“Can we spell it with ampersands?”

Prob­a­bly no oth­er hol­i­day or obser­vance day’s date has been deter­mined with the par­tic­u­lar cri­te­ria as Nation­al Amper­sand Day. That cri­te­ria, quite sim­ply, is “Can we spell it with ampersands?”

The word “SEPTEMBER” and the numer­al “8” were select­ed specif­i­cal­ly because, using a cer­tain type­style for each amper­sand, you can “spell out” the date with amper­sands, as shown in this typogram*, where­in each amper­sand resem­bles the char­ac­ter it stands in for. 

The amper­sands here are used much the same as pic­tographs or hiero­glyph­ics, which sim­ply means “rec­og­niz­able pic­tures of the things rep­re­sent­ed.” This has ren­dered a unique, visu­al­ly descrip­tive logo­type, spelling out of the des­ig­nat­ed date of Nation­al Amper­sand Day. (The offi­cial Nation­al Amper­sand Day logo, which is cir­cu­lar, is shown a few para­graphs down.)

For you typophiles, here are the fonts & fam­i­lies used in the Sep­tem­ber 8 typogram*:

Aside from three char­ac­ters, each amper­sand in a spe­cif­ic font resem­bles a let­ter and the num­ber. Just a glance tells you it says “Sep­tem­ber.” The “8” might take a moment or two. Only the P, M & R don’t fit in. But if one of you sharp-​witted amper­sand fans has a suit­able idea for any of those let­ters, drop it in the sug­ges­tion box. 

*A typogram is the delib­er­ate use of typog­ra­phy to express an idea visu­al­ly, such as “adddi­tion” & “UPPER&lowercase.” The above ren­dered “SEPTEMBER 8” would be a true pic­togram if it spelled “AMPERSAND” with amper­sands, but since there’s no term for spelling a date with amper­sands we’ll call this a typogram & get away with it, since it does visu­al­ly express what the date stands for.

National Ampersand Day logo

The logo for Nation­al Amper­sand Day was designed by Chaz DeS­i­mone, graph­ic design­er & typog­ra­ph­er & cre­ator of Amper­Art. It first appeared in Sep­tem­ber 2015 on Nation­al Day Calendar.

For you extreme typophiles & amper­fans, here are the font fam­i­lies used in the offi­cial Nation­al Amper­sand Day logo, designed by Chaz DeSimone:

The National Day Calendar organization

Nation­al Day Cal­en­dar is an orga­ni­za­tion that curates all spe­cial days of the year, such as hol­i­days, com­mem­o­ra­tive days, and aware­ness days. Vis­it their enlight­en­ing & enter­tain­ing web­site: nation​al​day​cal​en​dar​.com. Order their beau­ti­ful & fun cal­en­dar for your­self and give as gifts, too.

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Do you know any September 8 birthdays?

Wish some­one spe­cial a HAPPY AMPERSAND BIRTHDAY on Sep­tem­ber 8. Send them this link & they’ll see how fun & spe­cial their birth­day real­ly is! 

 amper​art​.com/​h​a​p​p​y​-​b​i​r​t​h​d​a​y​-​a​m​p​e​r​s​a​n​d​-​day

Do you know a Birthday Boy or a Birthday Girl whose special day falls on National Ampersand Day, September 8? 

Send them this link to their own Birthday Page featuring the stylish greeting you see above & fun facts about the ampersand:

amper​art​.com/​h​a​p​p​y​-​b​i​r​t​h​d​a​y​-​a​m​p​e​r​s​a​n​d​-​day

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

 

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More about the ampersand

Did You Know…

& The amper­sand used to be the last let­ter of the alphabet?

&  The amper­sand is a lig­a­ture of “e” & “t”? That’s “et” in Latin, mean­ing “and.”

&  The word “amper­sand” is a slur­ring of “real words” run togeth­er over time?

&  The plus sign is actu­al­ly an ampersand?

Read about these & oth­er fun facts here.

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ENJOY THE FUN & FABULOUS AMPERSAND
SUBSCRIBE HERE

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Applaud the Ampersand

Cel­e­brate Nation­al Amper­sand Day by hav­ing fun with it:

&  Use lots & lots of ampersands!

&  Sub­sti­tute “&” for “and” in every­thing you write.

&  Think of syl­la­ble replace­ments such as &roid, c&elabra, b&.

&  Send friends whose names con­tain “and” a spe­cial note — &y, &rea, Alex&er, Gr&ma.

&  Design new styles of amper­sands. (Remem­ber, the amper­sand rep­re­sents the let­ters “et.”)

&  Use #Amper­sand­Day & #Amper­Art on social media.

&  Tell your friends to vis­it Amper​Art​.com.

&  Send any­one whose birth­day is Sep­tem­ber 8 this Hap­py Birth­day link: 
      amper​art​.com/​h​a​p​p​y​-​b​i​r​t​h​d​a​y​-​a​m​p​e​r​s​a​n​d​-​day