It’s All Greek Ambigram Challenge

For this Ambigram Challenge, you are being asked to create an ambigram for a unique soft drink company that is currently creating a new soda. The manufacturer (which will remain anonymous until the end of the challenge) will incorporate the final design on the product.

The Ambigram
The word that is being provided by the sponsor is ‘Greek Gold.’ It is to be a 180 degree rotational ambigram.

Sponsor Requirements
The sponsor has requested that the ambigram be kept in a stacked format, i.e. the word ‘Greek’ on top of the word ‘Gold.’ The sponsor will not completely exclude one-line ambigrams, but since the ambigram will be presented in a very small area, the stacked version will be given preference over single line ambigrams. In addition:

• Legibility/readability will be a major factor in the judges’ decision.
• Incorporating elements of the art of the Byzantine Empire (such as use of gold and crimson) is encouraged.
• Use of a byzantine style font (especially like the first example below) is encouraged.

Note that even though the characters in the example are not all English, they are offered as an example of the style that the sponsor is looking for.

Prizes

The top 5 ambigrams will be recognized by the sponsor, with the first place winner receiving $150. We will have the prize money in escrow, so the payout is guaranteed and will be awarded when the artist of the winning design(s) turns over the copyright of the design to the sponsor to use as they wish. The grand prize of USD $150 will be paid via Paypal from Ambigram.com. All dollar amounts are in USD.

Judging

Unlike most Ambigram.com Ambigram Challenges, this one will be judged exclusively by the sponsor of the contest. These are designs that are intended for use by the company, so while some comments may be provided by some of the judges, the winning ambigram will ultimately be selected by the sponsor.

All designs should be submitted by Sunday, February 5th; all the submissions will be posted within a day & then the judging process will begin. Results will be posted as soon as the sponsor has selected the top ambigram, and a boilerplate document will be sent to the winner shortly thereafter. Cash prizes to immediately follow after the designer returns the signed document (along with the requested files) to the sponsor.

The challenge will be open to everyone without restrictions. We will send a boilerplate document to the winner(s) that simply assigns the copyright of the design to the sponsor. Sending the document back to the sponsor will be a condition of payout. The details of this will be worked out after the winning ambigram is selected.

File Submission

• Please submit no more than 3 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. Please note that after the winning ambigram is selected, the sponsor may also request the final art in a vector format (.ai or .svg), so make sure you have that format available as well. That will be discussed between the sponsor and the winning designer.
• 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.

To submit your ambigrams, or if you have any other questions, email us at challenge@ambigram.com.

Winner – Johan Skylling

Johan Skylling once again takes the top spot. This ambigram has so many unique and complex layers to it that it seems impossible for them to work together well. Yet, all the layers integrate seamlessly with one another while still maintaining great legibility and recognition of all the elements. Beautiful work Johan!!

#2 – Dan Adona Jr.

The second entry comes to us from a new participant. Let us welcome Dan and his work to Ambigram.com! His submission is elegant & whimsical; the decorative flourishes, which are often an overused element, function well as characters in one orientation and decorative elements in another. Maybe a few too many flourishes faded into the background, but other than that, a beautifully balanced ambigram!

#3 – Robert Maitland

The legibility and elegance of this ambigram comes from its simplicity. Beautifully crafted letters, no unnecessary elements and subtle touches make this ambigram extremely easy to read and convey the meaning of the via not only the word itself, but also with colors and the lettering style. Great job Robert!

#4 – Sharath Kumar

Another great submission from Sharath. Beautiful lettering style and ambigram texture. The only element of the ambigram that’s slightly inconsistent is the angular T/E combo, which is a bit out of sync with the beautifully curved characters in the rest of the ambigram. Despite that, another well done entry!

#5 – Jennifer Thorne

Rounding off the top 5 is an ambigram from another frequent contributor. This ambigram has a very unique & original presentation. A few of the letters are a bit challenging to read, but the context of the ambigram makes up for some of those challenges. A fun presentation and a good lettering style make this submission a very worthy top five candidate. Nice work!

Dear participants, thank you for submitting your wonderful work to the Ambigram Challenges and making them as successful as they’ve been!

Ambigram Challenge 16 – Holidays!

The holiday season is here once again, which means it’s time for decorations, presents and holiday-themed ambigrams!

Rules

1. You are allowed to submit an ambigram which is relevant to any holiday that takes place from December 21st to January 6th. This covers Christmas, New Years, and several other holidays. If you are not sure whether a certain holiday is appropriate or not, email us and ask! These challenges are fun and don’t carry too many restrictions. Also, if the holiday you want to focus on is only celebrated in your culture/country, please send us a link to a brief synopsis of the holiday and its tradition. But almost anything is fair game.

2. For this challenge, your ambigram will be judged on how festive it is and how it represents the selected holiday visually. That means the use of additional visuals, colors and decorative elements that are relevant to your chosen holiday is allowed and encouraged. Of course, legibility and readability will still be valued highly.

