Editor's Corner

Hey, Mom and Dad, I learned a new word today: ambigrams!

Let me tell you a little bit about this interesting word and show you a bunch of examples from Envatotuts+. I could not include all of them because of the size, but I selected some different ones produced through the years, and you can always visit their website.

First, let’s look at the word itself. Ambi (like in ambidextrous) means “both,” and is a Latin prefix. Gram (in words such as telegram, phonogram, and hologram) means “drawing, writing, or record” and is a Greek suffix. Put those together and it’s something like “both drawing,” which will make more sense when you read the definition from Wikipedia:

An ambigram is a visual pun of a special kind: a calligraphic design having two or more (clear) interpretations as written words. One can voluntarily jump back and forth between the rival readings usually by shifting one’s physical point of view (moving the design in some way) but sometimes by simply altering one’s perceptual bias towards a design (clicking an internal mental switch, so to speak). Sometimes the readings will say identical things, sometimes they will say different things.

Here are some titles, descriptions, and examples from Envatotuts+.

Sun Microsystems (1982) logo

Sun Microsystems logo is one of the most brilliant logos in the world. It is a rotationally symmetric chain ambigram, designed by computer science professor Vaughan Pratt.

Ultima 1998

Ultima is a rotational ambigram designed by Scott Kim. Turn this design upside down and you will see that it reads the same both ways.

Chirp

A logo identity designed by Todd Weber for his freelance business.

Labyrinth

A clever and interesting style of ambigram by Krzychu.

Philosophy

A delicate and appealing ambigram from the word Philosophy by John Langdon.

Synergy 1981

Tessellation with two 90° centers of rotation designed by Scott Kim. This design practices synergy in two ways first, the word crosses itself four times at two different types of junctions: S becomes Y and E becomes R. Second, letters are joined in pairs, reducing the number of modules to just three.

The Princess Bride

The movie, "The Princess Bride" featured an attractive ambigram on the cover of its DVD. This ambigram was accompanied by a photo that has some subtle insights into the story’s plot line.

All City

All City ambigram by Katsiedesign.

Teach/Learn

An inversion by Scott Kim, "TEACH" reflects to become LEARN.

Kara Church

Pronouns: she/her/hers

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