It's alive!

the resurrection
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Like Superman, NAC is back in a different manifestation: ACAC.
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More details: here.
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Hope to rekindle the Ambigram Family spirit all over again! See you all, cherished friends.
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salam,
nagfa: Naguib and Fadilah

Updates

Hi and salam to all,
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Before we reveal all the entries for the December 2008 NAC (Guest Challenger: Alessandro Pocaterra) - within the next 24 hours - we would like to give an update on a few matters.

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1) There has been a sudden surge of interest in ambigrams and ambigram designing, not surprisingly, after the screening of Dan Brown's Angels & Demons on the big screens. With it, we have noticed many new webpages and blogs dedicated to this art.

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So, if you do have your own blog dedicated to ambigrams, or you know of someone who does, do email us at: nagfa_ambigram@hotmail.com so that we could include your ambigram gallery in our AmbigramMates link.

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On the same note, if you have changed your website and your link doesn't work on our blog, please do let us know. Thank you.

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2) We have come to a point in our lives when we couldn't put aside as much time as we would have liked to in maintaining this blog. It had been some 5 years since we started doodling our first ambigrams - and 3 years since we've started this blog - and it would be sad to see lesser ambigram challenges where ambigram enthusiasts could participate and share their artistry among like-minded artists from around the globe.

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It is, therefore, with a heavy-heart and sadness, we would like to inform that we would like to step back from organizing the nagfa ambigram challenge (NAC). Having said these, we hope that there could yet be a similar challenge-invitational which could be a focal for the worldwide ambigram community.

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We have seen some successful ambigram contest/challenges among smaller groups - the Flickr ambigram groups, the Latin Ambigramas, etc. - so we know we have still an abundance of worthy successors.

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So, if you do intend to have any forms of ambigram challenges/invitational, we would be honoured to help spread the word. Please email us at: nagfa_ambigram@hotmail.com and we'll put a link to your ambigram contests.

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From time to time, when we have erred in our hosting / blogging / commenting on this blog, we would like to apologize again. We'll be around, maybe even posting an ambigram or two once in a while, so do come by a-visiting.

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Thank you,

Salam and take care,

nagfa: naguib & fadilah (& baby nayla)

nagfa ambigram challenge (NAC) December 2008

Right on the heels of the recently-ended NAC (nagfa ambigram challenge), let's keep the momentum going by proceeding to yet another challenge. This time, we present the Guest Challenger, none other than Alessandro Pocaterra of Italy, and winner of this previous NAC, in his own words:

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I am Alessandro, a teenager of 39, in love with ambigrams since I read Scott Kim's article on Scientific American eons ago. I prefer symbio(togram)s (where you can read upside down another word/sentence) and very simple "no frills" ones. To digitalize ambigrams, I use Inkscape, the open (and better) version of CorelDraw. I'm kind of lazy: if an ambigram comes out from the pen in ten minutes I refine it on the computer. Otherwise I leave the effort to somebody else and pick up a book. Reading is my first hobby. I'm fond of self growth, EFT and other psychological techniques, mathematics, drawing, informatics, Net surfing searching for info about the incredible possibility of our brain, stone balancing.

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Since I was a child my dream was to be a genius but I am not smart enough. Preferred sentence: "If you want a better World, do it!" by me. My whole life is a symbio. I had a 180 degrees rotation in 2004 during the Camino de Santiago, a 800km walk in Northern Spain. Over there I met Susann, a wonderful woman who will give me a child next March. I discovered that life is great and really better than it seems. No television at home as a choice since then. I was a microcontroller programmer till some months ago, then I've been promoted to Innovation Manager, whatever that is. I'll put an ambigram as name/logo for a new device that my company is producing. There was a page of mine with a number of ambis but it's now lost in digital space: the Net Gods made it disappear without telling me anything. I'll try to put on something in the short future.

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Being Italian, my NAC theme is "Leonardo da Vinci".

Looking forward to good ambigrams!

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Alessandro

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Please submit designs to:
nagfa_ambigram@hotmail.com
hopefully before 15th of January (for allowance for us to compile them mid-February). 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

NAC: the aftermath

In the wake of another successful NAC, Danial Dostal, the Guest Challenger, had made every contributor a personalised ambigram. This is our beautifully-intricate ambigram:

See here for other ambigrams for the other contributors. We thank Danial Dostal for this kind gesture.

NAC September 2008: Danial Dostal's Greek Myths & Legends

Salam (peace) to all.

