Great news. We have narrowed down the Ambigrammy Ambigram Challenge to three finalists.

Our three finalists have submitted amazing work to a challenge which was filled with great submissions, and all three deserve to be in the second round. As hard is it was for Ambigram.com to narrow it down to the three final selections, it was even more challenging for all the artists to submit such amazingly diverse work for a challenge which, due to the actual word, had some predictable solutions built in. The three final solutions are unique, diverse, and simply put…head turners. Let the discussions begin!

Once again, congratulations to our three finalists!

Note: The judging for the actual Ambigrammy Nominees is almost finished. Once all the judging is completed and the winner is determined, we will be posting the winner of the Ambigrammy Award as well as the winner of the Ambigrammy Ambigram Challenge. Stay tuned!

The second part, which is no less rewarding, has been seeing all the great work submitted for the Ambigram Challenges and Quick Draws. These challenges have drawn (no pun intended) everyone to this community ranging from expert ambigram designers to novices who have been introduced to the world of the ambigrams by a friend, fellow artist or coworker.

Some of these creations are very, very impressive, and have clearly taken some significant time and creative energy to develop.  They really deserve to be properly recognized.  So, the editors at Ambigram.com put their heads together on how to give recognition for outstanding achievement.  We decided that the best way would be to organize an actual award ceremony to recognize the wonderful ambigram artwork that is consistently being submitted.  We’ve been working out the details, and we’re finally ready to share with you the results.

Without further adieu, we present to you…The Ambigrammy!

What is the Ambigrammy?

Every industry has an award ceremony which recognizes the best of the best in their respective field. The music industry has The Grammy Award.  Television has the Emmy.  Live Theater has the Tony.  Even the Internet has the Webby Award.

Why should the ambigram community be any different? There are many phenomenally talented & passionate artists that deserve to be recognized for their abilities, and we are proud to be launching our very own annual award ceremony.

Copyright 2011. Ambigram.com

The Rules of the Ambigrammy

1. The Ambigrammy Award shall be the premier award from Ambigram.com, to recognize exceptional talent within the ambigram community. It will be run once a year (approximately every 10 Ambigram Challenges).

2. The winner from each of the previous ambigram challenges will be eligible for the Ambigrammy.

3. The top 3 ambigrams from that list (first, second and third place) will receive Ambigrammy Awards for that calendar year.  Someday, we hope that all three top finishers will receive fabulous prizes, coveted product samples and bags of designer clothes.  However, until we can afford to buy first-class seats to fly all of you talented ambigram artists to our Red Carpet Ambigrammy Award ceremony in  Hollywood, the prize for the first Ambigrammy Award will need to be rather modest.  In addition to the peer recognition and honor that come with receiving the Ambigrammy Award, the 3 winners will also each be receiving a T-Shirt with their own winning ambigram design printed on both the front and back of the shirt.  Shipping is included and we will ask the Ambigrammy Award winners for their shipping address.

At this point, you are probably asking yourselves why we are combining the Ambigrammy announcement with this Ambigram Challenge?

Well, we did that out of necessity.  Here is why.

Ambigrammy Ambigram Challenge

The 13th Ambigram Challenge isn’t just any challenge.  It is a challenge to design the actual graphic that Ambigram.com will be using as the Ambigrammy Award itself!  The Ambigrammy logo seen earlier is the design developed internally by Ambigram.com and will be included as one of the submissions.  Since we already have one entry in the contest, it basically becomes the one you’ll need to beat.  Yes, we set the bar high on this challenge.

The Ambigrammy Rules

1. General Guidelines. The Ambigrammy logo should consist of two parts. The first part is the word “Ambigrammy”, which MUST be an ambigram! The second part should be the tag line “For Making Heads Turn”, or “The Award For Making Heads Turn” or something similar, which does not need to be an ambigram.  If you need additional text to “fill out” your design, you could also add the site name (“Ambigram.com”), but this is not necessary.  Remember that all of these are just guidelines, and if you do something creative that means breaking any (or all) of these rules, don’t worry too much about it.  We reserve the right to relax the guidelines when it makes sense.

