«Symbiotograms»- These ambigrams depict two words, one viewed from each of two vantage points. They can be either rotational or bi-lateral.

Figure/ground Relationships- The negative spaces within the letterforms also read as letters. See Figure/ground section of Painting Page.

Oscillations- These words are designed to read as either of two words, depending on a (voluntary?) perception shift – similar to the familiar illusion of the two profiles or the chalice. (David Slavitt)

 

Symmetrical Ambigrams

Rotational- These words read the same when inverted or (rotated 180 degrees).

Bilateral/Mirror Image- These words read the same when viewed from behind (if printed on a transparent surface) or seen in a mirror.

Chain (Rotational)- These ambigrams cannot exist as one word alone, but depend on being linked to infinite repetitions of the word. They are created by dividing the word into different parts and designing each part as a rotation. They are best displayed in a circle or a spiral configuration.

Chain (Bilateral)- These have the same linking properties as rotational chains, but read the same in a mirror, or from behind.

«Web» ambigrams- These are an extension of the chain ambigram category. The word CONTINUITY by itself almost made a credible rotational chain, but the Y (made from the first N) lacked a tail. In order to give it a tail, the N had to have the same tail above it, thus necessitating a vertical series of horizontal chains, linked by that shared tail.

Totems- In these ambigrams, the words read vertically, and have mirror-image symmetry. My rorschach- style paintings fall into this category.