Harry / Aruna

This symbiotogram was commissioned by Allan as a wedding gift for Harry and Aruna. It has been done in a stylish calligraphic script with much flowing around. It is quite readable and looks terrific.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Harry, Aruna

Danielle/Jakeil

This symbiotogram was commissioned by Danielle for herself and her hubby Jakeil :)
This is the first time i'm using this font. I don't know what to name it, but it looks terrific!!! Readability is also pretty good (except for 'i' in Jakeil) Both Danielle and Jakeil plan to get this tattooed. This ambigram had some 10 hours invested in it.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Danielle, Jakeil

Live Forever

This ambigram was commissioned by Chris Blake and is another beautiful attempt using the highly cursive Edwardian Script. It looks so simple yet so elegant

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, Live Forever

Elizabeth

This ambigram was commissioned by Mike Haines. This has been done in a beautiful Edwardian Script and looks almost similar to the script


Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Elizabeth

Mia

This ambigram is dedicated to the hottest MTV VJ ever :-) Mia....

I'd sent her this, and she liked it a lot. She even plans to include it in her show Saturday Shuffle, which airs every saturday 11am-4pm. I'll be glued to MTV on sat, what abt you? ;-)

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, MTV, name, Mia

Marzena

This ambigram was commissioned by Michelangelo for his true love Marzena. It was done in an ever popular stylized font. The a/e and r/z combinations were particularly hard to pull off. The design looks quite stylish without compromising on readability.
In the end, both me and Michelangelo are very happy with the result. And we are sure Marzena will love it too. :)

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Marzena

Anu

This one was made for a friend and ex classmate Anu. Simple, natural inversion brought out in pink neons :)

Tags - ambigrams, art, name, Anu

Priti

This ambigram was created for a friend Priti. It uses a flowing Edwardian script and looks really stylish without compromising much on legibility. Its one of my first attempts with this font and the results are stunning. :)

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Priti

Vihaan

This ambigram was commissioned by Vinod in the name of his son Vihaan. He'll be getting this artwork tattooed. He wanted a death metal kinda style with a distinct attitude to it.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Vihaan

Aquarius

This ambigram was commissioned by Jordy for a tattoo.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, aquarius

Manisha/Abhinav

This symbiotogram was made for love birds Manisha and Abhinav, both of whom are my good friends. The design uses a modern font, and is quite pretty.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Manisha, Abhinav

Charlie

This ambigram was commissioned by Charlie Lawrence. Its a stylish flowing design. I love the a/r combination.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Charlie

Ambigram reviewed by John Langdon

As mentioned earlier, i'd submitted my entry for NAC (Nagfa's Ambigram Challenge). Top 10 entries in this challenge were reviewed by John Langdon. And my entry was one of them.

Here's a very comprehensive review of my ambigram 'Singularity' by John Langdon -

"This version of SINGULARITY is probably the most successful in terms of developing a successful, very appealing, and credible style — it could easily be the basis for a new font design. But the letters that make up ambigrams don’t need that kind of consistency, as they will only appear in one given relationship with other letters. The consistency of this style is, ironically, the weakness of this ambigram. The consistently flat-sided letter style, eliminates some of the differences among letters that help them be read. The consistent weight of the bold vertical strokes adds to that effect, and the very consistent letter-spacing (normally an important benefit) creates too regular a pattern. One significant decision that also helps diminish readability is the burying of the dot of the I within the x-height of the letters. The comparatively wide proportion and the italic angle create a highly streamlined experience, causing the eye to shoot through the word without enough letter recognition. The dot on the i would be a worthwhile speed bump to aid readability. Again, the letter-to-letter translation is quite good here. The RI connection works surprisingly well, as the heavy weight minimizes the noticeability of that unnecessary and potentially disruptive stroke. The structures of the S/Y and G/A are particularly appealing."

You can see the other entries in top 10 and their reviews by John Langdon here.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, Nagfa Ambigram Challenge, Singularity, John Langdon

One

Today marks my one year of ambigramming. Its been one wild ride since i started doodling on ambigrams, after having read 'Angels and Demons' and been bewildered by 'earth', 'air', 'fire' and 'water' ambigrams by Sir John Langdon.

Now when i look back i see how much i've evolved as an artist in this one year. You can see the gradual increment in the quality of the designs in the past year. I look forward to more years of this challenging hobby. Thanks to everyone who commissioned their artworks from me, those who commented on my site and not the least my close friend Vinay who gave his feedback on almost all of my designs...

Cheers!

Singularity

This ambigram was created as an entry for the Nagfa's Ambigram Challenge for Feb 2007. This challenge was special, since the word, Singularity, was given by the most notable ambigrammer of our times - Sir John Langdon.

