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.

1. Miracle Whip? While the M/W is an obvious ambigram, I never thought I would see this on a container of mayonnaise from Kraft! My girlfriend picked this out of a crowded store shelf in a blink of an eye, and I cannot believe I didn’t see it first!

2. The Sun microsystems logo has been around for 28 years before it was acquired by Oracle in 2010. While the company itself doesn’t technically exist anymore, the ambigram logo survives!

3. Say what you while about Hyundai quality, but at least part of their logo is an ambigram!

4. Xpedx is a simple yet effective ambigram, and in my mind embodies what a corporate ambigram should be: readable, legible, and aesthetically suited for the business.

If any of our readers see ambigrams in the real world, take a photo and send me an email, telling me where you saw the ambigram & what you think of it. We might just feature it in the next “Real World Ambigrams.”

Blazing poster. Used with permission of the artist.

Ambigram.com: Sebastian, thank you for speaking with us. First, let’s get the expected question out of the way. How long have you known about ambigrams, and when did you first become interested in them?

Sebastian Lester: I first became aware of ambigrams in the early 90′s when I was in the first year of my graphic design degree. For as long as I can remember I’ve been interested in optical illusions and clever visual ideas with letterforms though. In 1992 I designed a logo for a proposed art college magazine called ‘Edge’. It wasn’t an ambigram but all the letters were the same shape rotated and flipped to create the word. In 1992 I also designed a somewhat lunatic font called ‘recycle’ made out of five characters that you rotated, scaled and flipped to create an entire lower case alphabet. That was the theory anyway. Making ambigrams was a natural progression from these kind of experiments.

Edge magazine logo. Used with permission of the artist.

Recycle typeface. Used with permission of the artist.

Ambigram.com: Is ‘Blazing’ your first ambigram design? If it’s not your first, what was your first ambigram?

SL: The first decent ambigram I drew was ‘Virtual Reality’ in 1993 whilst at art college. I liked the fact that the ambigram approach worked well conceptually with the idea of virtual reality and that the letterforms have a suitably futuristic style to them.

Virtual Reality ambigram. Used with permission of the artist.

Ambigram.com: When designing your ‘Blazing’ limited edition art print, what was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome? Was it creating ambigrams out of all the words, maintaining a consistent style, or another difficulty you’d like to mention?

Blazing poster sketches. Used with permission of the artist.

SL: The aim was always to create something that was as attractive as any other limited edition print I’d created before, but also happened to be a successful ambigram. So working with those constraints was difficult and I tried various approaches before settling on this treatment. I’ve written a short article here about the print for anyone who is interested.

Blazing poster close-ups. Used with permission of the artist.

Ambigram.com: Do you think your background as a type designer and illustrator helped when designing the ‘Blazing’ poster?

SL: Definitely. I’m well versed in creating consistency in shapes and working experimentally in a variety of lettering styles. A lot of the qualities you need as a type designer are useful for creating ambigrams. In both disciplines you have to be creative, think laterally, have a forensic approach to detail, and stay focused and persistent for the best results.

Ambigram.com: What do you love the most about typography and letterforms?

SL: I don’t really know. Letterforms just seem to make more sense to me than anything else I know. I find them endlessly stimulating and fascinating. The Latin alphabet is one of our most beautiful and profound creations. I feel incredibly lucky I’ve found something I love as much as I do that I can actually make a living from. And what’s not to love about ambigrams? The best ambigrams aren’t just clever. They have a magical, almost transcendent, quality about them.

Ambigram.com: If someone wants to incorporate custom hand-lettered typography into their work, what is a good starting point?

SL: Just work loosely and freely with your lines to start with. Read about type and lettering history. Be inspired by other artists and designers, but find your own voice. Just have fun. If you persist, and you’re having fun in the process, it will become apparent in your work.

Ambigram.com: What is your personal creative process, and where do you draw your inspiration from?

