Martijn Slegers Ambigramateur

FarmVille Artwork - Art

2010-01-20T06:59:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I started playing the popular Facebook application "FarmVille". It's a simple, but fun farming game where you plant your crops, plow the field and collect from (farm)animals. After a while I found out that there were people using colored haybales to create art! They put them in specific positions to copy images of famous artists or funny cartoon characters. That immediately inspired me to create my own art with Haybales and, as you probably would have guessed, making Ambigrams is where my passion lies, so I decided to try one!

The image you see below was my first attempt at re-creating one of my old hand-drawn ambigrams of the word 'Art':

Above was the original image, below the FarmVille one. As you can see I made some small changes because the square haybales do not offer much room for curves on such a small scale...

Below you'll see the same image, but from further away.

The next two pictures were made after refining the 'horizontal' bar that makes the A. I cut off the blocks that compromised the R and voilà, the first FarmVille ambigram was made!

The same image as above, but turned upside-down!

Ping Pong Painting

2008-09-10T05:21:00.000-07:00

While spending time in France on a camping as a receptionist, I also had some time for myself! And what relaxes more than drawing ambigrams? The place I chose to sit was next to the Ping Pong-tables and one thing led to another, of which the next photos show you the result! :) I created perhaps over 100 ambigrams on rackets and some of my favorites you can find below! The rest are shown on my Flickr-page, which can be found here ! And at the bottom you'll find maybe the first ambigram to be drawn on a cell-phone! :) By the end of my work-period I had decorated 4 of them! What do you think of my project? :)

*Please forgive the poor photo-quality, they have been made with my mobile phone, clicking on the images will allow you to view the slightly enlarged (original) size, which is already much better than what you see in the original post.*

Anoek

Eline

Youri

Naomi

Manouk

Nick

Julia

Willem

Randy

Dulcia

France be praised!

2008-07-09T01:18:00.000-07:00

Apparently it was a lot easier to gain access to the internet here in France than I had expected! This means that I'll be able to reply to any emails or requests within a matter of days instead of weeks! :)

Back to Business!

2008-07-02T01:28:00.000-07:00

Hello dear visitors! As some of you may have noticed, I have not been active with ambigrams in the past few months...! I will post new designs this September, because before that I'll be working in France!

If you like my work and think of ordering a custom ambigram, please send your request to martijnslegers.ambigrams@gmail.com . Prices may vary around $50, depending on the length but most of all the difficulty of the ambigram. Shorter ambigrams aren't necessarily easier than long ones, it all depends on the letters! :)

Feel free to use the same address for comments, suggestions and constructive criticism too! But bear in mind that I can only answer after the 16th of august, when I return to Holland. Chances of access to internet will be extremely limited where I will be in France.

Take care and enjoy your vacation!

Martijn

Noor - A gift for the future

2008-01-23T10:49:00.000-08:00

There she is: Noor van Amstel! Doesn't she look great? And the baby too! ;)

These are two pictures of the little gift I gave to the family that offered me to make their Baby-card (which can be found two posts earlier)! It's a modified version of the 'Noor'-ambigram I designed and printed it on a little t-shirt :) I hope she'll like it in the future, it's much too big for her now (even though the shirt is pretty small)! :D

A tribute to Talent - Marié Digby

2008-01-21T09:49:00.001-08:00

I made this drawing and tried to capture 24-year-young Marié as well as I could, but that was so hard...! And if you happen to like this picture, the real Marié looks even more beautiful! :)

But her looks are not her most important feature! She is an amazing singer and I found out about her on Youtube, the "treasury of talent" as I heard someone call it. Listen to this video and then you'll probably understand why I have fallen under her "Spell".

More information about Marié Digby can be found on her Myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/mariedigby

I also strongly recommend the following link to her Youtube-videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MarieDigby

Marié's background can be found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari%C3%A9_Digby

--------------------------------------

Here you will find three ambigrams for her and her two younger sisters Naomi and Erina. Each name turns into the same name when turned upside-down:

And below a take at her full name, "Marié Digby". The font I used for the ambigrams of her name (and her sisters') is intentionally very much like the way her name appears on her album, with hearts as dots above the i's.

