Friday, November 30, 2007

nagfa's ambigram challenge (NAC) Dec 2007

Salam.
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As 2007 comes into its last stretch - and we see ourselves struggling to fulfil earlier resolutions (what resolutions? were there..? did I..? some ask) and thinking of more (self-consoling) reasons and excuses why we could not - we welcome a new format to nagfa's ambigram challenge (NAC). nagfa - naguib and fadilah - hopes that 2008 will bring a freshness to NAC unlike those we've had so far. Beginning from this instalment of NAC December 2007, we would like to revamp it into something more viewers/participants-centric.
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What we are planning is each NAC next year will be posed by a Guest Challenger. These Guest Challengers would be artists (us included) whose solution were chosen by a prior Guest Challenger who posed his own phrase/word/theme. There will be no voting, but comments and critiques are always welcomed.
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Without extending this pre-amble, nagfa proudly presents the Guest Challenger for NAC December 2007: Homero Larrain from Chile, whose solution for NAC November 2007 was voted the winner by a majority of voters.
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"I'm Homero Larrain, a 26 years old engineer / university teacher from Santiago, Chile. As a fan of maths, puzzles and wordplay, it was a rather natural thing for me first to be amazed by ambigrams, and then to start trying to design my own ones. I've been making them for three years now, and in my blog I've posted approximately 220 of them during the last two years. I have no formal training in graphics design or typography, but in the last two years I've been continuously trying to learn through tutorials I've found on the Internet, and keeping track of every ambigram site I'm aware of, in order to learn new tricks from other artists and their different syles and approaches."
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This month's phrase: white rabbit
*After giving it a lot of thought, the phrase I'm proposing for this month's competition is "white rabbit". The concept references the character from Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" . This is a tribute for one of the writers that inspired many of us the love for wordplay, and that certainly would be a fan of ambigrams if he was still alive.
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"White rabbit" is also often used in popular culture to symbolize something that you are chasing but you can't get. Technically, the phrase presents many challenges (ie, the double "b"), but I've learned that these difficulties are a good thing for a NAC because they promote creativity and this way the solutions found by different ambigramists present a variety of approaches and new ideas.
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Please submit designs to:
nagfa_ambigram@hotmail.com
hopefully before 25nd of December (for allowance for us to compile them before January). Please also include the chosen word for the design, your name (pseudonym allowed), country of origin, and website/blog (if any). *Designers are allowed to send in more than one design/entry.
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All the best,
Salam,
Nagfa: Naguib & Fadilah
Singapore

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reflection: a.firebird-myth1
reflection: a.firebird-myth2
reflection: a.firebird-myth
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An experimentation to incorporate reflection, square-kufic-inspired layout and the subject and colours of the Red Indian firebird/thunderbird myth. *A 'myth' reflection was in our mind for some time now, and its usage with a 'a.firebird' reflection seemed appropriate enough. Hence, the design and manifestations.



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ambigram: ace.of.spade

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Thursday, November 29, 2007

Without further ado, arranged according to phrase and ambigram types, the entries for November NAC.. Enjoy.. *Do look out for designs from our first-time participants..
LIVING THE DREAM
dan schmidt (usa)
diego colombo (italy)
ed xander (england)
frits jonker (holland)
homero (chile)
jennifer hill (usa)
iscander sanchez (mexico)
jonas rouge (philippines)
ambigramateur a.k.a. martijn (holland)
nagfa (singapore)

nagfa (singapore)

serpiente (mexico)
txescu (catalunia)
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LIVING THE DREAM (REFLECTION)
ruel (philippines)
txescu (catalunia)
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SLAVING FOR MY DREAMS
charles madrid (philippines)
diego colombo (italy)
diego colombo (italy)
frits jonker (holland)
nagfa (singapore)

serpiente (mexico)
txescu (catalunia)
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LIVING THE DREAM - SLAVING FOR MY DREAMS
txescu (catalunia)

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Wednesday, November 28, 2007

reflection: father.daughter

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Monday, November 26, 2007

ambigram: nightstalker
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A PowerPoint-assisted design. Personally, a change to a Gothic and/or Old English font would be breathtaking, considering the subject word.

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ambigram: iskandar&-siti.fadiah
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For Fa's colleague. Designed by Fa.

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Sunday, November 25, 2007

reflection: homero
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Homero Larrain of Chile. Reflection intended to resemble an about-to-pounce 'Chupacabras', but could also be interpreted as a bat-like figure or an... hmmm... err... evil clown balancing on a ball.. Homero's link: here.

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reflection: google
reflection: google
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The original logo:


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ambigram: doll.shop

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ambigram: roopak
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Roopak Suri. Another solution. Ambigram Mate from India. Link: here.

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ambigram: students

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concept piece: rene-serpiente
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A realization that the moniker/pseudonym 'serpiente' hides the real artist, who conjures unique pieces at the end of his trusted calligraphy pen. His link: here.

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Saturday, November 24, 2007

romanized kufic (and reflection): ambigrams
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A design to incorporate ambigram (the subject word), reflection (the formula, see below) and kufic (the overall form).
reflection: ambigrams-nagfa
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The old design from which the formula was inspired.

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Wednesday, November 21, 2007

kufic: fadilah.abdul.rahim
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For Fa.
For being the best parts of my days.

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ambigram: gadgets
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A study and experimental execution of a 'G-TS' solution.

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ambigram: billabong-australia
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The surfing brand... not quite. As Language teachers, it is always fulfilling for us to see the mainstream usage of an obscure native language. Sadly, not many - especially the wearers/users themselves, ironically - know the origin of the brands. We believe one can learn interesting histories just by discovering the origin of brand-names...
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The meaning of 'Billabong': here
Origins of some of the big companies' names: here

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ambigram: martii

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ambigram: elysium

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Monday, November 19, 2007

and the next NAC Guest Challenger is...

Hi and salam to all!
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We have counted the votes cast for NAC September 2007 (word: hybridity). As mentioned, the artist who receives the most number of votes will be invited as the Guest Challenger for a future NAC. As it is, the votes are as follows:
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Frits Jonker (Holland): 2
Homero Larrain (Chile): 6
Diego Colombo (Italy): 2
Serpiente (Mexico): 1
Ruel Masacayan (Philippines): 1
Mark Palmer a.k.a. WowTattoos (USA): 1
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Congratulations to Homero of Chile! We'll be emailing you the details soon..
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*To make future NACs more participants-centric, we propose that the Guest Challenger vote for his favourite solution for his own challenge. The winning artist will then be the next Guest Challenger. We'll try this out and see how viable it is. Of course, suggestions are appreciated.
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Salam,
nagfa: naguib & fadilah
singapore

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ambigram: hot.stuff

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Friday, November 16, 2007

reflection: awangpurba
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(Macam yg ku da janji, bro..! Kupasti ko ble buat lebih brutal..) A stunning talent from Malaysia. Take a look: here.
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Our previous Awang Purba design - as an ambigram:
ambigram: awangpurba

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ambigram: the.da.vinci.code
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A nagfa ambigram take on the title of the controversial novel which was the starting point of ambigram discovery for most.
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Our previous take - a reflection this time - on the title of the same novel:
reflection: the.da.vinci.code
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And the ambigram of the part name (of Vinci) of the artist:

ambigram: da.vinci

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