the artists to stick to several ‘rules’…

1. Please create your ambigram in English We love seeing ambigrams in different languages, however, without knowing the language, it will be difficult to judge the the work. BUT…if you would like to create an ambigram of your chosen city in the native language, send it to us, and we will try to feature it when we announce the winner of this challenge.
2. Please stick to relatively major cities Here at Ambigram.com, we pride ourselves on our knowledge of world geography. However, we might not know the name of some small town or village in your country…which, once again, would make judging somewhat difficult.

Other then the above, there are no other rules. Remember to have fun with this challenge, and we offer the following hint: While you’re asked to design the ambigram in English, think about using color/symbols that allude to your culture.

Deadline

All artwork will need to be submitted by midnight on June 5th, 2010 to qualify. Email your designs to challenge@ambigram.com . 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 June 19th, 2010, 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.

So…good luck and have fun! Let’s make this the best Ambigram Challenge yet!

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…

Blazing poster. Used with permission of the artist.

Ambigram.com: Sebastian, thank you for speaking with us. First, let’s get the expected question out of the way. How long have you known about ambigrams, and when did you first become interested in them?

Sebastian Lester: I first became aware of ambigrams in the early 90′s when I was in the first year of my graphic design degree. For as long as I can remember I’ve been interested in optical illusions and clever visual ideas with letterforms though. In 1992 I designed a logo for a proposed art college magazine called ‘Edge’. It wasn’t an ambigram but all the letters were the same shape rotated and flipped to create the word. In 1992 I also designed a somewhat lunatic font called ‘recycle’ made out of five characters that you rotated, scaled and flipped to create an entire lower case alphabet. That was the theory anyway. Making ambigrams was a natural progression from these kind of experiments.

Edge magazine logo. Used with permission of the artist.

Recycle typeface. Used with permission of the artist.

Ambigram.com: Is ‘Blazing’ your first ambigram design? If it’s not your first, what was your first ambigram?

SL: The first decent ambigram I drew was ‘Virtual Reality’ in 1993 whilst at art college. I liked the fact that the ambigram approach worked well conceptually with the idea of virtual reality and that the letterforms have a suitably futuristic style to them.

Virtual Reality ambigram. Used with permission of the artist.

Ambigram.com: When designing your ‘Blazing’ limited edition art print, what was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome? Was it creating ambigrams out of all the words, maintaining a consistent style, or another difficulty you’d like to mention?

Blazing poster sketches. Used with permission of the artist.

SL: The aim was always to create something that was as attractive as any other limited edition print I’d created before, but also happened to be a successful ambigram. So working with those constraints was difficult and I tried various approaches before settling on this treatment. I’ve written a short article here about the print for anyone who is interested.

Blazing poster close-ups. Used with permission of the artist.

Ambigram.com: Do you think your background as a type designer and illustrator helped when designing the ‘Blazing’ poster?

SL: Definitely. I’m well versed in creating consistency in shapes and working experimentally in a variety of lettering styles. A lot of the qualities you need as a type designer are useful for creating ambigrams. In both disciplines you have to be creative, think laterally, have a forensic approach to detail, and stay focused and persistent for the best results.

Ambigram.com: What do you love the most about typography and letterforms?

SL: I don’t really know. Letterforms just seem to make more sense to me than anything else I know. I find them endlessly stimulating and fascinating. The Latin alphabet is one of our most beautiful and profound creations. I feel incredibly lucky I’ve found something I love as much as I do that I can actually make a living from. And what’s not to love about ambigrams? The best ambigrams aren’t just clever. They have a magical, almost transcendent, quality about them.

Ambigram.com: If someone wants to incorporate custom hand-lettered typography into their work, what is a good starting point?

SL: Just work loosely and freely with your lines to start with. Read about type and lettering history. Be inspired by other artists and designers, but find your own voice. Just have fun. If you persist, and you’re having fun in the process, it will become apparent in your work.

Ambigram.com: What is your personal creative process, and where do you draw your inspiration from?

SL: I always try and research a subject or particular lettering style as much as possible before I start a project. I always start with a pencil and paper, rather than a computer, as it’s the easiest way to get a lot of ideas down fast. I brainstorm words and ideas and shapes, not just letterforms. It’s important to be totally unselfconscious about making marks on paper. I start with loose scribbles. I might take elements I like from six different scribbles and make a more resolved drawing. Then I’ll scan it in and start refining it on a computer.

I draw my inspiration from everywhere. I find beauty, in all its manifestations, inspiring. I have an appreciation of the history of type, calligraphy and lettering that continues to grow. I collect old ephemera. Sometimes totally random things can fuel an idea. Sunshine, trees, medieval armour, a piece of product design or music. I’m always thinking about and absorbing the letterforms I see around me.

Ambigram.com: Who is your favorite ambigram designer?

