Ambigram Magazine » ambigrammy

All Greek Ambigram Challenge Submissions

Nikita — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:40:57 +0000

Here are all the submissions for the All Greek Ambigram Challenge! The entries are posted anonymously, but you are welcome to reveal yourself as the artist. However, it is a lot more fun (and generates a lot more discussion!) if the audience tries to guess who the artists are! [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.]

The sponsor stated that it would take them about a week to select the winning entries, so please be patient. In the meantime, there are plenty of entries to discuss!

Please note: If for any reason whatsoever I missed your ambigram, please let me know, and I will add it to the gallery above.

Halloween ACAC Submissions

Nikita — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:36:48 +0000

The timing for this challenge couldn’t have been more perfect. After the most recent Quick Draw, with a certain scary holiday just around the corner, we couldn’t resist a Halloween-themed challenge! For this challenge, we’ve had a lot of first-time submissions as well as some frequent contributors stepping up to the plate. Take a look at the submissions and decide which ones are scary good and which ones are just…scary. [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.]

Old School Challenge Results

Nikita — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 04:10:01 +0000

This challenge has been the most difficult, and successful, that Ambigram.com has ever conducted! This is the one challenge where most of the artists (with the exception of one or two) were pushed far out of their comfort zone. With every submission sent in, we thought that it would not get any better. Yet, with every entry there was something unique: a new medium, a creative letter combination, drawing technique, or simply a very complex word. If selecting a winner was difficult before, for this challenge it was nearly impossible. But, after putting out heads together, we begrudgingly selected the top five ambigrams, as well as some honorable mentions. Take a look! [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.]

Winner – Johan Skylling

Once again, Johan has set the bar high for himself…and reached it! The word he chose for his entry is a challenging one, but the execution is absolutely amazing. This is a great example where the ambigram, context and other elements blend together seamlessly. Regardless of how you turn this ambigram, it is definitely a cut above the rest!

Second place – Harold kit Elvira

As the gears of a clock are precisely machined to function perfectly and in unison, so is this ambigram. The lettering is gorgeous, the background contributes to the concept but does not overpower it. Clockwork precision & beautiful work from Harold. Let’s welcome him to Ambigram.com, as this is his first submission!

Third place – John Langdon

The third entry comes to us from none other than John Langdon. It’s wonderful to see the process & development of an ambigram, which is precisely what we were lucky enough to get from John! Beautifully rendered flowing letterforms, tactfully added flourishes, and impeccable legibility show why John is one of the best!

Fourth place – Carl Mehling

Without a doubt, this is one of the most, if not the most unique mediums we have ever seen! Carl Mehling has submitted ambigrams in the past, and his other mediums included carving an ambigram on a rock. Great submission, unique medium, and we cannot wait to see what his medium of choice will be next time!

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.

Both Elwin and Lei have been regular contributors in the past, and their submissions this time around showcase a very well-rendered and beautiful calligraphic/black-letter style. A great lettering job from both Elwin and Lei!

Nick is a first time contributor, so let’s welcome him to Ambigram.com! His linoleum-block ambigram print is one of the most unique ones in the challenge. Colin has gotten very creative with his past submissions, yet his impromptu chalk ambigram on the sidewalk ranks at the top with some of the most creative mediums we have seen.

Colin gets another honorable mention for his second submission along with Clayton, who has also been a frequent contributor. In both cases, it’s hard to imagine the submissions without their elegantly executed and artistic background. The shading and pencil work is exquisite in both entries.

A big thanks to the participants for another successful Ambigram Challenge!!!

Ambigram Challenge 15 – No Fear

Don’t be afraid…this is our Halloween Challenge!! This timing couldn’t have been more perfect, as it gives everyone about four weeks to submit their entries and will allow us to post the results on Halloween!

Here are the rules & regulations.

Rules

1. For this challenge you are allowed to create any type of ambigram. Rotational, reflective, symbiotogram, etc. As for the actual topic of the ambigram, it can be anything related to Halloween: your favorite scary movie, scary movie character, scary song, etc. If you are not sure, email us with questions to challenge@ambigram.com.

2. For this challenge, your ambigrams will be judged on legibility and readability; in addition, we would like to see the idea of Halloween reflected in other elements that aren’t the ambigram. Keep in mind that while being predictable with colors and Halloween-relevant imagery is easy & safe, you can also use lettering styles and colors that are related to the movie or movie character you are trying to portray.

3. Please submit no more than 2 entries, and make sure that they are properly sized and named 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_Submissionnumber_Challengenumber.jpg. Otherwise, it can be easy to lose track of which design belongs to which artist, especially if we get a lot of submissions. Also, DO NOT embed your images in the body of the email, but send them AS ATTACHMENTS.

