Goodbye 2020 (whew), welcome 2021

by | Thursday, December 31, 2020

2020 has been a heck of a year… and maybe in hindsight (hindsight, of course, being 2020) it will all make sense. But, I think we can all agree that it is time to let it go.

A lot has changed this past year but one tradition we wanted to keep alive was the short videos we create to welcome the new year—a family tradition since 2008. Our videos are usually typographical in nature with some kind of an AHA! moment built in. This year’s video is somewhat different in that it is entirely created on the computer. This is something we have resisted doing since a large part of the fun has been designing the props and the process of shooting/editing to create the final video. However, as my friend Neelakshi pointed out, in some ways it is fitting that this year’s video should be entirely created on a computer since that’s where we did everything!

Check out the latest video, saying goodbye to 2020 and welcoming 2021. May this year be one of joy and peace for all.

You can see all the previous years’ videos here. As you can see we have had a lot of fun over the years.

The idea behind the video?

The video hinges on writing the word “zero” in such a way that it reads “one” when rotated by 180 degrees.

Such designs (that let you read words in more than one way) are called ambigrams. You can learn more about ambigrams (and the underlying mathematical ideas behind these designs) here or by watching the video below.

Topics related to this post: Aesthetics | Ambigrams | Art | ASU | COVID19 | Creativity | Design | Fun | Games | Mathematics | Personal | Puzzles | Video | Worth Reading

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3 Comments

  1. Marsha Woodbury

    I am so grateful to have my eyes opened to all the creativity. What a great brain, and thanks for sharing with us!

    Reply
  2. Shenglan Zhang

    I enjoyed watching it, Punya! Smita seems forever in her early thirties! Happy New Year!

    Reply
  3. Chris Pineson

    Well, 2020 now has officially gone, and all I want is 2021 could be much better, hope no more COVID-19, hope no riot in US, hope no flood in China, hope no earthquake, hope no wildfire in Australia. 2021 please treat all the mankind better.

    Reply

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