Inversions and Ambigrams by Scott Kim

"Peggy" ambigram designed by my friend Peggy in 1982.

An inversion is a word or name written so it reads in more than one way. For instance, the word Inversions above is my name upside down. Douglas Hofstadter coined ambigram as the generic word for inversions. I drew my first inversion in 1975 in an art class, wrote a book called Inversions in 1981, and am now doing animated inversions.  Click here for more examples.

Dance 180 degree rotation, 1990 BRIANNA, JORDAN. 1997 SYMMETRY. 180 degree rotation. Turn this design upside down and each name reads the same both ways. JIMMY STEWART. 1997 SYMMETRY. Rotation by 180 degrees. Turn this design upside down and it reads the same. Synergy 1981 SYMMETRY. Tessellation with two 90° centers of rotation. J. S. Bach 1981 SYMMETRY. Reflection about a vertical axis. Looks the same in a mirror. Mozart 1981 SYMMETRY. Rotation by 180 degrees.