2. Visual Treatment. You are allowed (but not required) to include various images that portray the idea of the Ambigrammy being a prestigious award. The design could be purely typographic or it could include additional objects or visuals.  One idea would be an “Ambigrammy” totem style ambigram that resembles a trophy (perhaps even a human with typographic ‘arms’ and body).  If you are talented with Photoshop, perhaps you could make it look like gold.  Another idea would be to create a gold bar which has been stamped with an “Ambigrammy” rotational ambigram.  Hint: Since this is an “award”, the more it looks like an award, the better!

3. Editors Discretion. Unlike most of our other challenges, it is possible that the editors at Ambigram.com may ask any artist who is participating to make suggested changes to their design to better their chances of winning.  Yes, if your design is being considered to become the Ambigrammy Award graphic, it is possible that we may actually help you win.  We don’t expect this to happen, but we did want to make you aware of the possibility.

4. Each artist is allowed 2 submissions maximum. When you email your submissions, please make sure of the following:

a. Each file is in JPG format, 72dpi and AT LEAST 600×600 pixels in dimension.
b. Each file should be labeled as follows: artistname_(either 1 or 2)_acac13.jpg

5. The winning design will NOT be announced in a separate article. Instead, the winning design will actually be used for the first Ambigrammy Award results article that will be posted right after the ambigrammy challenge!  That way, the ambigram community will get two gems for the price of one: the winning Ambigrammy Award logo AND the overall Ambigrammy Awards winner!

So, if your design wins, it will become a symbol that is given to OTHER great artists in recognition of their ambigram talent.  That is an honor in itself!

6. The Winning artist is eligible for a 2012 Ambigrammy Award. As with all of the Ambigram Challenges, the winner of this challenge will automatically be entered as a nominee to win a 2012 Ambigrammy Award.  The winning design will appear again next year during the 2012 Ambigrammy Award ceremony, and may become an Award winner itself!

Time line

- The final submissions will be due by the end of the day on Sunday, May 22nd.

- We know how much work you guys put into your submissions here, so we’re going to give some payback by putting out a lot of awesome content coming up.  Here is what we’re going to do.  Ambigram.com will be publishing 4 articles on 4 topics in 4 consecutive weeks (so you’ll need to come back at least once a week in order to catch the latest news, since it’s going to be changing quickly!)

- On the week of May 29th, we will post all of the winning designs from the previous Ambigram Challenges that are eligible to receive an Ambigrammy Award (the top design in each challenge).  This is going to be a list of all of the best designs we’ve seen so far, so it’s going to be a lot of impressive work, all of which are worth a second look.

- On the week of June 5th, we will post all the submissions that we received for the Ambigrammy Ambigram Challenge (this challenge) so that the community has a chance to review and discuss the field of choices.  We expect that this challenge is going to produce some amazing designs as well, so this article should be another feast for the eyes.

- On the week of June 12th, the Ambigrammy Ambigram Challenge and Ambigrammy Award winners will be announced.  The entire series of articles culminates with the actual Ambigram Award presentations to the top designers in this unique field for 2011.  The 2012 Ambigrammy Award Ceremony will be at approximately the same time next year.

- On the week of June 19th, we will be publishing the next Ambigram Challenge, and we will also resume with our regularly scheduled Quick Draw challenges, news, and interviews.

Good luck! Any questions? Email us at challenge@ambigram.com.

There is something on the horizon at Ambigram.com. Something good is coming…something exciting…something sensational! Care to guess what it is? Post your guesses here…and the closest guess may win something!

Example 1 – Mirror ambigram (vertical)

Example 2 – Figure/Ground ambigram

Example 3 – 90 degree rotational ambigram

Example 4 – Symbiotogram [not allowed.  see comments below.]