SL: I always try and research a subject or particular lettering style as much as possible before I start a project. I always start with a pencil and paper, rather than a computer, as it’s the easiest way to get a lot of ideas down fast. I brainstorm words and ideas and shapes, not just letterforms. It’s important to be totally unselfconscious about making marks on paper. I start with loose scribbles. I might take elements I like from six different scribbles and make a more resolved drawing. Then I’ll scan it in and start refining it on a computer.

I draw my inspiration from everywhere. I find beauty, in all its manifestations, inspiring. I have an appreciation of the history of type, calligraphy and lettering that continues to grow. I collect old ephemera. Sometimes totally random things can fuel an idea. Sunshine, trees, medieval armour, a piece of product design or music. I’m always thinking about and absorbing the letterforms I see around me.

Ambigram.com: Who is your favorite ambigram designer?

SL: There are some incredible ambigram artists out there. I guess, to my mind, the best ambigrams combine ingenious legibility problem solving with great aesthetic beauty and I think John Langdon consistently achieves the best balance of those two components.

Ambigram.com: What is your favorite typeface? Why?

SL: Typefaces are tools so it depends what the typeface is to be used for. I have a favorite typeface for on screen legibility. I have a favorite typeface for setting books about the Renaissance in. I have a favorite typeface for setting magazines about monster trucks in. So unfortunately I’ve given the question far too much thought over the last fifteen years to have a simple answer.

Ambigram.com: What is your favorite ambigram?

SL: Sorry to choose one of my own pieces but I have to say ‘Blazing’. I just put so much into it and I’m so happy with it. It’s been quite an undertaking for me. It really pushed me creatively, it looks great in the flesh having been screen printed by hand to the highest standards, and it’s being sold by a gallery that sells the work of some very well known and successful artists. I feel very lucky to have been able to make it work.

Ambigram.com: Sebastian, the Blazing poster is beautiful, so you have the full right to toot your horn! Thank you for the insight into your daily work, life and inspiration.

——————————–

More of Sebastian Lester’s work can be found here: http://www.seblester.co.uk/

Scott Kim

We are pleased this month to be talking to Scott Kim, one of the pioneers in the ambigram space. Scott talked to us from his home in Santa Monica, California.

Ambigram.com: “Thanks for talking with us today, Scott.”

Scott Kim: “It’s my pleasure.”

Ambigram.com: “Scott, I know we have a lot to cover, so I’m going to jump right into it.

You and John Langdon are widely regarded as the two inventors of the modern day ‘ambigram’, although you originally called the designs ‘inversions’.  What was your first design, and what inspired you to create it?”

Scott Kim: “I created my first ambigram design in 1975 for a graphic design course at Stanford.  The assignment was not to do an ambigram, but to create a figure/ground work of art where we were told to pay attention to the background as much as the foreground.  Most of the other students focused on shapes, but I wanted to focus on words.”

Ambigram.com: “And no one else in the class was working with words?”

Scott Kim: “Right. I wanted to create a design of the words ‘figure’ and ‘ground’, but that attempt failed.  So, I needed a different strategy, and decided to try the words ‘Figure’ and ‘Figure’, which ended up being my first ambigram.”

Ambigram.com: “Had you seen any ambigrams before creating that one?”

Scott Kim: “I knew about palindromes, like RACECAR, and I knew about naturally symmetrical words like NOON, but it had never occurred to me to push that idea further. When I created the ‘Figure / Figure’ design I realized there was a vast world here waiting to be explored. It was like in the Wizard of Oz movie, when the door opens and everything is suddenly in color.’

After that, like everyone else when they first discover ambigrams, I started to do ambigrams of my friends’ names. But I wasn’t satisfied with the quality of my lettering. So I studied calligraphy, typeface design, and anything else I could find related to letterforms. Ambigrams pushed me to study typography. This is a different path than the one that John Langdon took, who studied typography and design first, and then later became interested in ambigrams.

Shortly after those first few ambigrams, I met Douglas Hofstader, author of Gödel, Escher, Bach. He said that he and Peter Jones had dabbled in similar things, but had never tried to turn one letter into multiple letters, which really limits what you can do.”

Ambigram.com: “The term ‘ambigram’ had not been coined at the time. What did you and Douglas call these designs?”

