Magic Man Challenge Results
Feb 19th, 2011 | By Nikita | Category: A.C.A.C., FeatureThis was one of the toughest ambigram challenges yet, with a very unique and creative sponsor. It was a tough combinations of words…and even with the built-in challenges with these ambigrams the submissions were great! There were so many awesome entries that we decided to post ALL of them. We just…couldn’t resist! Dan Chan had his work cut out for him judging thsee designs.
However, in the end, three designs bubbled to the top.
Let’s take a look at the contest winners and marvel once again at the creativity of our wonderful ambigram community!
[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.]
Johan Skylling
Winner
Two incredible submissions were sent in from Johan, who is a former ACAC winner and frequent contributor. Both designs are astounding on so many levels that the biggest challenge was probably deciding just which of them would take the top spot!
In the end, Dan chose the logo-like black-and-white design. Due to the unorthodox typography, you may have a difficult time reading the ambigram at first, but it’s not a frustrating feeling… it’s more akin to curiousity. You can’t quite make it out at first glance, but you want to. In fact, that “stickiness” is part of the appeal!
Upon closer inspection, you begin to realize what a masterful work this is. From the double (triple!) lines in certain places, to the unique double-crossbar on the “A” to the ambiguous upper/lower case “G” to the unique use of black/white and gray shading, this design is creative on so many levels.
Dan Chan wrote: “Over all this is probably the most usable design and really invites a person to study it more. I’ll be using this on my mug I give to clients.”
It is worth mentioning Johan’s other submission here. His second design uses the same base ambigram to create an entire magical image with incredible complexity. This second submission isn’t just an ambigram, but a work of art from a very talented ambigrammist and artist. Feast your eyes on this:
Congratulations Johan! Once again, you’ve won first place.
René Oswaldo
Second place
René is also a frequent contributor to Ambigram.com. His submission for this challenge is wonderful in its minimalist style and a nice contrast to Johan’s submission. It has a very nice flow to it, and again, is in a style not often seen with ambigrams.
Dan wrote about this one: “The font looks really natural and could be used on a business card. You might not even notice it’s an ambigram on first glance”.
Here it is:
Congratulations René!
Clayton Mabey
Third place
Clayton is a frequent contributor to this website as well, who has been honing his skills through mini-challenges against fellow ambigrammists.
Dan had these words to say about this design: “The 8 of heart and 8 of spades could be incorporated into a magic trick or as a design on a casino black jack table. Also in Chinese culture 8 is a good number with prosperity.”
Congratulations Clayton!
Other Submissions
As we mentioned at the top, there were so many great submissions that we just had to share them all. Even if you didn’t place, make no mistake, this was not an easy decision, and there were several really good designs on the “short list”. Congratulations on some great artwork to everyone.
Below are the rest of the ambigrams submitted for this challenge. Take a look at them, and as always we welcome artistic discussions!
The next Ambigram Challenge will be posted in the next few days…and it will be music to your ears…stay tuned!
Bravo Johan. Your design is one of the coolest ambigrams I have EVER seen. Great job to Rene and others. I will try to comment more later when I get from my phone to my computer. Wow!!!!
Wow! These results are amazing and worth the wait.
Congratulations to the winners!
@John: Damn, you teached us all a lesson in the use of double-lines and illustrative design. Amazing details, colors and style! You deserve the win! This is ON POINT!!!
@Rene: Sweet piece! I love this handwriting. It has a great flow.
@Clayton: You did it again
Nice.
@Bastian: I really like your piece. Cool style and amazing combinations!
@Nick: I also like your design. It has a professional look!
So, i have to see the Slam Dunk Contest … CU
Wowww… Magic!!!
First of all, if the 1st ambigram gets just $100 it is an insult to the design. What an amazing outcome! This art itself will help Dan Chan to hype his show!!!
johan, what to tell man… U are an amazing talent. Never expected such an amazing submission!
I can see a high competition for 2nd and 3rd place. I have been going through all designs one by one.
Btw, my next generation ambigram is out (before I could publish). If anyone interested, please have a look at my submission. The design is not just an ambigram but also a mirror ambigram. Its purely an experimental stuff. It may not be very convincing as it is just the beginning, but I would like to work on this concept. Interested ones can try this!! It just need double thinking!
Every body has done an awesome job in creating such awesome designs.. it is fascinating to see the ambigram community growing day by day.. getting to see new designers and making it to the podium..
keep up the awesome work
Great work everybody, and well deserved winner Johan.
(Ryan’s ‘Juggler’ design was similar in concept to what I was struggling to create. I was right not to finish/submit mine though, as it was inferior to his – and indeed any of the rest of these!)
Oh my!
Johan, great work! You are hired, hehe!
My favourite design is Nick Gilbert’s one. I would put Cleber Faria’s work second and Johan’s third. This is just my opinion, I don’t want to offence anyone.
Great work averybody who entered in this competition! Congrats!
Johan..
What an amazing and relevant design..I would given both first and second to you..:)!!!
The colored one is really nice!! I liked the use of double lines…Congrats!!
Johan, that is amazing. Dan Chan is very lucky to get such a great design for such a great price. First place, for sure.
I also think Cleber deserves a shout-out, too, for excellent work.
Thanks for your kind assessment of my design, Dave… I’m surprised mine was the only “Juggler” submitted.
Johan, if you could have drawn the dove as if viewed in flight from above, to make the bird symmetrical, it wouldn’t suffer when inverted. Everything else in your poster design works (an understatement!) except for the minor problem of the bird flying upside-down (flames down flicker downwards, I know, but I think you can get away with that easier than the bird).
