Challenge Details

For this challenge, the sponsor has two words they would like to see turned into ambigrams.

• God/Jesus – Symbiotogram
• Holy Spirit – Rotational ambigram

Challenge Rules & File Submission Details

Since this is a sponsored challenge, it will be judged exclusively by the sponsor of the contest. All designs should be submitted by Sunday, May 20th, 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.

We will send a boilerplate document to the winner(s) that simply assigns the copyright of the design to the sponsor. Sending the document & the artwork files back to the client will be the condition of the payout.

1. Please send the submission files to nikita@ambigram.com.
2. Please send JPG or GIF files only, no more than 2 megabytes in size. After the winner is selected, you may be asked to send a high resolution vector file to the sponsor, so make sure you have that available.
3. Save the files in the following format. “number of submission_your name_acac032012″ Example: 01_johnsmith_acac032012.
4. All entires submitted have to be final. You are not allowed to send in multiple revisions throughout the course of the challenge.
5. You are allowed to submit 2 designs. Please don’t keep sending multiple revisions after you send the initial one.

Prize(s)

There will be only one winner declared for this challenge. The winning design will receive $250USD.

If you have any questions, post them in the comment section on this page or email nikita@ambigram.com. Note: Please keep the discussion/comments civil and respectful. If you have any issues or concerns, please address them via email and not in the comment section of this article.

Magic Man Ambigram Challenge 2 Submissions

Dan Adona Jr.

Since this is my first QD challenge, i was surprised to get a fairly simple word… NOT. This turned out to be very challenging since i wanted to veer off from my usual font-styling. However, in my experience a word or phrase and its letter correlation pretty much dictate the font style.

After deciding to do a rotational ambigram, I first did my letter correlation to see which letter match with which. Then come in the sketches. I’m a very rough sketcher which tends to be a problem when digitally tracing the lines, but i’m used to it.

I set out to try and do an ambigram with intertwining letter parts, but if it’s not doable – I have in mind a simpler design. the challenge here, I found, was the “a” and the “g-t” correlation. although “a” is simple enough, finding an accurate letterform to match the entire font style was tricky. solving the “g-t” problem took me longer than I expected. i tried using the “r”‘s leg and even styling the “i” dot for the “g”‘s outer bowl. All in all this process yeilded me two font styles: one semi-gothic and the other scriptic.

I usually just do half the ambigram (for convenience, mostly). So I scanned the sketches and imported them to a vector based program for tracing and node editing. after fully re-creating the half-ambigram, I line it up to see the whole image. then I tweak the ambigram basically to try and improve legibility and/or aesthetics.

After a half-a-dozen semi-gothic design varieties, editing the ambigram with either or both with coreldraw and/or photoshop as may be required, commences. I decided to go with a simple design with the argentine flag as inspiration. Finishing the scriptic style, however, demanded more attention so it would not read “Vargentina” rather a double stemmed capital “a”.

Vasileios Stergioudis

Argentina! Blue and yellow!!! I love this colour combination!

First of all, I started thinking of different types of ambigrams: Rotational, mirrored, totems etc. When I found out that it would turn great as a rotational ambigram, I wonder how I wanted it to look like. Handwriting? Dirty? Modern? Well… I commenced designing the basic structure, using straight lines. Then, after a drawing some curves to design G-TI, I realised that a graffiti approach was a very nice solution.

The central EN was not so difficult to construct. The real challenge was to turn A as itself, but lower-case. A self-symmetric glyph is not so appealing when it is not located around the center of the image, so I rejected a capital-to-capital glyph. The lower-case “a” seemed as an “e” when rotated, so I had to stretch it a little bit so that the little curve that would form the horizontal line for the capital A would serve as a baseline to the lower-case “a”. That way, A seems stretched upwards, but “a” does not seem stretched downwards.

However, I realised that the construction I designed earlier (the geometric one) had more to say than just a simple sketch. Thus, I went on to a second version of the ambigram, which I name “Ortho”. I vectorised it while trying many differences (capital-lower T, horizontal lines, lean degrees of elements).

All I had to do is colourise it, adding a contour. Personally, I like the graffiti version more than Ortho. However, take a look at the second version.

Dear Dan and Vasileios, thank you for your fantastic work and unique take on the same word!

If anyone would like to participate in the next Quick Draw, email me to nikita@ambigram.com with the subject line “I want to Quick Draw!”

