Something for 01101001

[SeanF]

Hey, 01101001, I was just wondering if you've seen the cover art for the new 20th Anniversary DVD of The Princess Bride.

And if so, what you think of it.



(I can't help wondering why they dotted the "i" in "Bride" but not the one in "Princess"...)

[Jason_Roberts]

Because you wouldn't get the cool word-art effect if you did.

[SeanF]

Because you wouldn't get the cool word-art effect if you did.

Why not? The "ri" in "Princess" flips over to become the "ri" in "Bride." That two-letter combination could be a perfect ambigram all by itself. As it is, not only is there only one dot, but the two r's aren't even the same.

[01101001]

Why not? The "ri" in "Princess" flips over to become the "ri" in "Bride." That two-letter combination could be a perfect ambigram all by itself. As it is, not only is there only one dot, but the two r's aren't even the same.

Good eye. I'm torn. I don't like that the design sort of blows the correct case of the letters, with an internal capital R. However, it does eliminate some repetition of having two similar "ri" digraphs. Sometimes repetition re-inforces the design; letters are supposed to look similar when they reappear. But, a design goal might have been to suggest more whimsy.

I wonder if the artist thought about the choices. I don't recognize the author by style. Someone who doesn't regularly do ambigrams might not see the opportunity and just be happy to achieve something readable. A quick web scan didn't reveal one of the usual artists taking credit for it.

I don't think I would have settled for the "cess" solution. I suspect better could be had, but it's only instinct. Maybe not.

Anyway, it's always good to see more ambigrams in the popular media. It translates to more public interest and eventually more website hits for me.

It triggered a connection in my mind -- maybe because I had seen the Queen and Duke thread -- and I was compelled to do this for a different princess (and because Diana is bound to be a good search-engine term):

[KaiYeves]

I saw a little of that a while ago. Man, it's funny!

[01101001]

Which brings us to Garrett Lisi.

Since I just invoked the name, and a search engine might bring unfortunate parties here, this isn't the Garrett Lisi "Theory of Everything" topic. If you're looking for that, see: New Scientist reports: Theory of Everything.

Far from thoroughly understanding his ideas, and frankly not interested enough -- yet -- to do the work, I had to employ the only goodness check on Garrett Lisi I can, the ambigram test: will his name tile an infinite plane, while at the same time presenting 180-degree rotational symmetry, so it can be read both up and down, forever and ever? Well, will it?



Yep. He gets the check mark. It's just not quite as interesting and elegant as, say...