Another ambigram for the three Digby-sisters, this time inverting the name "Marié" into "Naomi", with the ambigram of "Erina", the youngest, in between her older sisters :)

Two different versions of the "Marié-ambigram" you can find below the portrait on top of this post. Which one do you like best? Again, these versions are much more fluid and curly than the one below the picture :)

And finally I tried re-creating a part of the youth of Marié in the next ambigram: 'Marié turning into a 'singer'! I copied the image and turned it, so you can see how it works (sorry for the ugly mistake on the right c.q. left!)

The same image, but turned upside-down:

All the images above are still hand-drawn and I will start working them into more presentable, vector-shaded images in the future. I just thought you ought to know already what an amazing job she is doing! :) Marié, if you ever read this: the best of luck to you and I hope to see you live one day!

Noor - Welcome to the world!

2008-01-19T03:15:00.000-08:00

Ambigram created for the birth-card of Noor van Amstel, the healthy new addition to the family of Amel and Maarten, whom I wish the best of luck and happiness! I am still honored they asked me to create the card for them! The image above was the front, the back can be found below.

What is says here is Dutch for "The image on this card -> is an ambigram -> An ambigram can be read normally -> but also upside-down." I placed the letters in such a way that one has to turn the card around in order to read the explanation and it also has a nice border-effect to it. What do you think about it? :)

Jeffrey Lemm

2007-12-22T10:05:00.001-08:00

Two hand-drawn ambigrams created as a soon-to-be-framed birthday gift for one of my best friends, Jeffrey Lemm.

Christmas Presents!

2007-12-18T00:39:00.001-08:00

I created these four (hand-drawn) ambigrams for friends in France we are going to visit in a week :) The names are "Agnès", "Patrick" and their two girls "Lucie" and "Jeanne". I hope they'll like them! :) This is what they looked like after framing:

And the four frames separately:

What do you think? :)

Frank Nguyen

2007-12-08T11:17:00.001-08:00

Three drawings created for fellow ambigram enthusiast Frank Nguyen, who very kindly requested a custom design. I know, sometime my inspiration gets the better of me, because none of the three drawings was the one he actually ordered ;)

Wim

2007-12-06T14:26:00.000-08:00

In dedication to my lovely grandfather who passed away last Sunday. He had the privilege of having a natural ambigram as a name, though he never realised it :) May he rest in peace.

Hybridity - NAC Entry September-October

2007-10-27T08:57:00.001-07:00

This ambigram represents a hybrid version of the two letter fonts I often use and really like in my ambigrams! It was as close to the definition Nagfa gave us of the word 'hybridity' as I could get! What do you think of it? Is it worth a vote? :)

Blessing - Commission

2007-10-15T05:01:00.000-07:00

An ambigram created for a girl called Blessing! What an extraordinary name, isn't it? I had to figure out a way to turn the 'LE' into 'IN' somehow. Normally I would turn the 'LE' into the letter 'N' easily, but that would leave me with 'SSI' in the middle... Having the two 'SS' in the center would be a much more obvious choice, but that needed a little more tweaking... What do you think?

AmbigrAbsence...!

2007-10-15T01:46:00.000-07:00

Hey there, visitor! As you might have already noticed, I have not posted new ambigrams for quite some time! This is due to the fact that, as a student, I do have to focus on my schoolwork rather than on my hobby...! I also have multiple commissions running at the moment, so I am very, very busy!

You are still invited to leave comments, email me or even order an ambigram! Just bear in mind the fact that I am swamped at the moment and therefore likely to respond a little slower both email- and ambigram-wise...!

Thanks for visiting my site! I hope you'll stop by from time to time!

Martijn Slegers
Ambigramateur

Drawing an ambigram

2007-09-16T23:48:00.000-07:00

This is me, drawing an ambigram! Can you read what it says? :) Sorry for the bad video-quality! Please tell me what you think about it, any comments are appreciated!