Deadline

All artwork will need to be submitted by midnight on Friday, October 28th, 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 Halloween, and the next challenge will be announced at that time.

Old School Submissions

Nikita — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 03:31:41 +0000

As you may remember, the Old School Challenge was very open in terms of guidelines, and the only limitation was no computers. We thought that this stipulation would put the proverbial artistic handcuffs on our participants since most of us love working on the computer. What we didn’t realize is how much the artists would push themselves and expand their own creativity. The entries are absolutely ASTOUNDING! From the complexity of the designs to the medium choices, the entries amazed us on every level. So without further delay, let’s take a look at the submissions. Although the submissions are posted anonymously, you may recognize some of them. If the artist wants to come forward and state they created a certain piece, they are welcome to do so: for everyone else, please don’t point out the artist’s work even if you recognize it. [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.]

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 Ambigrammy Award winners are…

Editor — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:45:03 +0000

Ambigram.com is proud to present to you the results of the first ever Ambigrammy Awards!

A little background

The idea for the Ambigrammy Awards first came about when the staff at Ambigram.com was discussing how to bring recognition to the talented participants within the ambigram community. We have had many Ambigram Challenges, but how would we fuse them together and recognize the crème de la crème of the ambigram community? Then, we had an epiphany.

Every industry had their own award ceremony that recognized & paid tribute to the best of the best. Music? The Grammy. Television? The Emmy. Live Theater? The Tony. The Internet? The Webby Award.

The ambigram community? The Ambigrammy Awards.

This wasn’t going to be an ordinary award ceremony. Considering the international level of talent represented on Ambigram.com and in the Ambigrammy Award Nominees, we thought it would be appropriate to gather an international panel of judges that are recognized and respected in the creative industry. And now, without further adieu, here are your Ambigrammy Award Winners!!

Ambigrammy Award Winners

First Place
John Langdon – Joy To You

Second Place
Daniel Dostal – Cinematographie

Third Place
Johan Skylling – A Lot Of Love

Please note that clicking the images above links to the original entries without the Ambigrammy Award graphic. The winners will be emailed a graphic of the badge which they can place on their design as they deem most appropriate.

Comments from the judges

The judges were very generous in contributing their time and effort in reviewing the Ambigrammy Award nominees. The intricacy of the designs, complexity of the lettering and overall beauty of all the Ambigrammy Award nominees made judging a very challenging task! In addition to the judging, our judges were kind enough to provide some detailed commentary.

Von Glitschka
Joy to You Simply beautiful and beautifully simple.
A Lot of Love The best 3D implementation of an ambigram I’ve ever seen.
Lumiere/Cinematographie An incredibly difficult word executed with brilliance.

Bryn Mooth
Joy to You The beauty is in the simplicity: this design works perfectly on both those levels. I love the organic, naturalistic shapes of the letters that feel a little William Morris-ish. I generally abhor drop shadows on type, but here the shading gives a nice bit of dimension.
Lumiere/Cinematographie This design is impressive because of the complexity of the two words. The stylistic difference in the two words helps maintain legibility, which would have been otherwise lost with the layered type.
A Lot of Love The dimensionality of this design really blew me away. The designer didn’t go overboard with the lettering itself — the words are very readable — but the luminous shading and the movement of the type make this design sing. It looks like ribbon candy.

Stefan G. Bucher
A Lot of Love is like Marian Bantjes doing a lettering headstand at Christmas. It’s well constructed, beautifully executed, and nicely presented. It’s my favorite entry.
As for the other ambigrams, many were well conceived, but suffered from somewhat overwrought presentation. Too much embellishment distracts from the actual ambigram. Better to let the piece stand on its own. Do something, recognize that it is finished, and get out of the way.

Luba Lukova
Joy to You stands out with its beautiful proportions and elegant simplicity. I thought this would be the winner from the first look I took at the entries.
Lumiere/Cinematographie has a charming nostalgic feel of a past age, beautifully rendered with the two intertwined words.
A Lot of Love is rich and seductive with its shiny red ribbon. You almost fell a taste of dark chocolate when looking at it.

Nikita Prokhorov
Joy to You A beautiful design which is perfectly balanced in every aspect.
Lumiere/Cinematographie It is hard to determine which part of this design is more impressive: the overall complexity of the design, the legibility of each word, or how well they work together.
A Lot of Love The 3d effect doesn’t diminish the legibility of the ambigram, nor does it seem like extra eye candy. Instead, it fuses beautifully with the design and makes it complete.

Meet the judges

At last, the moment that all of you have been waiting for. Say hello to our judging panel for the Ambigrammy Awards!