3. Because of a wide range of various holidays and because our wonderful audience/participants reside on nearly every continent, you are allowed to submit up to 4 entries. Make sure that they are “finalized” before emailing them. And please do not email us multiple revisions of your ambigram: once you email it the first time, that’s it. 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

5. When emailing your entries to challenge@ambigram.com, it is imperative that you do the following.
a. Put “Ambigram Challenge 16 or ACAC16 in the email subject line.
b. Email your ambigrams as attachments and NOT embed them in the body of the email.

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, December 18th, 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 December 23rd, 2011.

News and Updates

While we are waiting for the Holiday Challenge, we will have several Quick Draws, Interviews and a few other fun articles. After the Holiday challenge ends, we will take a quick break for the holidays, but will resume full-scale operations during the first week of January 2012.

Winner – Johan Skylling

Fifth place – Sharath Kumar

 

Sharath is well known to experiment with different lettering styles and types of ambigrams, and that never-ending exploration contributes to his continual success as an ambigram designer. He chose a great concept for this submission, and the somewhat reserved lettering style is well complimented by his wonderful background illustrations that, once again, help the ambigram instead of hindering it. Great job!

Honorable mentions

There were several other ambigrams that, although they didn’t make it into the top five, deserve to be recognized for the creativity that the artists exhibited. 

Ambigram Challenge 15 – No Fear

Old School Challenge Submissions

There were a lot of emails and questions regarding this particular challenge. If we missed an entry from anyone, email us ASAP and we’ll add it to the gallery. Apologies in advance for missing anyone!

The deadline is Sunday, September 4th, midnight. If you have any other questions, email us at challenge@ambigram.com. All the rules from previous challenges regarding file submissions/types still apply. As the challenge brief says…good luck!

Congratulations to Sharath Kumar!!

Sharath Kumar, who is a frequent contributor and critic of the various work at Ambigram.com (including his own) has been declared the winner of the Ambigrammy Ambigram Challenge. The Ambigrammy award image challenge was a difficult one for several reasons:

-         A very specific word with challenging letter combinations, which made lettering consistency problematic in certain areas.

-         Room for predictability within the potential solutions: there are only so many ways you can create a certain letter combination flip.

-         The aesthetic aspect of the design, which needed to be representative of an award and have a more upscale Hollywood-esque aura about it.

Although the decision was made difficult by the excellent submissions that made it to the final round, this particular design is the one we have decided to move forward with as the Ambigrammy Award for several reasons.

Sharath tackled this challenge with aplomb and confidence which has developed throughout his neverending contributions and ambigram explorations. He took this challenge on and made this submission truly his own. His design is creative and imaginative, and includes just enough embellishments to make the design both beautiful & legible.

The fact that the design is an ambigram, and yet appears similar to the human statue Oscar award brings the design together perfectly.  It also leaves open the possibility that as ambigrams becomes more well known in the world, and as the Ambigrammy Award gains in importance in the years to come that an actual physical statue is a possibility.  Although, with the price of Gold as high as it is, we may need to consider creating the physical statues out of bronze.  Or, making them only 2 inches high.

All the ingredients within Sharath’s design have been measured out carefully, thought through to perfection and in the end came together in a fantastic design that is worthy of recognition by the ambigram community.  We are as proud to have Sharath’s image as an icon for the Ambigrammy Award as any ambigram artist should be in receiving it as recognition of excellence in the ambigram field.

Congratulations Sharath!

A quick note about the Ambigrammy winners
We are still waiting for some final feedback from the judges on the actual Ambigrammy award finalists. We should be posting the article within the next week or so. The judges are well known, have a rather high standing within the design community and are incredibly busy. The staff at Ambigram.com are very thankful to them for taking the time to judge the Ambigrammy Challenge and to provide us with their insight and feedback.

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!

Ambigrammy Ambigram Challenge Submissions

Below you will find all the submissions sent to us for the Ambigrammy Ambigram Challenge. It is quite a wide range of work, from simple typographic treatments to very intricate illustrations. The first question that will undoubtedly pop into your head is “…how can I possibly pick a favorite?” because the work is, simply put, incredible. Once you get over the initial shock of seeing the quality of the work, the next question may be “…why are all the ambigram numbered without the name of the artist?” The answer to that question is simple.

For this challenge, we would like the community to discuss the ambigrams & not have the discussion centered around the reputation of the artist.

Now, that is easier said than done. Many artists & designers have a very recognizable style, and the same holds true for ambigram artists, especially ones that frequent our challenges and whose work we see often. While that is unavoidable, please don’t be the one to point out that an ambigram is the work a specific artist, be it an artist that you may know or yourself. Discuss the quality of the work, admire the exceptional talent that is prevalent within our ambigram community, and thank the artists (anonymously for now) for their hard work and dedication!

The judging for the actual Ambigrammy Award Nominees will be finished within the next two weeks. Once the winners of our first ever Ambigrammy Award are determined, their winning ambigrams will be posted along with the winning Ambigrammy Ambigram Challenge design. We hope to enjoy one to two weeks of artistic discourse while the judges finish their work.

Oh, and did we mention that we have assembled a guest judging panel for the Ambigrammy Award Nominees? All of the judges are designers, illustrators & writers whose work you’ve probably seen/read at some point in your artistic careers. You will be able to ‘meet’ the judges once the Ambigrammy Award winners are revealed. Until then…keep sketching and stay tuned!