40 Cool and Creative Ambigram Designs

Have you ever seen a word and then read it backwards? An example of an anambigram is this. A word or words that may be read in more than one direction and still make sense when turned upside down or backwards are called ambigrams (from Latin: ambiboth +gram= letter).

Former editor of The Enigma, the magazine of The National Puzzlers League, Judith E. Bagai coined the term “ambigram” to describe an ambiguous anagram.

There are many different kinds of ambigrams, including reflecting, 3-dimensional, and rotating ones, but the most common and fundamental is the rotational ambigram, in which a word or words, when rotated both horizontally and vertically, still spell the same phrase as before.

Currently, ambigrams are utilised in graphic design, commercial logos, book covers, tattoo artworks and music CDs. Graphic designers use these typographic works of art because of their symmetry and optical illusions.

When ambigrams were heavily included in Dan Brown’s best-selling book, Angels & Demons, they significantly increased in popularity. Any word can be transformed into an ambigram with enough time and imagination.

Here are 40 incredibly cool and original ambigrams I’ve collected. Without further ado, let’s begin craning our necks to try to see them from an upside-down perspective:)

#1 Illuminati by John Langdon

#2 The Stone Rose by mirving123

#3 Steampunk by Bastian Pinnenberg

#4 Labyrinth by Krzychu

#5 Marley by mirving123

#6 One Blood One Love by Christian Oliver Cruz

#7 Chopin by Daniel Dostal

#8 Azathoth by Bastian Pinnenberg

#9 Love/Hate by nichck

#10 Shark Attack by wowtattoos

#11 Baltimore by mirving123

#12 Right/Wrong by Bastian Pinnenberg

#13 Lawrence by revcruz

#14 Samantha/Marcianne by wowtattoos.

#15 Dirty/Clean by Nikita Prokhorov

#16 Harry Potter by Bastian Pinnenberg

#17 Charlie Chang by SLAMBIGRAMS

#18 Shub-Niggurath by unterart

#19 Phat Beats by SLAMBIGRAMS

#20 Pepsi by mirving123

#21 KRANE by PAC1972

#22 Anj by Christian Oliver Cruz

#23 Child s Play by Imriaylde

#24 Manila by ambigram.com

#25 City of Brotherly Love by John Langdon

#26 San Francisco by ambigram.com

#27 Woodstock by unterart

#28 Cafe by unterart

#29 Nyarlathotep by unterart

#30 1984 by unterart

#31 Sins Created by only-adrian

#32 Ambigram by arpad

#33 Air by scandinavian_illuminati

#34 Reverse engineering by Scott Kim

#35 A love of love by Johan Skylling

#36 Peta by Martin Isaac

#37 Paris by Nikita Prokhorov

#38 Ektopia by Ekoptia

Brands we are familiar with..

#39 Sun Microsystem

#40 Hyundai Motor

Ambigram in domain names

• doxob.com
• ap.xozzox.de
• http://ap.xozzox.de//:dtty
• http://graner.net/nicolas/selcoiu/tau.jauejb//:dtty
• 66.gg

References

• Ambigram generators Flipscript
• Ambigrams, information and tutorials Ambigram.net
• Ambigram magazine Ambigram.com
• John Langdon s ambigrams, logo and art Johnlangdon.net