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Firstly, we apologize for the delay in posting these, the reason we'll reveal later.

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For new visitors, welcome to just one of the many blogs dedicated on the art of ambigrams. Many other wonderful sites on ambigrams could be seen in the links in the side bar under Ambigram Mates, many artists of whom we have had the honour of working closely with.

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In this instalment of Nagfa Ambigram Challenge (NAC), we have the distinguishingly creative Danial Dostal of Poland as our Guest Challenger, who had proposed its theme. More information: here.

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We present you Danial's overview of the entries and his choice for the winning contributor.

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"Firstly, I would like to thank all contributors for their wonderful works. Before we will get to know the winner, I would like to present my ambigram. I prepared only one piece. Initially, I had planned for a few more ambigrams, but I concentrated on a different project, of which I will only reveal after the presentation of all submitted ambigrams.

Minotaur by Danial Dostal (Poland)

Choosing the winner was very difficult. After much thought, I've decided to honour the work of Robert Maitland. In my opinion it is a fresh concept, very original and innovative approach to ambigrams. My congratulations to the future Guest Challenger.

'Labyrinth-Minotaur' by Robert Maitland (Canada)

Not far behind is the wonderful 'labyrinth' of Krzysztof Śliwa. The simplicity and the legibility of this piece is delightful.

'Labyrinth' by Krzystof Sliwa (Poland)

As ever Nasty Basty’s ambigrams turned out near-perfection.

'Labyrinth' by NastyBasty (Germany)

'Minotaur' by NastyBasty (Germany)

'Ariadne-Theseus' by NastyBasty (Germany)

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I like the simple and modern Awangpurba’s minotaur.

'Minotaur' by AwangPurba (Malaysia)

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Different approaches in the manipulation of letters in the word 'labyrinth' is enlightening.

'Labyrinth' by Emma Howard (Australia)

'labyrinth' by Ian Harrison (Australia)

'labyrinth' by Txescu (Catalunia)

'Labyrinth' by Nemielyn (Philippines)

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Other hand drawn works by Nemielyn have fascinating dark moods.

'Daedalus' by Nemielyn (Philippines)

'Theseus' by Nemielyn (Philippines)

'Minotaur' by Nemielyn (Philippines)

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In Aidash’s piece, a style of applied letters appealed to me.

'Into the Labyrinth' by AiDash (Philippines)

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From a diversity of Charles Madrid's works, Daedalus most appealed to me.

'Daedalus' by Charles Madrid (Philippines)

'into the Labyrinth' by Charles Madrid (Philippines)

'Minotaur' by Charles Madrid (Philippines)
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The simple 'Dedalo' ambigram prepared by Anuar is interesting.

'dedalo' by Anuar (Mexico)

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Nagfa prepared interesting symbiotogram in the distinctive simple style.

'labyrinth-minataur' by nagfa (Singapore)

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Solutions applied by Ruel gave a great impression.

'labyrinth' by Ruel Masacayan (Philippines)

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I like the simplicity of the gothic phrase prepared by Elwin.

'Into the Labyrinth' by Elwin Gill (USA)

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Malcolm’s ambigram is a bit illegible but it does look impressive.

'Into the Labyrinth' by Malcolm King (New Zealand)

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From Cy Reb’s works, I would choose the interestingly written word 'maze'.

'maze' by Cy Reb, Jr. (USA)

'Minotaur-Labyrinth' by Cy Reb, Jr. (USA)

'Theseus-Ariadne' by Cy Reb, Jr. (USA)

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Nikita prepared two Greek goddesses for us - Athena is excellent.

'Athena' by Nikita (USA)

'Aphrodite' by Nikita (USA)

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Azahary’s mirror 'Poseidon' is excellent.

'Poseidon God of the Sea' by Azahary (Singapore)

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Now for the 'different project' I mentioned earlier. I announced that I would prepare ambigrams for three or four of the best designers. I changed my mind and decided to honour everyone who had devoted their time for the participation in this NAC. The ambigrams are diversed, some worked well more than others but I had devoted all my knowledge and abilities to everyone.

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Vector versions of designers' ambigrams in AI format will be sent to all contributors through Nagfa.

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One more time, I congratulate Robert Maitland. Thanks to all contributors and first of all for Nagfa."

