An Ambigram For a Business Card
By Ace Starry
Not too long ago I read Dan
Brown's (author of the
The Da Vinci Code) book
entitled Angels and Demons.
It was a fantastic page-turning read. I can tell you that I liked it
just as much as I enjoyed his big hit that is soon to be a movie -
The Divinci Code. One thing that was new to me in this book was
the author's use of "ambigrams" not to be confused with "anagrams."
An "ambigram" is a word or words that are written
graphically such that they can be read to say the same thing when
turned a different direction. In the novel, the terms
"EARTH" "AIR"
"WIND" and "FIRE."
Are all written such that you can read them when turned upside-down.
They are really "cool." You'll have to get his book to see
them. In fact the name on the cover "Angels and Demons" is
an ambigram (something that I didn't even notice until I had
finished half the book.) I decided that being the dabbler in the
graphical arts such that I am that I'd give a try at the word "Magic."
It seemed a natural to me. It was a magical thing to do with a word.
So it should be done to the word, "magic." Well here is
the result of my Magic ambigram.
It may not be the Da Vinci Code, but it's interesting just the
same. It
is an almost Goth looking creation that causes people to turn their
heads over to see if it really is readable from both directions. I was
intrigued by this strange and interesting art form, so I decided to do
a little research on it on the ol' Internet. I am reserving the
copyright to these so please write me if you'd like any permission to
use them. I discovered that the most interesting use of this little
graphic arts trick was to make the word or words say something
entirely different when turned the other way. I thought it might be
interesting if I used my name and made it say
"Ace Starry" when facing one way and
"Illusion" facing
the opposite. This was not an easy task and took a month of different
iterations to come up with something with which I was pleased. Here is
the result of "Ace Starry -
Illusion" after months of work.
So from there I progressed into a minor miracle. I decided that my new
business cards would be made up like regular playing cards and would
have an ambigram that says "Illusion and Magic of Ace Starry."
One of the great things about a playing card is that most of them are
sort of an ambigram to begin with because they can be read either way.
I've always wanted a magician's business card that had an "ace."
Doesn't that make sense, since my name is "Ace." Well here
it is the Coup de' grace. They are really a beauty to behold. People
hold them in their hands and turn them over and over. Then they say, "That's
really cool." That my friends, is what comes out of the magic of
a good book.
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