Scott Kim: “Every ambigram creator had a different name for their art. I started using the term ‘Inversions’ since it worked well with my name, but I didn’t intend for that to be an industry-wide term.”

The name "Scott Kim" becomes the word "Inversions" in this Kim original design

Ambigram.com: “Let’s go ahead and talk a little bit about your book ‘Inversions’. You wrote that book in 1981, long before there were web sites devoted to ambigrams.  The book focused on your collection of ambigram designs up to that point. What made you decide to write a book about this topic?”

Scott Kim: A lot of encouragement from friends and colleagues, and a desire to create a book. The publisher, Byte Books, actually approached me about the project because they had seen my work.

I was in grad school at Stanford at the time and essentially took a year off from my studies to write that book. I had worked closely with Hofstadter when he was writing his book, so I knew a lot about the process.”

Ambigram.com: “How did the book do?”

Scott Kim: “Very well, thanks to help from some key magazine articles.

My ambigrams first appeared in print in Scot Morris’s Games column in OMNI magazine in 1979. Later, Martin Gardner wrote about my work in his ‘Mathematical Games’ column in Scientific American.

When the OMNI magazine column started appearing regularly, John Langdon heard about my work for the first time. Since he was an independent pioneer in this space, and we were previously not aware of each other, he was surprised that someone else was essentially doing the same thing. We later met and we continue to keep in touch.

Ambigram.com: “Let’s talk a little more about that column in OMNI magazine. What was the response to that column?”

Scott Kim: “At the end of the article, Scot Morris asked readers to send in their own ambigrams. He was surprised when over 3,000 entries poured in from all around the world. The article really created quite a stir. There were so many good entries, Scot decided to run the designs across several issues. Then they ran the whole contest again in 1987.”

Ambigram.com: “It seems that people that are interested in ambigrams tend to share other interests as well. Why do you think this is, and what do you think those interests are?”

Scott Kim: “I’ve definitely noticed that, too. People interested in ambigrams are often also interested in music, mathematics and puzzles. For instance, before I was making ambigrams I was composing musical canons.”

Ambigram.com: “I must admit, I’ve never composed a canon.”

Scott Kim: “A canon is a song like ‘Frere Jacques’, where several voices sing the same melody starting at different times, and all the voices fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to create harmony. Canons can be as simple as children’s songs, or they can be as complex as Bach fugues.

As with ambigrams, there are many different symmetries you can use. Voices can be transposed to start on different pitches, a voice can be turned upside down so intervals go up instead of down and vice versa. Bach even wrote ‘crab canons’ where one voice plays the melody backwards, like the way a crab seems to walk backwards, which led me to create a mirror symmetrical ambigram of J.S. Bach.

JS Bach Ambigram (by Scott Kim)

What’s the exact visual analogue of a musical canon? Instead of delaying “Frere Jacques” a few beats to create a harmonious piece of music, you would shift a visual design in space to create a legible piece of lettering.

In fact, I created an ambigram that I felt would be the visual equivalent of a musical canon. The subject is digital artist “John Maeda”, and I call it a slide ambigram, as a portion of the design shifts to reveal the whole picture.”

Ambigram.com: “You mentioned that people interested in ambigrams are often interested in mathematics, and you have a strong mathematical and computer background, including a PhD in Computers and Graphic Design from Stanford.  Has your formal education helped you with ambigram creation?”

Scott Kim: “Studying mathematics made me familiar with a wide range of geometric symmetries that I can use in my ambigrams. I use my computer science background when I draw ambigrams in Illustrator or program interactive ambigrams in Flash. Most importantly I use the problem solving skills I learned in math and computer science when I figure out how to create an ambigram on a particular word or name.

Of course there’s more to ambigrams than just math. That’s why I like creating them…they’re a whole brain activity that calls on both math and art skills.”

Ambigram.com: “So, let’s bring things back to the present day. How did your ambigram creations from the late 70s and 80s lead you to the mind exercises and puzzles that you are involved with now?”