Example 5  - Totem ambigram

Example 6  – Perceptual shift ambigram

Rules

1. So what type of ambigrams can you enter since 180 degree rotational ambigrams aren’t allowed? You are allowed the following; mirror ambigrams (vertical or horizontal), figure/ground ambigrams, 90 degree rotational ambigrams, symbiotograms, perceptual shift ambigrams and totem ambigrams.

2. For this challenge, your ambigram will be judged on how closely it adheres to the requirements of each category (as defined by the type of ambigram) as well as legibility & readability. If you are not sure whether a word you chose will work, email us!

3. Please submit no more than 2 entries, and make sure that they are “finalized” before emailing them.  We are getting swamped with entire collections of designs using incorrect file formats and dimensions; also, some artists make frequent revisions within the contest time frame and expect us to keep track of it all. You have several weeks for this challenge…so please take your time and send us the finalized submissions closer to the end of the contest. The ambigram(s) have to be created from scratch for this challenge. Make sure the files are in JPG format, 72dpi and AT LEAST 600×600 pixels in dimension.

4. To better track the designs, please name your submissions as follows: JohnSmith_typeofambigram_Submissionnumber.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, March 20th, 2011 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, April 3rd, 2011, and the next challenge will be announced at that time.

Please be sure to include a web site URL if you would like us to link to your ambigram portfolio.

After this Ambigram Challenge concludes, we will have a surprise for the ambigram community!

- Every week to two weeks, 2 ambigrammists will be randomly chosen by Ambigram.com and will be given a word to turn into an ambigram.
- After approximately a week, the sketches and final ambigrams will be emailed to Ambigram.com, along with a paragraph or two from the artists describing their approach to this ambigram. Those ambigrams will then be posted in the new Quick Draw section for everyone to observe and comment on.

The idea behind this section is to see how different designers approach the same ambigrams, what their methodology is, and how quickly their mind works. The first pair has already been selected and given a challenge, and the results of their challenge will be posted next week. As always, we look forward to some fantastic work!

The ‘Art and Artist‘ ACAC challenge submissions exhibited a shocking level of creativity and imagination! With the requirements of the challenge making it a very difficult one, we received some absolutely amazing ambigrams.  It really is phenomenal what the human mind can do if you challenge it and push it outside of its comfort zone.

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. Bjorn Wichmann - http://www.b-wichmann.de/

Comment 1: Congratulations, Bjorn!  This is so cool on so many levels.  It’s a rotational ambigram.  It’s a 3D ambigram.  AND it’s an ambigram that looks like something that MC Escher himself might have created if he were participating in our challenges here!  This is a wonderful tribute to man that we all hold in high regard, and for your efforts, you receive OUR top honor this month!  Nice work.

Comment 2: Bjorn, absolutely beautiful work! I am certain that Maurits Cornelis himself would be proud of the homage to him as an artist, as well as the accurate reflection of his ‘signature’ as an artist. A worthy tribute and a worthy first place finish.

Note: It has come to the attention of the judges that this ambigram may not have been created specifically for this challenge.  Since this is a friendly competition, we are not going to re-rank the designs, but we did want to make a note that this design appears to have been created prior to this challenge.

2. Johan Skylling

Comment 2: Shrinking this design down to fit into the article space here doesn’t do it justice.  This gem really needs to be seen at full resolution (go ahead and click it to check it out).  As above, this is an awesome tribute to a very creative man, and done in his signature style (if you’re not familiar with his work, click here.)  There was only a very slight compromise with the initial H of the ambigram missing a stem that put a small dent in the armor (so to speak), but the design work is incredible.  Congratulations on another great piece, Johan!

Comment 2: Amazing detail and another wonderful ambigram design! I’m not going to make any armor jokes like the previous comment, but I will say that this ambigram is almost bulletproof! Once again, the detail here is amazing and goes to show that a beautiful ambigram can be as simple as black/white lettering or one as complex as the one you’ve created. Great job!