It symbolises how I started... I learned myself how to create ambigrams... and will maybe end up teaching others :)

Oh, and in case you're wondering... that is my brother singing in the background, on the tunes of Forza Motorsport 2, a videogame ;)

My Ambigram-ambigram in action!

2007-09-16T23:47:00.001-07:00

What an original title, eh? ;) This is my version of an ambigram-ambigram! What do you think of it, any comments (except spam,chainletters and hate-messages of course) are appreciated!

This video was created by Mimi Taylor, a very good youtube-friend of mine! Thank you for making it, so I can show my work in action!! :D

Aan Sylvia uit Bavel

2007-09-09T04:20:00.000-07:00

Dit bericht is bedoeld voor Sylvia uit Bavel (meer weet ik helaas niet :S).
Als je wilt dat ik de schets van je "Sylvia-ambigram" verbeter en afmaak op de computer, dan kun je me dat laten weten via bovengenoemd emailadres :) Mocht je dit ooit nog lezen, uiteraard...

Groetjes van Martijn!

ps: mocht je haar toevallig kennen, zou je haar dan de boodschap door willen geven? Merci!

Adam Flockemann

2007-09-02T02:12:00.000-07:00

These three ambigrams were created for Adam Flockemann, a fellow ambigram artist! What do you think? I always try to go for the most legible solution :)

The Blue Man Group

2007-08-12T09:12:00.001-07:00

A very good and original band! They use all kinds of PVC pipes to create awesome sounds and are always accompanied by another band, playing together :) You should really check them out!

What do you think of the ambigram?

Mp3 Player

2007-08-12T09:11:00.001-07:00

An ambigram inspired by my ipod, such a lovely tool on a holiday! This is a tribute to all Mp3 Players out there! Make some noise!!! ;)

Looking at it from a distance now, I think making the M lower might make it look better, also adjusting the height of 'YER' to the letter 'A' :) Something I'll change soon, to see how it looks...

Violeta

2007-08-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

Ambigram created for a French friend of mine :)

Catherine Zeta-Jones - Michael Douglas

2007-07-01T05:23:00.000-07:00

And for the grand finale... A clover of luck and love! This couple was the first that came to my mind, as I know both of them have been born on the 25th of September, just like me. They also share an age difference of 25 years... hmm! This being my favorite number, I just had to pick them!

And what a challenge it was! The inspiration I got resulted in this piece, containing 4 symbiotograms (words that turn into a different word when turned 180 degrees).

What do you think?

Is it (cl)over the top? ;)

(don't forget to click the image enlarge it!)

Alberto y Nora

2007-07-01T05:22:00.000-07:00

Another ambigram created for the Guest Challenger, Alberto Portacio and his wife! In Spanish this time, for they live in Columbia! I hope he'll like it!

Nora Yamile

2007-07-01T05:21:00.001-07:00

Ambigram created for Alberto Portacio Apicella and his wife, Nora Yamile! Alberto is the Guest Challenger, so I made this for him for picking such a nice theme!

"Maxima - Willem-Alexander" and "Prins Willem-Alexander en Prinses Maxima"

2007-07-01T05:16:00.000-07:00

These were two sketches I entered in the NAC of June :) I will re-create them on the pc in the future, but there just wasn't time and their length played quite a role there ;)

The hardest thing was to find a way to get the X's to fit, but I think I managed :)

Note: the lower (35-letter!-)ambigram says "Prins Willem-Alexander en Prinses Maxima" which is Dutch for "Prince W-A and Princess Maxima" (that wasn't hard, was it?). I think they are one of the most famous couples in the Netherlands! :)

I know there are many imperfections, but it's not easy writing such a long ambigram without mistakes and differences in size, etc. I think the 'm' in Willem needs work, and I might change the 'nP - x'-combination somewhat, I think the P is suffering a bit now...

And... you can see I miscalculated the length of the ambigram, forcing me to finish it on a second piece of paper in the end ;)

What do you think?

I have another ambigram in the waiting that is 36 letters long :) Stay tuned!

