Inversions: A Catalog of Calligraphic Cartwheels
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Book Overview
Backword by Jef Raskin "Inversions" are words that read the same upside down or in a mirror. Or words cleverly hidden inside other words. Each has something to fool the eye, a special visual trick; at the same time the words Kim has chosen to illustrate in this imaginative catalog of challenging visual wordplay reflect the idea of symmetry, both in art and in science. Sixty pages of images portray short and long words, words describing symmetries, variations on G?del, Escher, Bach and on calligraphic themes, and contemporary, historical, and personal names. They are followed by an illustrated text that explores the skills that go into making inversions: symmetry, vision, and letterforms; processes and examples; and associations with music, wordplay, and art. The book is designed so that the text is also symmetrical - what is said in the lefthand column of a page frequently matches the meaning of what is said in the righthand column. Scott Kim is a PhD. candidate in computer science and graphic design at Stanford University.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0070345465
ISBN13:9780070345461
Release Date:January 1981
Publisher:BYTE
Length:122 Pages
Weight:0.89 lbs.
Customer Reviews
3 ratings
Inspiring letters
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
I can't stop looking at this book. I already used his concepts to do the alphabetic origami that he does so well for friends and family. Then I actually read the text (side irony: I was too involved in looking at the words to read) and the ideas he gives are great food for thought. Delicious in fact.
Yes except for the Sun logo!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
I bought this book after reading Douglas Hofstadter's GEB. I liked it a lot; I'm the type who fiddles with logos and word- and letter-forms a lot.The Sun Microsystems logo is a well-known "inversion" that Scott Kim didn't make. I even tried to congratulate him on it once. It's by Vaughn Pratt.Kim, according to a comment on his web site, did the original Silicon Graphics (SGI) logo.
Excellent book for unique typographical posibilities
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
I think that every graphitti artist should read this book before defacing a wall. It was written by the designer of the logo for Sun Microsystems and a few others. It is a really facinating book, it shows you how to think the same way as the author, and how to design text that can be read as one word right-side up, and as another up-side down. I highly recommend it.Darius
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