Ambigrams are a form of artwork that can display two things when read in reverse. Recently, a customer stopped by our Honolulu tattoo studio to consult with Tattoo Adam about doing a piece that his name one way, and his girl’s name the other. Pictured above you can see his name (Gavin) and below hers (Alexis), both pictures of the same stencil turned in a different way. This Ambigram tattoo was later inked by Adam himself!
Ambigrams were recognized as early as 1893 in the published works of artist, Pete Newell, who was already famous for his work on Lewis Carroll and Mark Twain’s children’s classical books. The style can be considered a form of calligraphy and it is possible that its existence dates even further, but Newell included the style at the end of one of his books, thus directing the public eye to this type of artwork.
You can find Ambigram generators online at a number of sites including Flip Script, which allows you to create a piece which you can purchase to get inked! Ambigrams are not that common a request for tattoo artists but with this kind of technology and people looking for new ways to express themselves, it is only a matter of time before we see more of these tattoos!
Come down to our tattoo shop in Waikiki and get your Ambigram, banagram, instagram, you name it tattoo with our professional Hawaii tattooists at 434 Tattoo!
434 Custom Tattooing 
That is a really nice FlipScript ambigram tattoo. I am sure that the original (non-traced) design that the customer surely purchased was even more spectacular!