Of course, the laws of physics and the laws of design are separate magisteria…
“…flames down flicker downwards…”
DON’T flicker downwards, I meant…
Apologies for the late publication of the results, guys. We can now tell you that we were waiting to get all of the “paperwork” finalized before publishing the results. We needed to arrange artwork rights, and payment details, etc.
I do agree with a couple of you that the price is not sufficient for such great artwork, but I also like the idea of having some paid competitions instead of just friendly challenges as well. I mean, you might as well get *something* for your craft, right?
I just noticed that Charles Madrid’s piece is titled “Dan Chan”, but the design reads “magician” upside down if displayed.
Cleber / Bjorn (both) / Bastian – Beautiful ambigrams! – I am very fortunate to have even placed in this one. I would not have placed mine above these.
Hi,
i took a deep second look at the contest submissions and only wanted to say that we got a really high level of submissions for this contest. You could really see the development of every single ambigrammist and the different solutions are really great to see. Every single ambigram is unique and Dan Chan must feel very good about his contest.
I will not say much about the payments. Everyone could participate at this contest if he wants to, or not if he don’t, or could create a piece that’s worth the money. John decides to kick all our asses no matter what – we couldn’t do much about that, lol.
The important point is, that we all appreciate the work of the guys behind ambigram.com. Nikita and Co. keep us all interested and i’m just happy to be a little part
This contest was entertaining and now … we NEEEEED a new one. Right now! No more nice words … Post it! Announce it! We need it!
Please
It’s great seeing all of the entries! I’m glad you all have a passion for ambigrams.
Thanks for the kind comments.
I should really shut up, but let me just say that even if you stripped all of the cool extras from Johans design, you would still be left with one of the most amazing ambigrams I have ever seen. I think we all would agree that it is successful on so many levels, even with upside-down fire and birds
. Ryan…Magicians can do anything…
Johan…This design AND your “Alot of Love” design will do one of two things…
1. Scare people away from these forums.
2. Encourage many of us to “up” our game.
Great work from everyone and it was fun to participate. I now know I have to work that much harder to kick all y’all butts in the next contest.
We have a few great things in the works…the next ACAC, a new one-time contest which is neither another ACAC or Quick Draw…so keep an eye out on the news section!
My dove comment is a minor point, of course, but I think it would be an (small) improvement… it’s literally the ONLY flaw I can conceive of in this design. Design skills are one thing (and you clearly have them in spades), but your excellent colour sense shows you are indeed an artist of a very high calibre.
Mug-worthy, to say the very least.
Thanks for all the kind words guys and thank you Dan. I’m very happy!
There were a lot of great designs in this round and it’s nice to see ALL of them. Really love Björn’s, Nikita’s and Ishan’s submissions just to mention a few.
I’m aware about the doveproblem Ryan. But haven’t you heard about bird flu?
I’m more worried about all the people who will spill hot coffee on themselves when they rotate the mug
Cheers!
haha.. Good point skylling!!!
Lets make a hole in the bottom of the cup so that no one uses it for the right purpose 
Amazing designs. Congratulations to the winners!
Stergioudis, Ryan, and Clayton, thanks for the comments. I also really like yours designs.
Firstable. Excuse my bad english.
Secondable. There is a lot of talent and i am really happy to be in the podium with Johan and Clayton. The Johan’s design it is simply AMAZING and of course deserve it the first prize.
Cleber, Congratulações ele é um belo trabalho
For all, Congrats and regards from México
[...] The contest-results are really amazing. Winner was Johan Skylling with a beautfiul illustrated ambigram, but all submissions are really magical You could find them right here: http://www.ambigram.com/magic-man-ambigram-results [...]
René, thanks by comment. You deserve to be among the winners, your work is amazing, I really like your design, very clean e readable. Congratulations.
johan skylling is the real magician for sure !!!
and to all participants, GREAT JOB guys !!!
As a magician I create illusions so they cannot be analyzed, or rather should not be analyze. The feeling should be so overwhelming that the audience should feel as if a miracle has occurred. The purpose of an ambigram for me was to generate more interest and a backstory. Similar to what makes Disney’s hidden mickey more meaningful. A magician sees both the reality and the illusion present, but an magic effect is something that can exist in time only as a memory. I chose an ambigram to represent my new identity because an ambigram is a form of a visual illusion that preserves an illusion in a moment in time. A good ambigram can be an invitation for people analyze your logo and your brand. As a result I’m gifting my clients with a mug showcasing my ambigram. The mug will refreshing the client’s memory of the event, every time the the cupboard is opened.
-Dan Chan
Dan,
How do I get a mug? Will they be available through your website? That would be a fun thing to have.
-Clayton
For the those who placed please send me your mailing address as I will send you one for free. (it may take awhile for them to print and ship. Also I don’t have the artist release yet.) For everyone else who participated in this contest thank you may also get one for free (just pay shipping). Also if you participated let me know if I can feature your design on my facebook fan page for the public, and how you’d like to be credited (name and/or website.) I’m going to run a non-commercial contest again soon for (James and Grace) my children. And maybe one for my wife’s balloons. Stay tuned and thank you all!
[...] ambigrams I had to compete with and I didn’t place. You should really take a look at the results, some of them are mind-blowing! So, once again it’s: ‘Better luck next time!’ for [...]
[...] in a nice sandy color for guys (S-M-L-XL) and in white for girls (S-M-L). The other with an amazing Ambigram, by our friend, award-winning designer Johan “Sparris” Skylling, in vintage bone white, on black [...]
B. Wichmann (Slambigrams) February 19th, 2011 10:54 pm
@John: Damn, you teached us all a lesson in the use of double-lines and illustrative design. Amazing details, colors and style! You deserve the win! This is ON POINT!!!
I totally agree! Great job!
Very nice designs. Awesome work by everyone who participated. It takes a special talent to do what you do.