So you want to get your first tattoo?
Are you sure? If you are still on the fence read this article where I discuss on deciding to get a tattoo.
Are you completely sure?
Okay Great, let’s talk strategy. First thing is, you need to decide on placement. The design also matter but I would prioritize placement over the design. The placement can hugely affect the type of design you want to get. I would recommend getting the first tattoo on somewhere it’s not visible when you wear a short and a t shirt. You could be a badass and get a face tattoo first, but kind of a stupid move don’t you think?
This is just sensible advice but if you feel like you are up for displaying a very visible tattoo, more power to you.
Deciding the Placement of the tattoo
First thing to consider when deciding placement is the strength of your body part. It’s like this. Tattoos easily give more visual attention to the body part it’s placed on. So if you are getting a small to medium size tattoo it’s better to place it in a stronger area of your body. Say you have a bit of beer gut (I know many dudes can relate to this) but you have good muscle tone in your shoulders. A tattoo around the collar bone will be better for you than something around your rib cage.
However tattoos can give a more stronger visual appeal to a weaker body part of yours as well. But in my opinion for that the tattoo has to be considerably big like a full or a half sleeve. There’s really no one size fits all when it comes to this but I hope you get the idea. Subject the strengths and weaknesses of your body into consideration when selecting a tattoo placement is the conclusion of this.
Another thing to consider when selecting placement is whether you’ll eventually want to get a bigger piece in that area. Say you’d like to have a full sleeve one day. It’ll be stupid to place a smaller tattoo right in the middle of your forearm because then you’ll have to work your sleeve around that tattoo. However if you feel like the tattoo you get can become a part of a larger tattoo then no worries go ahead with it.
Deciding the Style of the tattoo
Okay now you’re comfortable with the placement. Now it’s time to select the design. There are many different tattoo genres and even more sub genres of these main genres. Lately due to the Hype Train Tattoo Industry has become different styles of tattoos emerge every other week or so.
Do a google search or a Pinterst search on the kind of tattoo you want to get. Say you want a forearm tattoo. Search something in the lines of “Forearm tattoos for men”. You’ll get flooded with possible designs. Scroll through them a couple of times and save concepts you like.
Platforms like Pinterest is is usually with the same tattoos so beware when selecting something directly off Pinterest. You might bump into plenty of other people with the exact same design. However keep in mind that there are many styles of tattoos and some styles have imagery that are repeated a lot as a part of paying homage to the tattoo style. So if you wish to get something like that you can be proud that you belong to a part of people who has that style and design of tattoo.
Find a design you like and try to customize it into your own tattoo if possible. If you are a bit artistic you can do this by your own or else your artist can help you do this.
A better way than a google or a Pinterest search is finding artists on Instagram and going trough their portfolio. That way you can see a variety of possibilities. This might take some time but in the end you’ll be able to make a more informed decision.
Once I have an idea finalized I usually wait around 4-6 months to really finalize that design. During that time you’ll definitely make adjustments to the design or select a different design altogether. Once you have waited on the concept for about 4-6 months and you are confident this will look good, it’s time to get Inked.
The next step is selecting an artist and it’s also another important process. I will discuss the strategy I use to find good artists in a future article.