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We extend our grateful and heartful thanks to all who had once again made this outing a successful one. Thank you to Danial Dostal who had not only evaluated the designs, but also dedicated his time to design personalised ambigrams to all contributors. We know we are all honoured and touched by this gesture. And of course, not forgetting a hearty congratulation to Robert Maitland whose unorthodox approach and concept deservingly win him the title of Guest Challenger for a future NAC. We'll be contacting him via email.

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Just a reminder, the next instalment of NAC would be a theme by previous winner: Alessandro of Italy for this: here.

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We owe everyone an explanation; the reason for not posting this earlier was due to the birth of our (nagfa's: Naguib & Fadilah) first baby - a girl(!) - Nayla Najwa. :)

nagfa ambigram challenge (NAC) September 2008

After a considerable long delay, we resume the nagfa ambigram challenge (NAC). This NAC was proposed by our esteemed Guest Challenger, the artist chosen for his design here. Without further ado, we present Daniel Dostal from Poland.

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"My name is Daniel Dostal and I'm from Poland. My adventure with ambigrams started from the reading of Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons". This passion was a natural consequence of my interests in drawing, calligraphy and typography. Academically, I am a historian major, but today I’m working as a visual artist.
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I would like to thank Nasty Basty for rewarding my work, and Nagfa for their efforts in integrating our small ambigram community.
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My proposition for this NAC is the theme: “Into the Labyrinth”
Ancient Greek myths about Minotaur, Daedalus – constructor of the labyrinth - and about the love of Ariadne and Theseus were my inspiration for this theme. But not only these myths. This motif appears in the excellent Dead Can Dance album "Into the Labyrinth" and in the fascinating novel of Kate Mosse “Labyrinth” (for all Dan Brown’s fans) I think that this theme is universal and giving a big chance to display our skills. I would like to see all types of ambigrams and wordplays. I’m waiting for your designs. I wish good luck in your work! *After this edition of NAC, for three or four authors of the most excellent designs I would like to prepare ambigrams of their names or nicks.
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Greetings!
Daniel"

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Please submit designs to:

nagfa_ambigram@hotmail.com

hopefully before 15th of October (for allowance for us to compile them before November). 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

Salam to all! Just a quick update: for this month's nagfa's ambigram challenge (NAC) - more information: here - we have proposed two themes, surrounding 'Beijing Olympic 2008' and 'Superman'. Visitors and artists alike are encouraged to vote for their favourite designs for each theme. The artist(s) with the most popular designs will be invited as Guest Challengers in future instalments of NAC. The reason for this 'multi-challengers' format - not forgetting Daniel Dostal's upcoming one, too! - is so that instead of only one design proposal, concurrently-run NACs will allow artists with diversed opportunities to hone their ambigram designing skills.

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In the meantime, let us leave you with a quick ambigram depicting the two themes for this month's NAC:

A previous ambigram design depicting Batman and Superman:

s.t.u.c.k.

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Superman's stuck in the phone-booth
The Batmobile's stuck, refusing to move

Spiderman's stuck in the World Wide Web

While the Hulk's still stuck in his chilli crab

Catwoman's stuck cleaning a milk stain

Daredevil's stuck searching for his cane
Wonder Woman's stuck with the Great Sale wives

While Wolverine's stuck selling Ginsu knives

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We're all stuck in mediocrity

Muzzled Lions in this concrete city

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Or circus Lions in iron cages;

Superheroes in comic book pages.

The comic books out of print ages

ago, dog-eared and yellowed images

of sanctioned sedated silenced sages.

more entries...

Hi and salam to all, hope you're in the best of health with loved ones. A quick post here:

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Firstly, it has to be said that due to some technical problems with our email account circa April, some artists may discover that their emails (NAC entries) have not been received, thus their absence in the recently-posted compilation of the submitted entries.

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To avoid a repetition of this unfortunate incident, we will reply at least an acknowledgement (we've been doing this quite regularly) to confirm each received email. Do remind / enquire us of the status of your email if we have yet to reply to it. :)

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These are two more additional design for the NastyBasty NAC:

'snow.white-the.fairest' by juan luis (spain)

'ai.dash-thailand' by ai.dash

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Secondly, two further solutions by ed xander (uk) for our mini-challenge: the.dark.tower - stephen.king:

'stephen.king-the.dark.tower' by ed xander (uk)
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A brief update on the special NAC. We are currently refining some small details with the Guest Challenger of the special NAC. Estimated time of posting will be this Saturday.
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In the meantime, we would love to introduce another talent in our ambigram fraternity: Azahary Arif from Singapore, whose recent designs exude a sense of well thought-of techniques and phrase combinations. Do drop by and say 'hi'.. :)

NAC March 2008 NastyBasty (Mirror Mirror On The Wall)

The much-awaited compilation of the submitted entries is finally here. We, co-organizers - nagfa and NastyBasty - apologize for the nail-biting and finger-drumming long wait. This has got to be one of the most diversed compilations we have received so far, and it was a respected feat in itself by NastyBasty to go through them and give his comments.

