My Magical Ambigram

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.

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 is an almost goth looking creation that causes people to turn their heads over to see if it really is readible 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 "Illlusion" facing the opposite. This was not an easy task and took a month of different itterations 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.