The design is quite different from my usual designs.
Aesthetic. Sexy. Graphic. Racy. Bold. Beautiful. Magic. A Work of Art!

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, Nagfa Ambigram Challenge, Singularity, John Langdon

Evanescence

This ambigram is dedicated to one of my favorite alternative rock bands - Evanescence. The design uses a funky font incorporating minimalism to the maximum.

Evanescence's new album - 'The Open Door' is out now. I like the tracks 'weight of the world', 'lithium', 'call me when you are sober' in it.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, music, band, Evanescence

Bethany & Finn

This ambigram was commissioned by Mark Richardson who wanted to get a blackletter ambigram tattoo on his childrens' names - Bethany and Finn. He also wanted to incorporate the '13' in the same ambigram, since it was important to him.

I've used the Wilhelm Klingspor Gotisch font for this (another eg. of this font is Aristottle). The 'A'/'&' inversion also incorporates '13' in it. The design looks very stylish, contemporary and very suitable for a tattoo.

The design took days of thought and 4 hours of implementation. This is typical of each customized artwork which requires a lot of time and effort to bring out the beauty in it.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Bethany, Finn

Kenny

This ambigram was commissioned by Caroline, who wanted to get an ornamental (but not too flowy) tattoo named "Kenny" for herself. I've used the ever popular stylized font to bring out beauty. I love the K/Y inversion, which has been made easier by the choice of this font.


Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Kenny

Dfstars

This ambigram was commissioned by David from Italy and reads "Dfstars" (i wonder what significance this word has!). He wanted an ornamental blackletter font for his tattoo. The only difficult inversion was evidently D/S. The design looks cool. more stylish than anything and readable too.


Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Dfstars

Stoney

This ambigram was commissioned by Tony Chavez whose nickname is Stoney. He wanted to get an ambigram tattoo. I have made following two designs for him. The first one incorporates the hindlewood blackletter font and looks very stylish though quite unreadable at first sight.
The second one uses a more calligraphic with flowing lines. highly readable font. He's very happy with the second design and will be using it for his purpose.


The main effort in this ambigram was taken by S/Y inversion. While it decreases the readability in the first design, i've made it more visually appealing in the second design.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Stoney

Matthew

This ambigram was commissioned by Mike Pearce, wanted to get a tattoo with a tribal font to mark the birth of his son Matthew. This is my first design with a tribal font and looks cool and stylish as hell..

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Matthew

New Look

The previous title banner was becoming boring and bit clustered. So i changed it with this new refreshing look which is spacious and adds to the neatness (albeit with its rugged fonts ;) ).

Caroline

Some ambigrams take countless hours before you come up with a perfect blend of striking beauty and legibility. This ambigram, commissioned by Barry for his fiancee Caroline, gave a tough challenge to me especially with c/e inversion...But in the end i've managed to override the challenge by creating a calligraphic script design with flowing lines which was just the way Barry had demanded. I'm sure you all will love it too.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Caroline

Wayne

This ambigram tattoo was commissioned by Kim in memory of her late husband Wayne. She wanted a feminine and elegant design.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Wayne

Nupur

This ambigram was commissioned by Aditya. It incorporates a stylized font.


Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Nupur

La Torre

This ambigram was commissioned by Wendy La Torre for her son Todd. They wanted the same look and feel as the "Lopez" ambigram which incorporated flowing fonts...these kind of designs are really appealing.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, LaTorre

Aristottle

This ambigram was commissioned by Greg whose nickname is Aristottle. He wanted to use it for a tattoo and hence wanted a blackletter font. I chose the Wilhelm Klingspor Gotisch font for him...this is a really beautiful blackletter font. This is my first attempt with this font and as you can see it looks really good and becomes another good contender for a tattoo font. Greg likes the design very much and i guess so shall you.


Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Aristottle

Lopez

This ambigram was commissioned by Juan Lopez. This design makes use of a beautiful flourishing calligraphic font lending it a high visual appeal. The design scores on all fronts of symmetry, readability and beauty.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Lopez

Harvey

This ambigram was commissioned by Harvey from UK who wanted to get a tattoo in his name. He wanted to use the Gothique Blackletter design (similar to one used in Tamiya). I've made two designs with minor differences. The second one is more readable using lowercase a & e. Such fonts are really good for tattoos.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Harvey

Erhan/Elif

This symbiotogram was commissioned by Erhan. I've tried various combinations and this was the best i could come up with. The entire combination is really difficult....so i'd to make 'elif' in double strokes to match up to a longer 'erhan'.

