Puzzling News / June 2000


	SCOTT KIM’S PUZZLING NEWS / JUNE 2000 Inversions in Real Life

Inversions are words that read in more than one way, like NOON or OTTO. Over the years people have asked me to design inversions for many applications. Here are some of the most interesting.
     Weddings. I have created many designs in which the first names of a couple turn into each other. Naturally when I got married I created an inversion for myself and my wife Amy. The most elaborate wedding inversion I've done was for Evan and Becky.
     Logos. I'm often asked to create logos for high-tech companies. Here are samples. My best known work is the Silicon Graphics logo (recently retired). I usually recommend against using inversions as logos because they are not legible enough. I've recently stopped doing logos so I can focus on game design. One of the best known inversion logos was designed by Raymond Loewy International, UK, 1966 for the clothing brand New Man.
     Signs. Wouldn't it be nice to have a PUSH that seen from the opposite side of a glass door read as PULL? What about an OPEN sign that inverted to become CLOSED? The closest I've seen is an anagram: OPEN becomes NOPE.
    Magicians. I've designed quite a few inversions for magicians, like Meir Yedid. Some use them on their business cards.
     Satellites. In 1982 I designed a logo for the GOES satellite, which stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, not to be confused with GEOS. The logo was only used internally at Ford Aerospace; it never made it onto the satellite itself.
     Tires. I read a news story some years back about an entire font in which every letter inverts. The font was created as a research project at a tire company, with the justification that words on tires need to be able to be read both upside down and right side up. Sounds like a solution in search of a problem, but that didn't stop the inventor from filing for a patent.
     Book covers. For my own book Inversions I created an inversion that turned the title into my name. John Landon did likewise for his lettering book Wordplay. John recently did a spectacular title ambigram for the techno-thriller Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. He also created ambigrams scattered throughout the book that figure in the plot.
     Bilingual signs. The Thai airlines logo looks like it might read in both Thai and English. I've heard of signs in Israel that read in both English left to right and Hebrew right to left, but never actually seen any. Can any of you let me know about bilingual inversions you have seen?

WHAT’S NEW JUNE 2000

Inversion of the Month: Scott Kim. Not for me, but for a couple whose first names are Scott and Kim.

NewMedia Brain Candy. Tangled Tale and other Flash puzzles.

Discover Magazine Boggler. June: The Constellations of Iltoz, Satellites of Iltoz, Skydiving on Iltoz. Mind-boggling three-dimensional puzzles.

What is a Puzzle? (article) What makes them fun? How are they different from riddles, games and other forms of entertainment? How can defining "puzzle" help us design better puzzles? Originally published on The Games Cafe.

OTHER NEWSLETTERS
Click here for other issues of my monthly newsletter.

Like my monthly newsletter? Want to receive it by email every month? Just enter your email address below and click "Join". I won't give your address to anyone else, and you can cancel any time.

Join Scott Kim’s Puzzling News!