Typographic Tattoos

Lower case 'g' from New Century Schoolbook, 3 inches tall, left inside bicep. Next to my heart, because it's for my daughter Gwyneth... I'm a typographer, typesetter and designer so it all kind of fits... It was done here in Bermuda at Triton Tattoo by guest artist Rosana from The Netherlands. Amazing job - I was very precise, very demanding on the quality of the rendering - and I couldn't be happier!

This is a Latin quote from Vergil's Aeneid, and it roughly translates to "Perhaps one day it will be pleasant to remember even these things." The font is Antique Caslon. Artist is Philip Szlosek at Kings Avenue Tattoo in New York.

My first tattoo, done at Tattoo Paradise in Washington DC 

Another piece by Allen. Not to mention, a quote from Bukowski, a favorite of mine.

'Family' in elvish

Done at Stingray Body Art in Boston a little over two years ago. Just some comforting words to live by.

I personally am a bit tired of seeing people's names in blackletter across their shoulders and things like "Live Free Die Hard" in script on their chests. There is a fair argument to be made for tattoos like this, and there are many that are very well done. They have their place, but this blog is not it.

This guy does some pretty sick black and white work. Clean lines and precision make for the best lettering tattoos.

-m 

Thanks for the kind words! When I started this thing I thought that maybe I was the only one who wanted to see this stuff. "Ghetto cursive" as you call it, seems much too prevalent to me, and it pains me to see the overuse of bad lettering. I am happy to perhaps shake things up a bit, and I plan to keep 'em coming.

Mumford and Sons lyric quote.

While I wish that I could point you in the direction of an artist that will do justice for these two art forms, I am woefully out of touch with the tattoo community at large. I'm sure there are magazines and websites you can access that will give you such information, but this blog is merely a place to share. Thanks  :)

I should probably avoid doing things like this so I don't get flooded with requests, but I had some time on my hands and figured why not. These examples are all free fonts that I have personally gathered in my own library. This is by no means an exhaustive list because there are hundreds, nay, THOUSANDS of fonts. This may be a place to start though.