Scott Kim: “In all my work I want to create experiences that help people stretch their minds, and see things in a different way than what they are used to. Art can do that, and so can games.

For instance, my ambigram of the word MIRROR appears in many geometry textbooks, along with artist M. C. Escher’s works, as a way of getting students interested in learning more about symmetry. Notice that the word ‘Mirror’ appears identical when reflected in a mirror.

Mirror Reflection Ambigram (by Scott Kim)

But I didn’t just want people to look at ambigrams, I wanted them to experience the creative joy I felt creating ambigrams, writing canons and doing mathematics. That led me to become a game designer, and to create my first big game – Heaven and Earth.”

Ambigram.com: “Is that a board game?”

Scott Kim: “It’s a computer game. I designed about 600 puzzles for Heaven & Earth. The puzzles are all based on optical illusions. When you play the puzzles your brain has to keep shifting how it perceives things. It’s like mental yoga. The game is long out of print, but you can play one of the Heaven & Earth puzzles, called Figure/Ground at clockworkgoldfish.com.”

Figure Ground Screen Shot

Ambigram.com: “What sorts of games are you making now?

More and more people are realizing that they need to exercise their brains to keep themselves fit, just as they exercise their bodies.

So I’ve started a company named Shufflebrain that makes computer games that are both fun and good for you, along the lines of such hit brain games as Sudoku and Nintendo’s Brain Age. Shufflebrain’s first game Photograb is now available on Facebook. It’s a quick seek-and-find style game in which you hunt for details in photos that you and your friends contribute.

"Photo Grab" Screen Shot

I am also writing a book called Brain Candy with neuroscientist and author Richard Restak. It’s all about the different areas of your brain, along with puzzles to exercise each area.”

Ambigram.com: “It sounds like those anatomy charts in the gym that show you what muscles will be worked out by each exercise.”

Scott Kim: “Exactly. That was precisely the idea.”

Ambigram.com: “Wow, Scott. That was a great conversataion, and a fascinating peak into your mind. Where can readers go after they read this article to find out more about you and your work?”

Scott Kim: “They can check out even more ambigrams on my personal web site – scottkim.com/inversions

They can also find the games on my professional site: shufflebrain.com.”

Ambigram.com: “Thanks again, Scott.”

Scott Kim: “My pleasure.”

“It’s called an ambigram, and it’s the hottest trend in typography since Helvetica.”

Scott Kim's "Reverse Engineering" ambigram

In the article, Scott Kim stated:

“We’re wired to look for symmetry,” he explains. “Ambigrams have an almost mystical quality to them.”

We tip our hat to Wired magazine for getting on board with ambigrams… although with all respect to the Editor, we think that ambigrams are an even more significant development in typography than Helvetica.

To make our list of the Most Famous Ambigrams, an ambigram had to 1) be part of a mainstream product, 2) be exposed to a large number of people and 3) be a rotationally symmetric ambigram.

Here is the list of the “Top 10 Most Famous Ambigrams” from Ambigram.com:

• 

  Paul McCartney - Chaos and Creation in the Backyard

  Paul McCartney’s album “Chaos and Creation in the Backyard” featured an ambigram of the words “Paul McCartney” on the album cover.  Although the album was not a huge commercial success, the album was the biggest to feature an ambigram on the cover.
  

• 

  Princess Bride 20th Anniversary Edition

  The 20th Anniversary Edition of the movie “the Princess Bride” featured an ambigram on the cover of the DVD and Blu-Ray releases created by Menagerie Creative.  The Princess Bride ambigram was accompanied by a photo that appears at first as a reflection, but upon closer inspection has some subtle insights into the story’s plotline.

  As a side note: there is a second ambigram inside the DVD booklet of the words “True / Love”, but that particular design isn’t famous enough to make our “Top 10″ list.
  

• 

  Glam Rock Band "Angel"

  Glam rock band “Angel”, whose members always dressed in white, adopted a Robert Petrick ambigram logo of the band’s name in 1976 and continued to use it until 1992.
  