3.  Ryan McCourt

Comment 1: Since the beginning of these contests, we’ve had submissions of rotational ambigrams.  We’ve had mirror ambigrams.  We’ve had vertical ambigrams.  We’ve had multilingual ambigrams.  We’ve even had hand-drawn ambigrams and 3D ambigrams (see above).  However, we’ve never seen a “performance art” ambigram before!

Ryan McCourt took the “Art and Artists” concept to a whole new level, not only attempting to replicate the artists style in his piece, but the artist’s actual techniques!  Jackson Pollock did a portion of his paintings using a “paint pouring” technique, and Ryan created a Pollock-like painting, using Pollock’s technique, forming an ambigram of Pollock’s name!  We loved this idea, and take our hats off to Ryan’s incredible dedication to accuracy in his submission.  As a side-note, we would have loved to have received a photo of the finished piece as part of the submission!

Comment 2: This is one of the most unique entries we have ever received. As the judge above mentioned, it would be great to see photos of the ambigram ‘performance’ in progress. This entry also shows that the ambigram realm isn’t always limited to pencil, paper, and the computer. Great entry Ryan, and welcome to the Ambigram Challenges!

Note: Our mistake.  This is actually Jackson Pollock, with the ambigram photoshopped into place, and not Ryan McCourt “pouring” his ambigram in paint.  It’s still quite a creative “background” for this piece.  See comments below for details.

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

Comment 1: This is another design that really needs to be seen at full resolution to be appreciated.  Daniel creates a superb ambigram (possibly the best typographical design in this challenge) of artist Albrecht Durer (if you are not familiar with his work, click here).  Unfortunately, it was Durer’s own wood-cut style that makes Daniel’s finished design somewhat difficult to see.

Still, if you take the time to follow the design, you will see what a beautiful ambigram this is, and how very true it is to the artist’s vision.  If a coffee table book is ever published with Albrecht Durer’s artwork, this would make an amazing front cover.  Congratulations on making it into the “Top Five” list (again) Daniel!

Comment 2: Great job on this ambigram Daniel! One of your unique traits is the ability to weave different letterforms together, yet make them seem like they are one letter and were created that way from the start. That is true for this ambigram as well. I also love the consistent feel of the whole piece, from the ambigram itself, to the background texture and the treatment of Durer’s mark. Nice job!

5. Nabil Harb – http://www.flickr.com/photos/wortgewandt13

Comment 1: Nabil created this fascinating piece that says “Jugendstil” (an art period like Art Nouveau) in the style of the period.  Although the extra flourishes make it difficult to read, in the context of this contest, the treatments make perfect sense, and make this a great ambigram that IS what is SAYS.  Nice work, Nabil!

Comment 2: A nice reflection of the Jugendstil period, and aside from some minor legibility issues, it’s a great representation of that art period. Very nice entry Nabil!

We received so many great submissions for this challenge, that we couldn’t just list the top five.  Below are examples of other submissions that were received for this challenge. There is still a great concept behind each of these designs, and the artists who created these pieces deserve to have them shown as much as you deserve to see them.

Michael Irving – Da Vinci

Ryan McCourt – Caro

Diego Colombo – Dante Alighieri

Alessandro Pocaterra – Campbell Soup / Andy Warhol

Daan Juttman – Art Nouveau

Clayton Mabey – Metamorphose (MC. Escher)

Stergioudis Vasileios – Mozart (drawn using musical notes)

Ian Sharp – Cubism

As a side note, we thought that we had received an excellent “Dali” submission, but when it came time to do the judging, there was no such entry in our in-box.  If you submitted a “Dali” ambigram, please re-send it to us.

————————————————–

A big thank you to all the talented artists that submitted their work for this challenge! The next challenge will be posted shortly. Keep an eye out for it…you’ll find that it’s the right season for this type of challenge!

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 ‘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.