When software developer Mark Hunter created an ambigram ring out of his first and last name, he immediately recognized that it would be the perfect thing for couples as well as friends and family to show their connection in a cool and unique way. No one who had seen the ring had ever encountered (or heard) of an ambigram, so they were shocked to see a word rotate to become something entirely different. Unfortunately, the work involved in that creation was just too great to offer on a larger scale.
So, Mark contacted most of the ambigram artists in the world to pitch his idea of building a software system that would create ambigrams automatically, simply by supplying the two words for the creation. In fact, he started to write the foundation for the system.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, ambigram artist extraordinaire Mark Palmer had a similar idea and brought with him years of experience, but needed a partner to write the software and build the database. He went so far as to receive quotes to build the system, and it was clear to him that it was going to be a sizable task...especially if done right.
Young and ambitious, these two decided that with a lot of hard work (and with a lot of help from Mark's brother, Ryan), they could build such a system themselves. Backed with over four years of Mark Palmer's designs, and Mark Hunter's partially written application to break ambigrams into SVG ('Structured Vector Graphics') outlines and assemble them in 'real-time', they decided to build the system. Some others had theorized that software could be built that would generate rotational ambigrams, but many people had concluded that it would be a formiddable task.
Yet, a little over six months after they first made contact, the Glyphusion Ambigram Generator was born! The complete system contains over 200,000 different strokes to create the designs, was able to create over 10,000 ambigrams in just its first 24 hours on the Internet, and surprisingly, contains absolutely NO graphics in the database. Every design is uniquely solved and created as it is requested.
Currently, the generator is being used to create tattoo designs at WowTattoos, and to create personalized gifts here at FlipScript.