SL: There are some incredible ambigram artists out there. I guess, to my mind, the best ambigrams combine ingenious legibility problem solving with great aesthetic beauty and I think John Langdon consistently achieves the best balance of those two components.

Ambigram.com: What is your favorite typeface? Why?

SL: Typefaces are tools so it depends what the typeface is to be used for. I have a favorite typeface for on screen legibility. I have a favorite typeface for setting books about the Renaissance in. I have a favorite typeface for setting magazines about monster trucks in. So unfortunately I’ve given the question far too much thought over the last fifteen years to have a simple answer.

Ambigram.com: What is your favorite ambigram?

SL: Sorry to choose one of my own pieces but I have to say ‘Blazing’. I just put so much into it and I’m so happy with it. It’s been quite an undertaking for me. It really pushed me creatively, it looks great in the flesh having been screen printed by hand to the highest standards, and it’s being sold by a gallery that sells the work of some very well known and successful artists. I feel very lucky to have been able to make it work.

Ambigram.com: Sebastian, the Blazing poster is beautiful, so you have the full right to toot your horn! Thank you for the insight into your daily work, life and inspiration.

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More of Sebastian Lester’s work can be found here: http://www.seblester.co.uk/

The results of the Valentine’s Day Challenge are in! The writers at Ambigram.com want to apologize to their readers for being a bit tardy with the results of this challenge, as well as posting the next challenge. Our excuse is simple: we were still recovering from Valentine’s Day! Now, after this brief  mea culpa, onto 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. Johan Skylling – “Alot of Love”

Alot of Love

Comment 1: What can we say about this ambigram? Beautifully done. It’s not just a 2D, but a 3D ambigram! It has legibility, aesthetic, color, and exudes the spirit of Valentine’s Day. Great job by a brand new participant of the Ambigram Challenge!

Comment 2: First there were hand-drawn ambigrams, then came computer-drawn raster designs. Just when we thought that vector-drawn ambigrams were the pinnacle in this space, Johan Skylling comes along with an ambigram that looks like it was developed with a full blown CAD system. How you did that, we have no idea, but you definitely got our attention… and first place!

2. Daniel Dostal

Comment 1: As always, Daniel Dostal is either close to the top or at the top with his work. The curved lettering, the decorations, and the style is vintage Daniel Dostal. Congratulations for another top 5 finish Daniel!

Comment 2: Although Daniel’s work is anything but predictable, his does have consistency: he somehow rises to the top of the ambigram challenge list week-after-week. This submission is no exception. He obviously puts a lot of time into his designs, and it shows. Every curve is pulled to perfection, and the more you study his designs, the more you appreciate them.

3. Michael Irving

Comment 1: Michael Irving is another ambigrammist that has frequented the Ambigram Challenge. His lettering style is simple, consistent, easily recognizable, and legible. This particular ambigram has a great flow and rhythm to it. Wonderful job once again!

Comment 2: Welcome back, Michael. It’s great to see you here week-after-week, and it’s great that you are still doing well in the competitions. While there were more complex designs in the competition, this one actually won us over with it’s legibility and simplicity.

4. Ihsan Ekaputra

Comment 1: Ihsan is another Ambigram Challenge newbie. The lettering has really great curves, and the subtle hint of the heart as your ‘token’ Valentine’s Day element isn’t over the top; as the fairy tale goes, it’s just right!

Comment 2: That’s the way to make a debut! What a great first entry. It also goes to show that you don’t necessarily need to have a full-color design with drop shadows and rendered lighting to do well in the contest. We hope to see you back again, Ihsan!

By the way, its interesting to see how your letter intersections compare with Nicholas Gilbert’s ambigram of the word “Valentines”, pictured below. Great minds think alike!

5. Carl Mehling

Comment 1: Carl is also an Ambigram Challenge newcomer. This ambigram is a rarity amongst all the entries that have been received for the last few ambigram challenges. It strays away from the pen, pencil, computers, Wacom tablets, and…uses nothing natural elements. Maybe the chalk isn’t a natural element, but we can pretend that it’s limestone, which would make this ambigram 100% natural! Nice job on the hand lettering and a very unique medium.

Comment 2: This made it into the top 5 because of its originality, plain and simple. Other ambigrams in the contest were perhaps a bit better, but these photos definitely caught our attention, as its really nothing we had seen before. Is the ambigram actually carved into the stone?

A word on ACAC4: Valentine’s Day

This was definitely a newcomer’s challenge. Thirteen of the entrants were brand new to the Ambigram Challenge! We’re extremely happy to see the challenge expanding and seeing more and more new faces with every challenge. Here are a few more entries that we thought were worth mentioning.

Stijn Hommes

Deden Rohman Gumilang

Jen Winklepleck

Nicholas Gilbert

Comments: Super nice ambigram, Nicholas.  It just fell short of making the top 5 list this month.

Daniel Sanchez

A big thank you to all the participants! The work was fantastic yet again…keep up the great work!

Next Challenge: What could it be?