Maureen

This is a rather more sophisticated take on the idea of a ‘patchwork’ ambigram. The design works in exactly the same way as both of the ambigrams in Becca & Dave, albeit with the twist that I have combined two letters – the a and the u – to create, when rotated through 90°, the initial m. However, whereas the Becca & Dave design is very clearly based on a square grid, this is rather less regimented and uses cursive, and more expressive, letterforms.

It is clear from this design how patchwork ambigrams have to work. You need to create two centres of rotational symmetry: the first at one end of the word and above it (in this case above and between the m and the au) and a second at the other end of the word and below it (here below and equidistant between the r and the n).

This particular type of construction is, therefore, only possible using words with four or more letters (which makes Dave a minimal example). But as word length increases the blank spaces within the repeated design will be become distractingly large and less satisfactory.

Indeed, this design is made to appear more compact than it would otherwise be by the slightly tricksy ee, which allows the four orientations of the second half of the name to fit together very snugly. In terms of capitalization, however, the design is all over the place, with lower-case forms of au and ee, and upper-case forms of r and n. As for the m, who can say?

And who is Maureen? My mother, who now has her very own ambigram... and so, also, does my father: James.