Create an ambigram-style logo

via ComputerArts
John Langdon reveals how to bring rotational symmetry to your work, here.

A Matter of Perspective

The design above is from a work in progress of a rubber stamp I was going to carve, but lost both steam and motivation to finish it. I still like the concept, though the ambigram of the word perspective is tough to read, and the half full / half empty glass artwork doesn’t looks correct when the artwork is above of the word.

. . .

It is sometimes very hard to stay motivated and believe in what you are doing when those around you — at work, within a group you are / were a part of, friends, former friends, acquaintances, total strangers, newspaper and radio headlines, talking heads on TV, etc. — are stressing the negatives of life constantly and continually. In fact, they celebrate and revel in the negatives.

I have a pretty good life. I feel very fortunate that I do have a job, and it is one that I love doing. It has changed over the years, but that isn’t a bad thing. The key is to find a balance, and if there isn’t one, then create one somehow.

. . .

Below are some quotes from A. A. Milne’s character Eyore:

“Oh bother, what does it matter they are going to do what they want anyways.”

”Eeyore,” said Owl, “Christopher Robin is giving a party.”
“Very interesting,” said Eeyore. “I suppose they will be sending me down the odd bits which got trodden on. Kind and Thoughtful. Not at all, don't mention it.”

“Good morning, Pooh Bear,” said Eeyore gloomily. “If it is a good morning,” he said. “Which I doubt,” said he.
“Why, what's the matter?”
“Nothing, Pooh Bear, nothing. We can't all, and some of us don't. That's all there is to it.”
“Can't all what?” said Pooh, rubbing his nose.
“Gaiety. Song-and-dance. Here we go round the mulberry bush.”

. . .

So how does one handle oneself around people that feel that they absolutely deserve and entitled to something just for being, and not that they need to make positive events happen for themselves, but rather complain and gossip to everyone they come in contact with, and take no personal responsibility?

How does one maintain the perspective that your glass is never half empty?

. . .

A few days after I started this post, I came across this identity by Helms Workshop. Very simply, nicely handled.

Love Knows No Bounding Box, Pt. 2

The final four!

The ambigram printed 8-up on a sheet of temporary tattoo paper from  http://temporarytattoopaper.net  I let it dry for 36 hours.

I trimmed the paper and the adhesive sheet in half, and the peeled back the the adhesive sheet to begin to apply it.

I gently rubbed the adhesive sheet with my fingers, and used the tip of an X-Acto knife to poke any air bubbles and worked them out. I gave a good final rub with an 30-year-old burnisher used in the past for transfer lettering sheets. I let this dry for 18 hours.

Cut apart

And trimmed close to the edge of the artwork. It seemed like leaving .187"+  around the artwork is the best idea, since the adhesive material can sometimes tend to curl back on itself when you remove the clear backing. Things you learn upon “doing.”

My first attempt failed as it was way too humid in the bathroom after our shower, and the tattoo curled up on itself.  My second attempt -- success! 

Love Knows No Bounding Box

A couple of years ago, I was made aware of the group To Write Love on Her Arms. It was encouraged [I think through either FaceBook or MySpace] to show support for people battling depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide by writing the word love on your own arm on Valentine’s Day 2008 and then posting photos of it online.

I decided to use an ambigram of the word love, so that it could be read in different orientations of my arm. I drew it on using a thin purple Sharpie. I think I freaked a few people in my department that day who thought it might be real. No one said a thing to me, but then again, I do wear a silver hoop earring, and for years had a ponytail.

Made up of 60 invisible points

Recently at work, I was using Adobe Illustrator to auto-trace scans of clients signatures in order to turn them into a font for use in multi-part project. As I was converting, adjusting, and fine-tuning the traced signatures, I found it interesting seeing all of the points and handles controlling the shape of the artwork. Then it occurred to me that the love ambigram might look neat — and extremely geeky — if the points and a few of the handles were shown as part of the final artwork. Love is an ongoing process of adjustments and fine-tuning as our lives unfold around us. And personally, I only share my invisible “points and handles” with a select few trusted friends.

Screenshot of bounding box

Point and handles of vector artwork are “behind the scenes” of the shape and are only visible when working on the original native file. So I manually added bigger blue boxes and lines to represent the exaggerated points and some of the handles [see larger image below]. In Illustrator, when you select one or more objects with the Selection tool [a black arrow], a bounding box displays around them. You then can use the bounding box to move, rotate, duplicate, and scale objects by dragging the object or a handle (one of the hollow squares along the bounding box).

I thought it might be interesting if the bounding box was broken open and reflected [and a working title became Love Breaking Bounding Boxes], but the design was getting too busy looking. So eliminating the bounding box from the design led to a simplified message, as well as title of the design. This year, rather than drawing the design onto my arm, I’m creating a temporary tattoo to apply. I’ll post a photo of the final applied image hopefully later this week.

So this year, I encourage you to show support for everyone everywhere battling the demons depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide by writing love on your arm.