I did it, I completed phase one of my dream!

Two weeks ago I finished a long journey that has taken me through various highs and lows in my 28 years of life. It was an unforgettable experience that actually began about 25 years ago. I never knew it, but all those times I hid in the cupboard eating out of the Cheerios box in my diaper(sometimes just in my birthday suit) I was actually preparing for what would become as a mature adult. I would eat, think, play, poop, eat, think, play, poop and repeat. I have always loved the visual world and the excitement it's brought to my eyes. From blooming flowers to toy trucks, my sponge was soaking it all in, paving the way for me to eventually become what I am today....a creative. I'm a designer by degree, but a creative by nature. Whether designing automatic blinds for a FOCUS project in the 3rd grade, building sophisticated pillow and sheet forts or painting a self portrait, it seems my mind was, and always is, in creative overdrive. I scrutinize the details, observe the beauty(in some cases the lack of) and picture how something was made. I come up with an idea, conceptualize all the possibilities, analyze the problems and solutions that it could present, decide the best and most logical course of action with the end result always somewhere on my mind. Is it OCD? I suppose yes and no. I'm crazy and passionate about everything I do, whether cooking breakfast or designing an annual report, I put my heart into it because I want the best possible result that I know I'm capable of achieving. I feel that if you aren't indulged in your career and interests then you just have a job and things you kind of like to do. I live, eat and breathe creativity. If I were to lose my sight today, I would lose my mind.

Typographic Tattoo's: The messages

From simple one word expressions to paragraph long poems, the length and range of meaning behind typographic tattoos  is tremendous.  There is no limit on the possibilities of words to have tattooed upon yourself.  I have seen typographic tattoos that are as simple as a persons initials all the way to full bible verses.  Sometimes the message is completely original, and other times it can be someone else's work that really touches a person in an emotional way.  What it boils down to is a individual's choice and what really has meaning, or in some cases doesn't, to them.  Sometimes, the words of someone else can express something about yourself that you would otherwise never be able to articulate.  Wether a passage from your favorite book or song lyric, sometimes it just fits.  It's not always so much  what you say, but the typeface which you use to display it.  Some people celebrate their favorite fonts that can represent a whole person, idea or meaning in a single letter.  Just making sure the tattoo fits you and your personality is sometimes the hardest part.  Whatever the typographic tattoo that a person chooses to get, I personally recommend putting a lot of careful thought and consideration into the tattoo artist.  The artist is ultimately the one that can make or break the tattoo. 

Tattoo Typefaces

From feminine to masculine to oldstyle to decorative, the possibilities of typefaces to be used for a tattoo are numerous.  As with the amount of style choices, the languages in which they can tattooed are quite numerous as well.  Quite often typefaces are chosen based on the way the look on paper, which really isn't always a good indication as to how it will look tattooed.  Tattoo artists usually won't appreciate the subtly of your chosen typeface, and may have difficulties replicating it's dimensions and spacing once the ink is under the skin.  Some typefaces are easier to replicate on the body than others, but the chance of making it look exactly the same are slim to none.  Skin, on all areas of the body, but especially the forearm, tends to move and distort quite dramatically.  Just the natural movement of an area, such as the forearm, can alter the way a tattoo looks immediately.  Also, that same movement and distortion causes the ink under the skin to move.  Therefore, typographic tattoos are pretty much always going to look wrong due to the distortion over long periods of time.  If you are able to design a typeface around the movement that will be created you can potentially avoid some of these problems that long periods of distortion create.  I believe that the problems associated with typographic tattoos is one of the reason many tattoo artists prefer to create original typefaces rather than say Helvetica.  Not only does it make the tattoo unique, but it gives that typographic tattoo a better chance at being readable after a long period of time.  

http://typophile.com/node/58558

Tattoos and the pop culture

Here are some examples of different typefaces that were created by Stephanie Tamez of New York.   This is and example of the new and innovative fonts being created by artists, who no longer want to use the old "sailor" type of fonts.  Typographic tattoos and just tattoos in general are becoming very prominent amongst the pop culture and adorn the skin of many pop culture celebrities.  This has sparked a sort of pop culture tattoo phenomenon.  The younger audience who idolize these celebrities, wether knowingly or not, are starting a tattooing trend.  As with many other aspects of pop culture, from clothes to make up, the pop culture audience has been affected by the sight of the pop culture icons being tattooed and in turn want to get tattooed themselves.  This in turn sparks a trend amongst friends who want to be "in" too.  There are many unique glyphs and typefaces being created to suit a new generation of people wanting tattoos to express themselves and their interests uniquely.  Many of these letterforms are truly beautiful and the thought that went into their design with more than likely, as I mentioned in a previous blog, change a lot of preconceived notions regarding tattoos and the people who get them.

http://claredesign.blogspot.com/2009/02/tattoo-typography-analog-love.html

Ambigrams

This image is a great example not only of tattoo typography, but also an ambigram and graphic design.  According to wikipedia an ambigram, also sometimes known as an inversion, is a typographical design or artform that may be read as one or more words not only in it's form presented, but also from another viewpoint, direction or orientation.  The words readable in the other viewpoint, direction or orientation may be the same or different from the original words.  The origin of ambigrams is somewhat of a sketchy area, but the first known ambigram published was by Peter Newell in 1893.  Newell's ambigram was considered a non-natural ambigram, meaning it read one thing from one viewpoint and a completely different word from the other viewpoint.  Regardless, it was an ambigram.   Since then, many artists have claimed to be the inventors.  Over the years and continued to this day, many of those same artists have developed their own ambigrams.  John Langdon and Scott Kim have become the two artists who are mainly attributed to the popularization of ambigrams.  Ambigrams have gained much more popularity as a result of Dan Brown's book Angels and Demons.  Langdon produced ambigrams that were used for the book cover and certain points in the plot.  The main character is Robert Langdon, who Brown named as a homage to John Langdon.  Although ambigramss are much more popular today as tattoo's they have not lost any of the prestige or design quality associated with and involved in the process of creating them.  In my eyes, for a typeface designer, this has to be the ultimate test.  Creating an ambigram requires an unbelievable amount of talent, time and dedication.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambigram

Tattoo Typography

People who get tattoos and other body modifications have always been the subject of controversy and stereotyping, but in recent years those old stereotypes have been changing for the better.  One common misconception has been that it's just delinquents, sailors, bikers, and criminals who get tattoos.  However, there are many other people from all walks of life, including professionals who are well educated and put a lot of thought into these images and words before putting them on their flesh permanently.  No where close to being the stereotypical images of skulls and crossbones, hearts, pin-up girls, etc. many tattoo's are conceived with the idea of conveying something much more meaningful.  There is a book by Ina Saltz, a renowned graphic designer and typographer titled Body Type, which is an eye-opening look into the truly unique and amazingly creative ways that many tattoo artists are utilizing typography, as opposed to the majority of tattoo art, which uses images to convey messages.  This book is about the message actually being the image.  From unique social commentaries to intricate logotypes the book covers many types of tattoos.  There are commentaries from Ina as well as explanations of the tattoos from the tattooed themselves.  It seems the age of just getting a tattoo to get a tattoo has slowly evolved into more of a unique form of human expression.  The tattoo recipients and artists, whether knowingly or not, are actually creating their own original typefaces and helping to establish tattooing as an actual form of design.  

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0810970503/boingboing06-20