• 

  "New Man" Clothing Company's ambigram logo

  French clothing company “New Man” began using thisRaymond Loewy designed ambigram in 1969…and they are still using it today.
  

• 

  NASA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) logo

  Scott Kim created the logo for NASA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), and since there is no “up” in space, the satellite’s logo is a rotational ambigram.
  

• 

  Angels and Demons Illuminati ambigram

  The first ambigram encountered in Dan Brown’s book “Angels and Demons” is the Illuminati ambigram, which launches the lead character Robert Langdon (played by Tom Hanks in the movie adaptation) on his quest.  The ambigram was drawn by artist John Langdon, who lends his surname to the lead character in the story.
  

• 

  "Angels and Demons" Earth Ambigram

  Since the “Angels and Demons” book was such a big success (reportedly the second most popular book in America among people 32-43 years old), the rest of this Top 10 list is monopolized by the designs in the book.  Here is the Earth ambigram, drawn by John Langdon.
  

• 

  "Angels and Demons" Air Ambigram

  The “Air” custom ambigram from “Angels and Demons”, by John Langdon.
  

• 

  "Angels and Demons" Fire Ambigram

  The “Fire” ambigram from “Angels and Demons”, which is at the center of one of the most gruesome parts of the story.
  

• 

  "Angels and Demons" Water Ambigram

  Finally, to round out the Top 10, here is the Angels and Demons ambigram of “Water”, also drawn by John Langdon.
  

There you have it. The “Top 10 Most Famous Ambigrams” from Ambigram.com, with fully HALF of the list from author Dan Brown and artist John Langdon!

In fact, if we were to extend the list further to the “Top 12 Most Famous Ambigrams“, the “Illuminati Diamond” final ambigram in “Angels and Demons” and the books ambigram title (in certain regions) would populate the remaining spots!

So, to say that “Angels and Demons” has had an impact on the ambigram space would be a huge understatement.

One of the earliest published ambigrams (June, 1908)

Here are the known milestones in ambigram creation history:

• 1893 First known ambigram published by Peter Newell (THE END / PUZZLE)
• 1902 Second known ambigram published by Peter Newell (THE END / PUZZLE2)
• 1908 The Strand publishes 10 custom ambigrams by four different artists
• 1964 Peter Jones and Douglas Hofstadter start creating ambigrams
• 1965 Dmitri Borgmann reprints ambigrams from The Strand, calling them “vertical palindromes”
• 1969 Raymond Loewy creates NEW MAN logo
• 1972 Tom Carnase creates 72
• 1974 John Langdon creates STARSHIP ambigram logo
• 1974 Robert Petrick creates Canned Heat and Non Sense logos (receiving a Philadelphia Art Directors’ award in 1975)
• 1975-1976 U&lc magazine publishes ambigrams by Petrick and Langdon, starting with SANTA/ELVES by Petrick in June, 1975 issue
• 1975 DMC, the logo for the De Lorean Motor Company, first used
• 1975 Robert Petrick creates the ANGEL ambigram logo
• 1976 Angel (the band) starts using Angel ambigram (through 1992)
• 1976 Jefferson Starship uses Starship ambigram
• 1979 OMNI publishes ambigrams by Scott Kim in Scot Morris’s “Games” column
• 1979 Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter, published, with 3-D ambigrams on the cover
• 1980 OMNI publishes ambigrams by Langdon and Petrick
• 1981 Scientific American publishes ambigrams by Scott Kim in Martin Gardner’s Mathematical Games column
• 1981 “Inversions: A Catalog of Calligraphic Cartwheels” by Kim is published
• 1984 Douglas Hofstadter coins the term “ambigram”
• 1987 The book “Ambigrammi” is published (in Italian) by Hofstadter
• 1992 Wordplay: Ambigrams and Reflections on the Art of Ambigrams by Langdon is published
• 2000 Angels & Demons by Dan Brown is published
• 2008 Development of the Glyphusion ambigram generator is complete, enabling anyone to create ambigrams using a web browser.
• 2009 The movie adaptation of “Angels & Demons” is released, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks

(milestones in ambigram history originally assembled by Roy Leban)