It’s a little rough as it came straight from a scan, but I’m proud to present to you my first ambigram (it still reads “Alec Rios” when rotated 180 degrees).

After being inspired by ambigram logos and particularly the work of John Langdon, I started sketching fragments and ideas for an ambigram of my own name. One week and several paper balls later, I came up with a rough draft to work off of. The last step was to refine it and trace it with a pen. Overall, the outcome was worth the paper cuts and dizziness from rotating the paper back and forth so much. Let me know what you think in the comments.

I took these about a week ago at Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. They had a big exhibit with 4 or 5 gorillas that I spent a long time watching and photographing. They have such character and show so much emotion so I wanted to share a few pictures with you. Let me know what you think.

If you’re into carefree drawing like sketching and doodling, you might be interested in a new web service—Sketchplanet. Registration is quick and easy, which allows more freedom socially and artistically. After sketching, you can title it, add tags, and it will be displayed in your artist profile. You can also favorite and comment on other sketches from the fast…

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I published the first post on my blog over 4 months ago. Many design showcases, random doodles, and logo discussions later, I’ve finally reached the milestone of 50 published articles. I know I’ve slowed down a lot over that time, which isn’t the smartest thing to do, but I got here eventually.

Thank You

I’d like to thank everyone who has…

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After finding some more of these “letter shaped logos,” I decided to revisit my previous post that was published a little over a month ago. So here are four more logos that cleverly form icons using type:

Round 5 by Junian

Ludos by Raja Sandhu

Steers Restaurant by Fogra

JCK by Raja Sandhu

Let me know what you think about these in your comments.

I dug this up out of my junk drawer. It’s just another doodle created on the lined pages of my geography notebook. Weaved thorny vines. Looks like a tattoo design. There are lots of little stray lines and other mistakes, but all I used was pen, so I don’t feel too bad. I rarely use pencil at school so…

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I’ve written before about the Two Ways to Interpret Good Art and it’s about time this sequel gets published. Unfortunately, not all art is beautiful. In your life, your eyes will have to endure the sight of a sloppy painting. Your ears will have to endure the sound of a nonrhythmic song. Your nose will have to endure the…

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Doodlage is a blog all about the underrated art of doodling, based on the idea that “everybody is an artist.” They feature sketches and doodles drawn on just about anything you can think of. The creators, LeO and RaShell, liked some of my doodles that I’ve posted here on my blog, so they invited me to be a guest…

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I’ve learned a few things in my blogging experience so far and some of them demonstrate how to be a bad blogger. There are countless articles floating around about becoming a better blogger, so here are 21 tips in sarcastic form to put kind of a fresh spin on these recycled blog teachings.

General Bad Blogging
Miscellaneous tips to make you…

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In any type of art, there are artists and their creations that can be one of two things for us. These things are complete opposites and each make us act a certain way.

1. Inspiring - This is exactly how you should interpret good art. When you see an amazing drawing or listen to some incredible music, you should be…

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