Tattoo Designs For Men & Women
If you take a good look around any tattoo studio, you will soon see that there is a vast array of tattoo designs for men and women, ranging from the traditional designs you might have seen fifty years ago, to modern tattoo designs more popular with today’s youth. Unfortunately, because there are so many different designs you can choose from, unless you have a firm idea of what kind of tattoo design you want, it can be really difficult to find a design that you like. So how on earth can you make a final decision when faced with all those fabulous tattoo designs for men and women?
Many tattoo designs are suitable for men and women, but some styles of tattoo are more gender specific, although there is always a large overlap. Not all men like masculine designs, and vice versa, and whatever your gender, personality will always be a deciding factor when choosing a tattoo design.
Old school tattoo designs for men and women often included symbols such as anchors, roses, and pin-up girls. Sailors, soldiers, and working class men would have been proud to show off their tattoos and the more tattoos a man had, the tougher he looked. It was less common for women to have tattoos and tattoos were often associated with gangs and the criminal fraternity; middle class men and women would never have been seen with visible tattoos on their body.
But times have changed and tattoos are now part of mainstream culture and men and women from all walks of life have tattoos. Tattoos for men and women are no longer linked to gang affiliation and a criminal past: tattoos are accepted everywhere and are considered to be an expression of artistic individuality.
What are good tattoo designs for men?
Most men choose very masculine designs, although it is not unusual for men to have tattoos that incorporate feminine flourishes such as flowers. In by gone days, it was unusual for women to have tattoos and the majority of clientele at a tattoo studio would have been women. As such, tattoos for men tended to follow certain themes and usually featured symbols of power and importance.
Tattoos for men are often designed to enhance the male characteristics of strength and physical power. Symbols such as mythical beasts and birds of prey are popular icons in tattoo designs for men, and when drawn well, they can be the centre piece of some very powerful tattoo designs. Tribal tattoo designs are also popular with male clients, although many tribal designs can look just as effective on a woman.
Lots of men choose to have large tattoo designs covering their back or chest, and since a man can easily show off this part of his body, it makes sense to capitalize on the vast skin canvas of the chest area. Large and complex tattoo designs might include a number of different symbols and images, but large dragon designs are always a popular choice for a man.
What are good tattoo designs for women?
Plenty of women like traditional masculine designs. Tribal tattoos are a good choice for men and women, and if drawn well, they can look highly effective on the feminine form, particularly when incorporated into ankle or upper arm bracelet designs. Some women also like the idea of using masculine images such as mythical beasts and other symbols of strength in their tattoo designs, and since a tattoo should always be a very personal thing, it is perfectly acceptable to choose whatever you like.
However, although some women choose masculine designs for their tattoos, lots prefer more feminine designs. These can include flowers, angels, fairies, butterflies, stars, hearts, and other symbols more typically associated with women.
But aside from gender specific subjects, there are also certain tattoo styles more typically associated with women. Lower back “tramp stamp” tattoos are very much a female specific tattoo. Lower back tattoos are undeniably feminine, although they have become rather infamous in recent years and these days tend to have an unwanted sexual connotation.
Size is also an issue when it comes to tattoos for women. Most women prefer smaller tattoo designs and are less likely to choose a large tattoo that covers the upper body. Small, discrete tattoos are perfect for women, particularly those which highlight attributes such as the lower back or upper arms and shoulders. Lots of women also choose to have delicate tattoos on their ankles or wrists, as these can be very feminine.
There are so many tattoo designs for men and women that you are likely to be spilt for choice, but as long as you spend some time doing a bit of research before you make an appointment at the tattoo studio of your choice, you should be able to find the perfect tattoo design to suit your personality.
Chinese Tattoos – How To Get The Perfect Design
Chinese tattoos are undeniably beautiful, which is why they remain a popular design choice with people looking for a mysterious and beautiful tattoo with a hidden meaning. Chinese tattoo designs can encompass anything from Chinese writing and text, to the ever-popular Chinese dragon. But although a Chinese dragon is always a good choice, should you choose a tattoo with Chinese characters, unless you do your homework, you may inadvertently end up with a disastrous design that means something very different to that which you intended.
Chinese tattoos – how to get the perfect design
Once you have decided to have a Chinese tattoo design using Chinese symbols, you need to work out exactly what you want to say. Perhaps you have a proverb or special phrase that is meaningful to you, or maybe you want to use a quote or write a loved one’s name in Chinese script—but whatever you choose, the most important thing you must do is to make sure the translation is 100% correct before you have the symbols committed to your body in permanent ink.
You might be lucky enough to be bilingual and have a good working knowledge of the Chinese language, but bearing in mind that there are hundreds of different characters in the Chinese language, this is unlikely. Even a tiny dash in the wrong place can alter the meaning of a Chinese word completely, which can be disastrous if you do not have a good understanding of the Chinese language, so it is essential that you have a translation done before the tattoo is inked on your body.
There are lots of ways to have a word or phrase translated for the purposes of a Chinese tattoo design. You could use an online translator such as babelfish and hope that the result is accurate, or you could nip along to a local Chinese restaurant and ask your favorite waiter for some assistance. You could also try using a Chinese – English dictionary and test your language skills, but if you want an accurate translation, it might be a good idea to pay for a professional Chinese translator to provide you with an accurate service. You will have to pay for the privilege, but at least you can be certain you are not going to end up with “chicken chop suey” tattooed on your backside as opposed to “live long and prosper”.
Chinese tattoos – how to get the perfect design for you
Whilst Chinese characters can look very effective as part of a tattoo design, they are also becoming increasingly common, both on celebrities (David Beckham has a Chinese tattoo), but also on Joe Average on the street. So how can you get a stylish Chinese tattoo design that looks unique and original?
One answer is to use Chinese writing and incorporate it into a larger design, perhaps with a Chinese theme such as a Chinese dragon. Chinese symbols can also be embedded into lots of different images, from feminine floral designs and butterflies, to more masculine symbols such as other types of mythical creatures and weaponry. There are many tattoo designs that can be enhanced with judicious use of Chinese symbols and themes, so use your imagination and play around with some Chinese inspired tattoo designs.
Once you have made a final decision on the design you want, you need to turn it into a stencil for the purposes of creating a tattoo. The easiest way to do this is to print out your design and take it to your chosen tattoo artist so he or she can turn it into a stencil. Do not worry if it is not the right size, or you have no idea what size the stencil needs to be: tattoo artists will be able to resize the stencil or redraw aspects of the design.
How to find the right tattoo artist for your Chinese tattoo
Tattoo artists tend to have their own specialties when it comes to tattoo designs. Some tattoo artists prefer to do portraits whereas others are very skilled at writing text. Chinese calligraphy requires a great deal of skill in order to look effective as a tattoo, so if you have your heart set on a Chinese themed tattoo incorporating Chinese script, it is a good idea to find a tattoo artist who is happy to work with Chinese symbols.
Chinese words are very easy to get wrong and the strokes of each symbol must be 100% correct or the meaning will be lost in translation. We have all heard horror stories of people who went into a tattoo shop for a meaningful new tattoo and came out with a meaningless string of nonsense, so be careful to pick a design you are happy with and ask an experienced tattoo artist to turn it from an idea into a reality.