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Without further pre-ambles, we present NastyBasty, in his own words:

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'First of all, I have to apologize for the extremely long delay. Work kept me very busy and a bad case of flu struck me down for almost ten days. And I definitely underestimated the amount of time it would take to evaluate all these wonderful entries...

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So, here are my two-cents:

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I don't know why but I always had a fascination for reflective ambigrams. The idea that just a look in the mirror could change the meaning of or reveal a hidden truth in a word always captured me. Therefore, I picked the theme 'Mirror, mirror on the wall', implying that the theme could be interpreted both as a formal (reflective design) as well as a themed challenge (fairy tales).

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First, here's my own contribution to this NAC:

'snow.white' by nastybasty (germany)

And now let's step through the looking glass and take a look at the impressive works the ambigram wonderland has in store for us!

Most importantly, let's begin with the winner: 'Mirror, mirror on the wall' by Daniel Dostal (Poland). It's legible, stylish, incredibly attractive and covers every aspect of the challenge - title, theme and format. The smoky embellishments and the image of the evil queen combine in a mysterious atmosphere radiating from the image. Congrats, Daniel, you are the next Guest Challenger!

'mirror-mirror-on-the-wall' by daniel dostal (poland)

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Nagfa's 'Big Bad Wolf' comes in second place, sporting a similar image/ambigram combination. The W/lf combination is quite tricky!

'big-bad-wolf' by nagfa (singapore)
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On to the further entries (in no specific order):
Both Ed Xander's 'Geroge/Dragon' as well as his 'Beauty and the Beast' ambigrams are a feast for the eyes and offer some very creative solutions.

'george-dragon' by ed xander (uk)

'beauty.and.the.beast' by ed xander (uk)
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The most ambitious entry by far is Robert Maitland's 'Mirror, mirror on the wall/who is fairest of them all?' reflection, showing that there's no need to be afraid of the big bad sentence ;-)

'mirror.mirror.on.the.wall-who.is.fairest.of.them.all?' by robert maitland (canada)

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Serpiente's 'Alice through the...' design is one of a few entries that relate to 'Alice in Wonderland' and wonderful to look at. Dropping the 'looking glass' adds a clever twist to the design.

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'alice.through.the(looking.glass)' by serpiente (mexico)

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'Peace for Tibet' by Alessandro shows a deep understanding of style as well as scalpod's 'reverse' chain, that looks so beautifully clean that it could be easily used as a logo. Even the mirrored 'R' doesn't bother...

'peace-for-tibet' by alessandro (italy)

'reverse' by scalpod (usa)
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Tom Banwell's 'Ambigram 3D in mirror' transcends the usual categories used to describe ambigrams in an incredibly creative way.

'ambigram 3D in mirror' by tom banwell (usa)

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On to those who stayed with the 'fairy tale' theme:

Jennifer's intertwined Rs work perfectly making the ambigram legible and stylish.

'mirror mirror on the wall' by jen hill (usa)
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Parag Bamane's rotational solution suffers a little bit from the mixed use of upper and lower case letters.

'mirror mirror on the wall' by parag bamane (india)
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Darren Bent offers us a pretty wild 'Snow White/Evil Queen' solution.

'snow.white-evil.queen' by darren bent (new zealand)
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Nagfa demonstrates how important right positioning of words/letters is in a reflective design.

'3.little-pigs' by nagfa (singapore)
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And Ed Xander's 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' is one of only two totem ambigrams in the field. I thought there would be more solutions in that style...

'snow.white.and.the.seven.dwarfs' by ed xander (uk)
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And he still has more to offer with his 'Aladdin/Flying Carpet/Genie' and 'Pinocchio' 45-degrees reflections!!!

'aladdin-magic.carpet-genie' by ed xander (uk)

'pinocchio' by ed xander (uk)
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The small cross-bars in Txescu's 'Fairy Tales' design fits the style, but makes the 't' difficult to read.

