A ambigramme , sometimes called inversion , is the graphic figure of a word which, seen under some Symétrie or with a certain rotation, gives either the same word, or another mot.

The existence of ambigrammes is made possible by the human capacity to recognize characters carried out in an imperfect way. The realization of ambigrammes is often a topic of exercises in the schools of Graphisme and requires the control of the optical illusions and symmetries. It is also a exercise of Calligraphie.

Various types of ambigrammes

The ambigrammes generally belong to one or more of these categories:

• mirror , the logo is readable according to an axial symmetry and thus in a mirror
• swivelling , the logo is readable according to a rotation or a central symmetry (rotation of 180°)
• three-dimensional , the logo is readable according to several axes of natural space
• , the word is naturally a ambigramme without any calligraphic transformation, it is the case of the words: data base, up & DNN (abbreviation of down) etc

Examples of ambigrammes

The ambigrammes are sometimes used in initials and logos:

• the group ABBA
• Paul McCartney on the cover of its album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard
• Nine Inch Nails shortened NIИ
• for the play-video
• of the mark of clothing New Man
• of the French television channel TF1 at a certain time
• the station of the Seized
• the cover of the Price Pulitzer Gödel, Escher, Bach, the bits of an eternal garland
• the members of the OuLiPo as certain participants in the Mailing list which is devoted to him have a ambigramme of their name
• in the novel Angels and demons of Dan Brown
• Frontage of the Station of North in Paris, France: the word " entrée" registered in cursive writing with the frontispiece of the new hall of reception out of glass of the regional trains, on the line, is read " sortie" by transparency, when one is inside the hall

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