Us by John Langdon

Ambigrams 24 September 2015 0 Comments

Us by John Langdon

John Langdon painted this figure-ground ambigram, which he titled Us, way back in 1996.  What is the first thing that you see when you look at this painting?  Do you see the words Me or You?  It’s impossible to see both at once since the word You occupies the negative space inside the word Me.  […]

Question/Answer by John Langdon

Ambigrams 8 September 2014 0 Comments

Question/Answer by John Langdon

What is the first word that you see in this figure/ground painting from John Langdon?  Do you see the question or the answer?  Can you find both? To see a similar painting from John Langdon, revisit his painting titled Love. (via John Langdon)

Rotating Faces / Vases Optical Illusion

Ambiguous,Video 10 April 2014 0 Comments

Rotating Faces / Vases Optical Illusion

We featured a post last year about ambiguous metal sculptures that can be created using photographs of your own face.  The sculptures can either look like two faces looking at each other, or a vase (or candlestick if you have a look at the post referenced above).  The design is based on psychologist Edgar Rubin’s […]

Logos That Are Also Optical Illusions

Ambiguous,Hidden Objects 5 September 2013 5 Comments

fedex logo optical illusion

Many organizations incorporate some sort of optical illusion or other deceptive element into the very logos that they build their identity around.  For example, did you know that the FedEx logo includes a hidden graphical message?  The white space between the E and the X is an arrow pointing to the right.  This arrow is […]

Figure-Ground Illusion Scupltures

Ambiguous 1 April 2013 0 Comments

Face or Vase

In the early 20th century, psychologist Edgar Rubin developed the figure-ground vase (also known as Rubin’s vase).  This ambiguous figure can be interpreted as either a vase or two faces looking at each other.   Metal Portraits, a company based in Suwanee, Georgia, has taken the figure-ground vase concept to an entirely new level by creating […]

Love by John Langdon

Ambigrams 5 September 2012 0 Comments

Love by John Langdon

What word do you see below?  Do you see one word or two words? There are two distinct words, that happen to be polar opposites of one another within this figure-ground ambigram.  Perhaps the word that you see first says something about your personality or current state of happiness.

Fact / Fiction Ambigram

Ambigrams 6 June 2012 1 Comment

Fact / Fiction Ambigram by Punya Mishra

When you look at the following ambigram, do you first see FACT or FICTION?  Or do you see another word? Oftentimes, it seems like the two are indistinguishable.  The designer of this work, Michigan State University professor Punya Mishra, ponders: “The question is… is that fact and fiction or is it making a meta statement […]