Von Glitschka

Von is principal of Glitschka Studios and has worked in the communication arts industry for over 24 years. His work reflects the symbiotic relationship between design and illustration. This duality of skills within his own creative arsenal, inspired him to coin the phrase and title of “illustrative designer.”

In 2002, he founded Glitschka Studios, a multi-disciplinary creative firm. The studio shines as a hired creative gun for ad agencies, design firms, and in-house corporate art departments working on a diverse range of design projects.

Von also enjoys working with small business owners and start ups to create compelling identity that enables them to compete on the same visual level as multi-national corporations.

Von has written four books and speaks at local AIGA chapters and design conferences nationally on the topic of design, illustration, marketing, creativity, and the creative process.

Bryn Mooth

Bryn is an experienced, energetic and creative writer/editor focused on inspiring people to eat locally, cook simply and enjoy healthy lifestyles. She writes the Midwest-based food blog Writes4Food.com, which shares recipes and kitchen wisdom and explores regional foods and producers.

Bryn comes from a long line of cooking enthusiasts. Her grandmother, Dorothy Mengering, published a cookbook based on recipes from her family, friends and travels (“Home Cooking with Dave’s Mom,” Atria, 1996), and her parents are both accomplished home cooks. Her brother is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute and has taught at cooking schools in Tuscany and Chicago.

Bryn and her husband, Rob, are avid cooks, wine lovers and advocates for the Cincinnati food community. They’re weekly customers at Findlay Market, and they shop community farmer’s markets around the area. In season, they enjoy produce from their small vegetable garden.

Writes4Food.com represents Bryn’s second career: Previously, she spent 20 years writing about design, business and creativity for HOW magazine, a leading publication for the graphic design field. For 13 years, she led the HOW brand, a multimillion-dollar, multi-platform franchise that included an award-winning magazine, well-regarded events, a successful book line and several online outlets. Prior to HOW, Bryn created, launched and managed a lifestyle publication for more than 200,000 American Express incentive cardholders. She has a bachelor’s degree from the Indiana University School of Journalism.

Her expertise includes content development for print and web, writing and editing, social media and online communication. Bryn is an enthusiastic collaborator, described by her colleagues and contacts as “intelligent, energetic, connected, organized and highly communicative.

Stefan G. Bucher

Stefan G. Bucher is the man behind 344design.com, and dailymonster.com. He is the author of the books 100 Days of Monsters, All Access, The Graphic Eye, You Deserve a Medal, and the brand-new 344 Questions – The Creative Person’s Do-It-Yourself Guide to Insight, Survival, and Artistic Fulfilment. He has created designs for Sting, David Hockney, director Tarsem, and The New York Times. D&AD has honored him with a Yellow Pencil, and the Art Directors Club of New York declared him a Young Gun back in 2004. His time-lapse drawings appear on the Emmy-award winning TV show “The Electric Company” on PBS.

Luba Lukova

Regarded as one of the most distinctive image makers working today, Luba Lukova has held solo exhibitions at UNESCO in Paris, DDD Gallery in Osaka, La MaMa in New York and the Art Institute of Boston. She’s been awarded the Grand Prix Savignac at the International Poster Salon in Paris, the Gold Pencil from The One Club in New York, and Honor Laureate at the International Poster Exhibition in Fort Collins, CO. Her work is represented in the collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Library of Congress, and Bibliotheque Nationale de France. She is the author of the critically acclaimed Social Justice poster portfolio containing visual reactions to many of the pressing issues of our time. The portfolio has been exhibited widely in the U.S. and around the world and was recently included in the permanent art collection of the World Bank. Lukova’s new book, Graphic Guts (Clay & Gold), featuring her social commentary art will be published later this year.

Moshik Nadav

Moshik Nadav was born in Israel on the 21 of February 1983, in the northern town of Kiryat Shmona. Since childhood he was exposed to graphic design and Calligraphy by his father, Jacov Nadav – a graphic design and calligraphy artist. When Moshik was 10 years old he got his first Apple Macintosh computer (IISi) with Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Freehand Software. Since than he Kept on learning the software. After he finished his army service in 2005, he decided to take his passion to graphic design and typefaces and become a professional. A few months later he signed in to study visual communication in the Avni institue in Tel Aviv. At the same time He started working in a prominent advertising firm in Israel as a graphic artist. After two years at the Avni institute Moshik felt he needs to go on and got accepted to Visual Communication studies at Bezalel – Academy of art and design in Jerusalem. At that time Moshik knew that he was going to improve his Typography skills and become a Typographer. On June 2011 he graduated his studies in Bezalel at the Typography department. He specialize’s in Typeface design and Graphic design based on Typography. Since 2005 Moshik is working as a freelancer Graphic Designer. Moshik see’s typography as a distilled form of design.

