Emma Shean

AUB visual communications course, 22

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Year 3 - Term 1

Specialist Practice / Dissertation

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Booklet of Ambigrams

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Final Ambigram Mockups

I really liked the way these came out, however I wish I was more skilled in Photoshop to make them look even more realistic.

Despite this, I believe they turned out very well and gave an excellent idea to how these would look in real life on the streets of Bournemouth.

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30/05/24 - Photographs of walking route

Using my map, I walked around the route I had planned out for my ambigrams, taking pictures of each location to use for mockups later.

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Map Mockups

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24/05/24 - Using Tape

I used some yellow tape (the colour I wanted my ambigrams to be in) to create a real life exhibition of what my ambigrams would look like on the street.

At first, people could not read what was written, however with constant changes I got to a point where people were walking past and instantly understanding what it said. This was successful, and gave me an impression to how the public would react when they saw these around the Bournemouth beach and gardens.

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24/05/24 - More Ambigrams

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26/05/24 - Making the Map

Using the textures from my inks, I added effects on them in Illustrator/Photoshop and added them to my map.

I then created another ambigram as the logo instead of using the shell one from before, as it was no longer relevant to my project.

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25/05/24 - Textures for Map

Inspired by David Hockney, using Brusho powder, Azteca markers and water.

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23/05/24 - David Hockney

Sally suggested I research David Hockney, and I remembered I went to Salts Mill in 2022. I used these photographs I took as primary research, and I loved the way he sectioned off areas with textured paints. I wondered if I could replicate this.

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23/05/24 - Helen Cann

Artist Research

My favourite was the black and white map, as it is unusual to see a map with a dark background. I thought this was unique and could fit with my project well.

Cann said:

“The maps were inspired by a trip to Swedish Lapland where I learnt to drive my own dog sledge through some incredible midwinter landscape. My enduring memories were the ice crystalising on my eyelashes, the contrast of white snow against the dark (there were very few hours of daylight) and watching the Northern Lights sky-dance from the middle of a frozen lake on New Year's eve.”

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23/05/24 - Feedback

Walking trail down by the beach, gardens

Have whole story from research survey on map, not just keywords

Point of Sales stand with physical maps + tourist information. Possibly mock-up physical hut

Tape/stencil on ground to experiment

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22//05/24 - Adding More Text

By adding more text above and below the ambigrams, it indicates more clearly that this text can be read from both directions. It also means I could incorporate a poem into this street exhibition, which is something I have wanted to do for a while.

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22/05/24 - Street Mockups

Using the pavement photos I took and the Illustrator files of my ambigrams, I did mockups to see what it would look like in a real setting.

I tested out different colours from my colour palette I made when doing the logos, and liked the bright yellow the best. It stood out amongst the muted buildings and greenery, and yellow is associated with sun and happiness, which is how I wanted people to think of Bournemouth. I also quite liked how it popped with the double yellow lines on the road, bringing this unnatural colour further into the environment.

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22/05/24 - Pictures of Pavement

I took some photographs of the pavement around my accommodation to use in my mockups.

I only really liked the last two as it had the clearest, most unobstructed view of the pavement.

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21/05/24 - Ambigrams on Illustrator

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20/05/24 - Ambigram Sketches

After looking at Roland Scheil’s work, I decided to create my own ambigrams using key words from the research survey I sent out.

It was extremely difficult at first, as I didn’t understand how the letters were supposed to work together, however I began to get the hang of the technique and actually quite enjoyed it.