(don't forget to click "all sizes" to enlarge it!)

Will Smith - Jada Pinkett

2007-07-01T04:54:00.000-07:00

Another famous couple! And another flawfull sketch, I'm afraid! The pc-version is in the making, but that will take some more time :)

I chose this pair because I like them both very much as actors, and Will Smith his birthday is on the 25th of September, just like mine!

Amèl Maarten

2007-06-07T04:26:00.000-07:00

Ambigram created for Amèl and her boyfriend Maarten :) I hope they'll like it! It's hand-drawn and therefore not perfect, but I actually prefer working like this over working with the pc :)

Calderón

2007-06-07T04:25:00.000-07:00

Created for Adrián Moro Calderón for his birthday! Happy birthday again, Adrián!

I always try to find the best place for letters like O's, A's and E's :)

Adrián

2007-06-07T04:23:00.000-07:00

Created for Adrián Moro Calderón for his birthday! (I will add the accent on Adrián later :P It slipped my mind after the first sketch). Happy birthday again, Adrián!

Shark Attack

2007-05-29T00:29:00.001-07:00

My entry for the NAC competition of May 2007! It's not finished yet, but as I didn't have time to make a vector-shaded image of it, I just submitted and posted this slightly modigied sketch I made :) What do you think?

Ernst en Laura

2007-05-12T04:46:00.000-07:00

Ambigram commissioned by one of my best friends, for him and his girlfriend :) I know some letters might be somewhat hard to read, but it's the best I could do (and the style originally was Gothic Blackletter, changed into a more fluid one).

What do you think?

UPDATE: I added two of the earlier sketches, to show you what it looked like before I changed it into another style.

Thank You

2007-04-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

My entry to the Nagfa Challenge of April :) Thank you, Naguib and Fadilah, for organising the Monthly Challenge!

Trudy en Marcel

2007-04-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

Ambigram created for the parents of a very good friend of mine :) It's not one of my best, but maybe I'll improve it when I have the time...

Ashley Gemma

2007-04-16T02:52:00.001-07:00

Ambigram commissioned by Ashley Nicholls for him and his future wife, Gemma. I had created a more fluid version first, but my client asked me to give the ambigram a more calligraphic look and this is the result! :) He didn't want to create a computer version of it, so that's why it looks like this :D

Pasen (Easter in Dutch)

2007-04-13T14:04:00.000-07:00

I created this ambigram a few days ago for Easter! I think this is the first ambigram ever to appear on an egg (correct me if I'm wrong) and it doesn't look that bad, does it? :) I might have some more egg-ambigram pictures coming of the names "Daan", "Esther" and "Nadie", but that depends on the state of the eggs after having been taken home by their happy owners :D What a great day for Holidairy! :P

April

2007-04-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

Created for Martin and Florine for their wedding, which will take place the 27th of April 2007, as the ambigram says :)

I quite like the way the number-ambigrams worked out :) What do you think?

Martin en Florien

2007-04-11T07:15:00.002-07:00

Created for Martin and Florien for their wedding! I wish them all the best!
The text reads:
"Ware liefde is onomkeerbaar......wanneer deze van beide kanten komt."
which is the Dutch translation of the text I used for the wedding present for Naguib and Fadilah:
"True love is irreversible......when it comes from both sides."

Naguib

2007-04-11T07:15:00.001-07:00

I always try to incorporate hearts into the designs I make for couples :) What do you think?

Fadilah

2007-04-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

As I already had created an ambigram of "Naguib Fadilah", I wanted to make on of their names separately :) And this is the result! What do you think? It might be somewhat hard to read, but I wanted to make the F turn into a heart :)

Amafirlian

2007-04-05T04:49:00.000-07:00

Ambigram created for my fellow ambigram artist Amafirlian from Belgium! A link to his work can be found on the right of this page :) He has created some very lovely pieces of art!

Top Ten

2007-03-31T09:44:00.000-07:00

Created in anticipation of the upcoming NAC result! I hope it's clear enough! What do you think?

