Looking at words from the other side

July 1, 2009 12:27 PM

I'm looking for a font that will read as the same word (or phrase or whathaveyou) upside down or rightside up. Similar to this, but, you know, it'd say "Come In" both ways (or "Go Away" depending on how you feel, har har). I cannot put my hands on an example that does what I want.

I have seen this done with handprinted calligraphy, but I could swear I saw a free font not too long ago that would do this. I have searched "reversible font" and "upside down font" to no avail. I will admit that my Google skills aren't skillz.

Does this ring a bell with anyone? Help Hive Mind!

posted by lucyleaf to media & arts (12 comments total)

It's called an ambigram, but I don't know of any fonts that accomplish it easliy.
posted by sjuhawk31 at 12:30 PM on July 1

I just doesn't seem logical to me that a single font could automatically make an ambigram.

Just using your examples, if you want it to say "Come In", the O would have to look like the I in reverse, but using "Go Away" the O would have to look like the A. I know many ambigrams squish two letters into one, but you couldn't do that either.
posted by soelo at 12:35 PM on July 1

It doesn't really work that way. To make an ambigram font, you'd need at least 676 separate glyphs, and the artistic and technical challenges would be - uh, tremendous or nigh-impossible are the words I'm looking for. If you just want something that says "Go Away" or "Come In" both ways, you would have to draw it yourself or hire someone to draw it for you.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 12:37 PM on July 1

No font can do this, because for it to work the appearance of each glyph would depend on the content of the entire phrase.
posted by ook at 12:37 PM on July 1

I think I must have dreamed this free font thing.
posted by lucyleaf at 12:39 PM on July 1

Thanks for the ambigram term and link, sjuhawk31! And thanks to everyone for the info.

This is actually for a tattoo idea I have, and I think it'd be worth it to ask one of my artist friends to work with me on it.
posted by lucyleaf at 12:42 PM on July 1

There may not be a font, but here's a free ambigram generator that you might want to check out.
posted by jordanlewis at 12:44 PM on July 1 [2 favorites]

Here's a guide/walkthrough on designing your own ambigrams, which might come in handy.
posted by Metroid Baby at 12:46 PM on July 1

Kevin Pease makes some nice ones - he's done at least one custom one for me:

http://ceruleanstimuli.com/ambigram/index.html
posted by GJSchaller at 1:04 PM on July 1

A friend of mine has a tattoo like that - it says her name both right side up and upside down. she didn't find it amusing when I said "cool! now guys will know your name whichever end is up!" (Just to prepare you for potential future smatrtassery you may encounter)
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:23 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

This has little if any bearing on the question, but I wanted to encourage everyone to click the "Elements" entry at the link GJSchaller posted above. That one's really astounding.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:20 PM on July 1

Ambigrams are also the province of Scott Kim, though he refers to them as "inversions."

God, how I used to struggle through trying to create these in high school...
posted by youarenothere at 5:23 PM on July 1