'fairy-tales' by txescu (catalunia)
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Jose Perez takes us to his Magic Castle. The use of the sword-shaped 't' and the chosen font underlines the fancy aspect of the design but legibility could be better.

'castillo-magico (magic castle)' by jose perez (spain)
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The next category would be those who chose to concentrate on the theme of 'Reflection':

Kryzstof Sliwa's 'Reflection' works wonderfully, shifting the 'r' and 'n' from upper to lower case.

'reflection' by krzystof sliwa (poland)
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Tom Banwell's solution is way more straightforward. Maybe it would be hard to identify the letters 'R' and 'f' if they were viewed on their own, but in this context they work fine.

'reflection' by tom banwell (usa)
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Serpiente's 'Letrero/reflejo' solutions are perfectly legible even though I prefer the 'shadow' version.

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'letrero-reflejo (banner-reflection)' by serpiente (mexico)
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Paavo Pirinen's 'Mirror' reflection irritated me at first because it's not symmetric, making it hard to realize the ambigrammatical characteristics of the design.

'mirror' by paavo pirinen (finland)
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While his second entry is clearly symmetrical, it suffers a little bit from problems with letter spacings.

'mirror' by paavo pirinen (finland)
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Arturo comes up with a reflective ambigram of the word 'axis' but I think the 'i' is a little hard to read.

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'axis' by arturo (chile)
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Tomas lets us look into the magic mirror.

'espejito-magico (magical mirror)' by tomas (spain)
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And last but not least, there are those who chose to stray from the theme, and stay only with the formal aspects of this NAC.

Here's a very elaborate piece from Alessandro, a solid solution and beautifully arranged in the picture. Onward, ambigrammists! ;-)

'are we not drawn onward to new era?' by alessandro (italy)
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Diego's 'Dr. Jekill / Mr. Hyde' looks gorgeous, but doesn't it supposed to be 'Jekyll'...? But I love the flame effect!

'dr.jekill-mr.hyde' by diego colombo (italy)
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I did try on a reflective 'Angel / Devil' ambigram myself but failed to find a working solution. Ruel shows us how it is done! He has also submitted a nice solution for a 'Black / White' reflection.

'angel-devil' by ruel (philippines)

'black-white' by ruel (philippines)
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Carmela's 'El cielo / El agua' ambigram works very well. The imagery supports the legibility by adding a watery effect to the words 'El agua'.

'el cielo-el agua (sky-water)' by carmela (spain)
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Let's keep it Spanish! Tomas' 'Sol-Tierra-Luna' works very well. And his reflection of the name 'Salamanca' is even easier to read. Even though the word is an almost natural ambigram, the shift from the lower to upper-case 'S' is a clever solution.

'salamanca (vantage point)' by tomas (spain)

'sol-tierra-luna (sun-earth-moon)' by tomas (spain)
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Cy Reb Jr. broke the mirror! I hope he won't really suffer from seven years of bad luck like his ambigram suggests...

'seven years - bad luck' by cy reb jr (usa)
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Scalpod submitted loads of ambigram!

Let's start with his 'Cash' in 'Hand' reflection: Easy to read and the design underlines the quality simplicity of his works.

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'cash in hand' by scalpod
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Welcome to the House of Fun! This ambigram once again shows us how well scalpod has mastered the art of chained ambigrams.

'funhouse' by scalpod (usa)
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I think the 'Hallway' reflection is the weakest in his batch because the center bar makes it read as 'Halliway'.

'(mirrored) hallway' by scalpod (usa)
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Tom Banwell was very busy creating ambigrams for this NAC as well, using words that reflected naturally. His 'N/h' conversion (in 'hidden') is very clever.

'I decided' by tom banwell (usa)

'hidden' by tom banwell (usa)

'god (is everywhere)' by tom banwell (usa)

'canoe' by tom banwell (usa)

'(splitting the) atom' by tom banwell (usa)

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(unquote)

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We nagfa would like to thank NastyBasty for putting aside chunks of his time and energy in carrying out his role as the Guest Challenger with patience and passion. We would also like to thank ALL participants who had contributed to this NAC in one way or another. NACs would never be significant without your support and sharings of creative designs.

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Not forgetting, a big congratulation to Danial Dostal of Poland for being the artist with the most favoured ambigram solution. We will email you soon regarding the matter of being the next Guest Challenger.

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Meanwhile, the special NAC will be posted within this week. Do stay tuned, and have a good rest. Til we meet again, then. Thank you!

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Salam (peace)

nagfa: naguib and fadilah

singapore