Dan Chan, Magic Man

Another great challenge makes its way to Ambigram.com, thanks to Dan Chan, Magic Man! And yes, there are cash prizes for first…second…third place…and did we mention there will be multiple first place winners? Here are the details!

Magic Man Ambigram Challenge 2

For this Ambigram.Com Ambigram Challenge (ACAC), we will once again be developing ambigrams for the award-winning entertainer Dan Chan, the Magic Man. Dan Chan will be using the winning ambigrams on various promotional items. 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.

Prizes

There will be $600 total in prizes given out for the winning designs. We will 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.

• There will be multiple first place winners
• There may be multiple second and third place winners

A single artist may win no more than 1 of the prizes IN EACH CATEGORY BELOW , and in fact, may submit no more than 2 designs to the challenge for each category below.

• “Kat’s Clever Creations” as a rotational ambigram
• “Kat the Acrobat” as a rotational ambigram.
• ”Kat the Acrobat/Kat’s Clever Creations” as a rotational symbiotogram.
• “Balloon Sculptures” as a rotational ambigram.
• “Balloon Twisting” as a rotational ambigram.
• “Balloon Sculptures/Balloon Twisting” as a rotational symbiotogram.
• “James the Juggler” as a rotational ambigram.
• “Amazing Grace” as a rotational ambigram.
• “Dan Chan” as a rotational ambigram.
• “Dan Chan Magic Man” as a rotational ambigram.
• “Bian Lian” as a rotational ambigram.
• “Mask Changing” as a rotational ambigram.
• “Face Changing” as a rotational ambigram.
• “Pick-pocket” as a rotational ambigram.
• “Pick pocketing” as a rotational ambigram.

Here is the toughest word choice of the whole group. You have a choice to take either “Prediction”, ”Your Card” or ”Your Selected Card” and pair it with a name of any playing card in a deck, making a symbiotogram out of them. (For example, a symbiotogram could be created that reads “Prediction” one way, and when rotated 180 degrees reads “Ace Of Spades”, and so on.)

If you have any other cool ambigrams that relate to what Dan does feel free to submit those as well as he will be paying out prize $$$ for anything he can use to give to clients. 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. Dan’s judgment shall be final, although we will provide additional commentary when the results are posted.

All designs should be submitted by Sunday, March 25th, 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.

File Submission

1. Please send the submission files to nikita@ambigram.com.
2. Please send JPG or GIF files only, no more than 2 megabytes in size. After the winner is selected, you may be asked to send a high resolution vector file to the sponsor, so make sure you have that available.
3. Save the files in the following format. “number of submission_your name_acac022012″ Example: 01_johnsmith_acac022012.
4. All entires submitted have to be final. You are not allowed to send in multiple revisions throughout the course of the challenge.

If you have any questions, post them in the comment section on this page or email nikita@ambigram.com.

Best of luck to all the artists. This will be another great challenge!

Fellow Ambigram designers & Ambigram.com community,

Ambigram.com is very excited to announce a Call for Entries for a book titled Ambigrams Revealed! This book will feature a collection of ambigrams from around the world. Although ambigrams have been around for a number of years, they’ve only recently been thrust into the limelight with the publication of Angels and Demons. Ambigrams Revealed will thoroughly examine the art of the ambigram, explain what ambigrams are & how they are brought to life by their very dedicated artists. In addition to showcasing ambigrams from around the world, Ambigrams Revealed will feature commentary and writing from some of the world’s best ambigram & graphic designers, as well as several case studies on outstanding ambigrams. *(Please note: Ambigrams Revealed is a working title of the book and may change later on.)

The Judging Panel

Ambigrams Revealed will feature an amazing judging panel, consisting of several well-known ambigram designers & graphic designers. (There may also be additional guest judges.) More details about the judging panel will be posted periodically on the Facebook page created for this upcoming publication.

Submission Categories

Your submissions can be ambigrams that you have created in the past or ambigrams created specifically for this book. The work you submit should be based on the categories below. If you think that your ambigram does not fit into any category listed below, email us your submission and we promise to find a good home for it.

A. Ambigrams
This section of the book will feature ambigrams in the following categories:
Type 1 Rotational
Type 2 Symbiotogram
Type 3 Reflection
        a. Horizontal (Mirror Image) b. Vertical (Lake Reflection)
Type 4 Figure-Ground
Type 5 Chain
        a. Rotational chain b. Mirror image chain
Type 6 Perceptual Shift (also known as an oscillating ambigram)
Type 7 Bi-lingual ambigrams
Type 8 Hand-drawn ambigrams

B. Ambigram Case Studies
This section will contain carefully chosen ambigrams which will be turned into case studies featuring detailed commentary from their designers. (If your ambigram is chosen for this section, we will get in touch with you with further details.)