Erhan

Elif

Tags - ambigrams,art,calligraphy,tattoos,name,Erhan,Elif

Kunal/Pritha for a Wedding Invitation

This ambigram was created for Kunal who weds Pritha in Dec,06. He'll be getting it printed on the wedding card....a beautiful and elegant piece of art....one of my best efforts till date.

Here is the cover of the wedding invitation card in its final form...


Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, wedding, Kunal

Minty

This ambigram was created for a friend Raveena whoz pet name is Minty. Simple and elegant, created in minty green. Couldn't neglect the inherent symmetry in it.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, minty

I'm in the National Newspaper!

When i started making ambigrams as a hobby six months ago, never did i realise, how far will i be able to go. Its only now i see that its been a wonderful journey. But its only the beginning...miles to go before i sleep..hundreds of ambigrams to be made...lots of names be converted into a beautiful piece of symmetry and illusion...and next year i plan on writing a book on ambigrams including around 150-200 ambigram creations of mine with special emphasis on use of fonts, styles and serifs.

And this sunday, i appeared in a newspaper article on ambigrams in Hindustan Times (Mumbai Edition) on page 11. The article spans top half page and includes some of my ambigrams, my quotes and my pic. You can have a look at the article here and here.

Thanks to Rachel Lopez for interviewing me and including me in the article. It has been a real pleasure.
Cheers!

Tags - ambigrams, art, newspaper, tattoos, Hindustan Times

Charlie - Aileen

This ambigram was commissioned by Charlie who wanted to dedicate it to his fiancee Aileen. They wanted a stylized (and readable) font and are extremely happy with the result.

Charlie

Aileen

Tags - ambigrams,art,calligraphy,tattoos,name,Charlie,Aileen

Angel/Devil

This is my first attempt at an oscillation ambigram. It reads Angel and Devil at the same time. (No inversion or reflection here). The inspirations for the word combination come from John Langdon's "Angels and Demons" and "Angels and Devils" by M.C. Escher. Everything in our life is relative..what may be good for one may turn out to be bad for someone else...it all depends upon your persepective (glass can be half full or half empty!). This design tries to bring out such irony.

Tags - ambigrams, art, oscillation, calligraphy, tattoos, Angel, Devil,Oscillation Ambigram

Ludlow

This ambigram was commissioned by Chrisitina from US. Here are the two designs that i've come up with using artistic variations of blackletter font.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Ludlow

World Of Ambigram - NAC entry

Here's my design entry for the Nagfa's Ambigram Challenge (NAC) series for this month. The phrase ambigrammed is "World of Ambigram".

This project is based on the lines of Langdon's Grid Project wherein notable ambigrammers would submit their own ambigram designs for a single word/phrase. As a result of that project, many stunning works (like Langdon's entry for "me/you") were created.

I'm really happy to be a part of this exercise which calls for uniting ambigram enthusiasts and provides an opportunity for all of us to learn from each other's styles so that we can unleash more creativity in our future designs.

Three cheers to Nagfa for NAC!

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, world of ambigram, Nagfa

Ambigram T-Shirts for my college

The students of my college are now rolling out with the college t-shirt containing the ambigram of my college designed by me. Here are the front and back views. While the front contains the ambigram, the back has a tribal tattoo (also done by me) and the name of the college in blackletter font. All the students and alumni of my college who would like to have such t-shirts can order them by mail.

Here are the designs -

Front Design
Back Design

Tribal Tattoo on the back

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, t-shirt

Ethan

This ambigram was commissioned by David J. Blazek who wanted to get a tattoo in the name of his son Ethan. Following are the two designs that i have come up with. While the first one is a gothic inspired form, the second one is a calligraphic lowercase version which is quite ornamental. It took quite a time to make. David liked both the designs and will be using the first design for the tattoo.

Tags - ambigrams, art, calligraphy, tattoos, name, Ethan

New Look

I have refreshed the blog's look with the help of my friend Patricia. The default look was lending a dull and monotonous feel to the artwork. Newly added are the title banner, side banner and logo.

I had designed the title banner in Illustrator. Its a collage of the recent ambigrams i had made in the background with the title (in true blackletter) in foreground.

The side banner was also designed by me. It consists a random array of letterforms in different styles rotated randomly on a background of images related to davinci. The side banner emphasizes that in ambigrams you need to visualize the letterforms in different styles and from various vantage points.

The logo was completely designed by Patricia, my friend. It consists of two As (abbreviation for blog's title) inverted and placed over each other in keeping with reflection/inversion of letters in an ambigram.

I haven't changed much of the remaining template as my knowledge in html is limited.
Do comment on the blog's new look.

Creating Ambigram Art