Nikita Prokhorov

You know Nikita Prokhorov as the content editor at Ambigram.com, but there is a lot more that you may not know. After receiving his Master of Fine Arts from the Savannah College of Art & Design, he began to impart his design philosophy upon numerous students at a university in Connecticut, at the same time continuing his career as a freelance graphic designer. His work has been featured in HOW Magazine, several editions of the Logolounge logo series, Logolounge Master Series, Logolicious, and 1000 Fonts. His writing has been published by HOW Magazine and ICOGRADA, The International Council of Graphic Design Association. In 2008, along with two fellow designers, he started CINQ Partners, a design firm dedicated to the foundations and principles of great design with a strong focus on small to mid-size companies. Currently, he is living & freelancing in New York City.

When he is not freelancing or teaching, Nikita creates numerous tessellations & ambigrams, as well as continuing to explore his passion for good, clean & unique typography. His sketchbook and pencils are always by his side.

Conclusion…and future happenings!

This concludes the first ever Ambigrammy Awards! An enormous thank you to the participants, the winners, and especially the judges!!!

Coming soon to Ambigram.com…
- This week, we will be posting a new Ambigram Challenge. Don’t miss it, as this will be truly be an amazing challenge! In addition, this marks the start of the next round of nominees for the Ambigrammy Awards 2012. After reading this article, you now know what it takes…
- Keep an eye on the Interviews, Real World Ambigrams & More! section. We have a new Real World Ambigram article that will be posted soon, along with an incredible designer & artist in the next few weeks.
- Next week, we will resume the weekly Quick Draw challenges. If you are interested in being a participant, email me at nikita@ambigram.com.

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.

The Ambigrammy Challenge winner is…

Nikita — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 05:51:45 +0000

After considerable analysis, discussion and downright argumentation, Ambigram.com is proud to announce that we have finally selected the Ambigrammy Award Challenge winner.

(click for larger image)

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.

Ambigrammy Ambigram Challenge, Part Two

Nikita — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:28:38 +0000

Fellow ambigram designers and ambigram community,

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

Nikita — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 07:25:52 +0000

Just when you thought that the submissions for the Ambigram Challenges couldn’t get any better, they did! It seems that the consistently high standard and quality of work set by our challenges every month made the artists raise the bar even higher for themselves, and was the bar ever raised for this round! [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.]

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!

Ambigrammy Award Nominees

Nikita — Sun, 29 May 2011 13:31:04 +0000

We have some good news and some great news for ambigram lovers everywhere.

The good news is that the First Annual Ambigrammy Awards are just around the corner.

The great news is that we have talked to several respected artists, designers and ambigrammists into coming on board to judge the Ambigrammy Awards! These guest judges are well known in their respective fields and we are proud to have them on our judging panel. In the mean time, let us recap the last 12 Ambigram Challenges and see just what designs make up this year’s Ambigrammy Award Nominees!

Ambigrammy Award Nominees

In the gallery below, you will find the 13 eligible entries for the first ever Ambigrammy. At Ambigram.com, we have always been passionate and appreciative of great discussions that have been generated by the past challenges. We would love to continue this trend here and discuss the winners from each of their respective Ambigram Challenge.

Your comments are just for the sake of discussion, sharing and learning. The judging panel will not be using the comments from this post in any way, so you are not “voting” for a design.

It might help to know that the judges will be evaluating the designs based on 5 dimensions, so you may want to discuss the award nominees based on the following criteria:

Legibility – A common issue with ambigrams is while they’re aesthetically beautiful, they are very hard to understand. Is the ambigram legible and easy to understand?

Readability - An ambigram can be legible visually, but is it easy to weave the letterforms into the word & read the actual word?

Consistency of letterforms - How consistent are the letterforms? Consistency in letteform design contributes to legiblity, readability and good typographic flow.

Aesthetics – An ambigram can be legible, readable, have a consistent letterform design, and still be very unpleasing to the eye. Simply put, is the ambigram beautiful?

Presentation - Certain ambigram include additional visual elements to convey the concept of the ambigram. Are those additional elements well designed, and do they enhance the ambigram while contributing to the above criteria, or do those elements get in the way?

Let’s keep the discussion civil, on-point, and fun! We now declare the Ambigrammy discussion…open!!!

The Ambigrammy Award Challenge

Nikita — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 03:41:22 +0000

We can barely contain our excitement since so much has happened in the last year or so at Ambigram.com. The best and most rewarding part since late 2009 has been helping to build the ambigram community and bringing together ambigrammists from all over the world. We’ve made some great connections, formed some new friendships and met some amazingly talented artists & designers.

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?

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.

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.