Submission Guidelines

1. When are all the submissions due?
All submissions for Round 1 are due by the end of the day on Tuesday, July 31st. No exceptions.

2. How many ambigrams am I allowed to submit?
You are allowed 5 total submissions. Please make sure that the submissions you are sending are finished. Once you send in your submissions, you will not be allowed to send revisions of your entries. (If you send in more than 5 submissions, we will take the first 5 you send and exclude the rest.) Please do not keep resending your submissions with minor changes over and over again. As you can imagine, there will be plenty of submissions. We would like to keep this process as organized as possible for us and the artists as well. Also, if your first five submissions are not accepted, you will not be allowed to submit five new submissions.

3. How do I name my files?
If you are submitting for Category A, please name your files the following:
- submission#_firstname_lastname_type.jpg (Example: 01_John_Smith_Type1.jpg)
If you are submitting for Category B, please name your files the following:
- submission#_firstname_lastname_case_study.jpg (Example: 01_John_Smith_case_study.jpg) 

4. How do I submit my entries?
There will be two rounds of submissions.
Round 1
This is when everyone sends in their work for consideration. Please send only JPG/GIF files, no larger than 1 megabyte each. Do not send high quality large files and do not send any other file types besides JPG or GIF. You will receive a confirmation email that your Round 1 entries have been received. If you don’t receive an email within 48 hours of your submission, email a query to nikitaambigramcom.
Round 2
If any of your ambigrams are chosen for the book, you will receive an email from us that will notify you of the inclusion. At that point, we will ask you for a high quality vector file of your ambigram or a hi-res tiff file. You will receive a confirmation file that your Round 2 entry has been received. If you don’t receive an email within 48 hours of your submission, email a query to nikitaambigramcom.

5. Where do I send my submissions?
Once you have finished your designs, please send your submissions to nikitaambigramcom. Please send the entries with the following subject line: “your name” + Book Submission

6. What if my submissions are not accepted?
Please make sure you follow the submission guidelines precisely and do not email partial or incorrect files. Your submissions may not be accepted for a number of reasons, the most common being incorrectly or untimely submitted files. The ambigrams for the book will be carefully selected by the judging panel & the author. Please do not email us asking for a critique or if your ambigram is good enough to be included in the book. As you can imagine, there will be many submissions and the selection process will be very stringent.

7. Can I post my entries on any social media networks or my website?
Please feel free to post your ambigrams to Facebook, Myspace or any other social media website you participate in. In fact, it is a great idea if you would like feedback on your ambigrams from other designers! However, the only way to officially submit an entry for the book is to follow the guidelines above and email your entries to the submission email address.

A Facebook page has been created for Ambigrams Revealed. Samples of submissions will be posted to the group at our discretion. Please do not submit or post your entries via Facebook group, as they will not be accepted. The only official way to enter is to follow the guidelines above.

8. What if I have any additional questions?
You can post any questions here, as many of you may have the same questions, or email questions to nikitaambigramcom. 

That being said, GOOD LUCK to all the artists! This will be a great project and we cannot wait to see it designed, printed and on the shelves in bookstores everywhere. And of course, thank you to our amazing community  for making this project possible, as without all of your work, this would not have happened. Keep on ambigramming!

A word from the Ambigram Challenge Sponsor:

To begin with, the company was incredibly pleased and impressed with all the submissions.  One need only to look through the posted comments to realize that there was no runaway favorite, and that any type of judging is really a subjective matter.  That’s great, because different art affects people differently.  On the other hand, with all the great entries, it made our job that much more difficult.  Without question there were easily a handful of designs not mentioned below that could have made it to the top spots had someone else been responsible for picking the winners.  We sincerely thank everyone for their participation.

The Winner – Robert Maitland

2nd Place – Michael Irving

3rd Place – Johan Skylling

There are so many great artistic elements to this design…the columns, olive branches, and Greek key.  There are multi-layers to this design which unfold and are revealed the longer one looks.

4th Place - Vasileios Stergioudis

5th Place – Cleber Faria

Honorable Mention – Clayton Mabey

Such a great design,  it takes elements of the byzantine style but gives it a new, fresh, updated look.

Many thanks to the sponsor for sponsoring this Ambigram Challenge, and many thanks to all the artists for their hard work!