Patrice Hamel

2007-03-31T09:42:00.000-07:00

Patrice Hamel, a very talented French artist who has created many great pieces of art (mainly and especially his reflections)! This is a tribute to him and his work!

"Slegers" by Homero Larrain

2007-03-31T05:52:00.000-07:00

This ambigram of my last name has been created by Homero, one of my fellow ambigram artists! Very lovely, isn't it? One almost wouldn't think it is an ambigram, because of the palindromic-nature of the word (it would have been palindrome if it wasn't for the L and R...!).
As you can see below, his version is very much like mine, created a long time ago :D Thank you, Homero!

Leo Karène

2007-03-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

Ambigram created for one of my teachers, Karène. She really supports me in my struggle for publicity and will try to help me sell ambigrams in Paris next year :) She commissioned this ambigram for her and her husband, Leo. What do you think?

Jennifer

2007-03-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

Ambigram created for Jennifer Yoannou, a girl I met on the university :)

Melanie

2007-03-27T05:29:00.000-07:00

Ambigram commissioned by someone who saw me drawing in the train :D One of the two sides has a heart instead of a dot, which has a symbolic value: After placing the tattoo, my commissioner will see his girlfriend's name with the heart on top, but everone else will see it normally :) That makes his view special! What do you think?

Ambigram

2007-03-24T06:13:00.000-07:00

My solution for the word "ambigram"! What do you think?

Naguib Fadilah

2007-03-24T06:10:00.000-07:00

Created for Naguib and Fadilah, the founders of the Nagfa Ambigram Challenge and two very talented ambigram artists! This ambigram is a gift for their upcoming wedding :)

Alexander en Annemarie

2007-03-24T06:06:00.000-07:00

An ambigram made for my friend Annemarie and her boyfriend Alexander!

Singularity

2007-03-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

My entry in the Nagfa Ambigram Challenge of the month february/march! The word has been proposed by John Langdon, the master of ambigrams! He will be commenting 10 of all the entries, which will be a huge honour! May the best ambigrams win! What do you think of my version?

Minke

2006-12-15T08:48:00.000-08:00

Minke, a good friend of my brother, who asked me to make an ambigram of her name! I think I have succeeded, haven't I? :)

Théramène

2006-12-15T08:46:00.000-08:00

Théramène, one of the characters from the play "Phèdre" by Racine. Théramène is known for his famous monologue at the end of the play.

Artis

2006-12-15T08:41:00.000-08:00

Artis, a famous zoo in the Netherlands! I guess only animals know what Art is! ;)

Karène

2006-12-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

Ambigram created for one of my favorite teachers, Miss Karène Sanchez! I have only very recently created an ambigram of her full name, which I will post in the future! I hope you'll like it :)

Sublime

2006-12-15T08:32:00.000-08:00

Martijn

2006-12-15T07:56:00.000-08:00

Martijn, my first name! I tried a completely different approach after having created a rotational "Martijn-ambigram" of it, which was actually the first ambigram I ever created:

This one also reads "Martijn", but it s much harder to read, obviously... I have come quite a long way since I created this picture above (at least, I think so :) ) and I hope I will continue to improve my work as I spend more and more time on my sketches!

Millett

2006-12-15T07:49:00.000-08:00

Kate Millett, the "ambivalent feminist" is the author of the 1970 bestseller "Sexual Politics". Her name fell during one of my literature classes, during which I decided to make this ambigram!

Child

2006-12-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

Art

2006-12-14T05:32:00.000-08:00

A very minimalistic, but also very legible design, in my opinion!
Creating ambigrams is a form of art, for sure!

Ambigram

2006-12-14T05:10:00.000-08:00

There we go, the first ambigram on this site! I'm glad it worked! The picture reads "ambigram" and can also be read when you turn it upside-down! What do you think of it?

Welcoming myself

2006-12-14T05:07:00.000-08:00

Hey there, visitor!

I have only just created this blog, so this post will be the first part of getting to know how this site works! I hope to be posting many ambigrams here and that you will be as kind as to leave a comment! Thanks in advance!

Martijn