Do you ever wonder why?

[Dumpleton]

Bold will hold, dots will dissolve

[Mitch Wood]

I've only been getting tattooed for four years, so I don't have enough experience to comment on a lot of trends and such. But I do know that a traditional style tattoo, be it American or Japanese etc, will always be cool. They were a hundred years ago, they are now. For me, I gravitate towards traditional American tattoo imagery/subject matter because it resonates with me from a cultural standpoint. (i.e. a clipper ship, eagle or an anchor would resonate more with me than a koi fish or something) But the thing I try to keep in mind when thinking tattoo concepts through is how to keep whatever idea, be in something with deep personal meaning, or something for purely aesthetic reasons, looking "timeless". I think keeping things traditional accomplishes that really well.

[gougetheeyes]

Moral of the story: I really wish people would stop always assuming that some kind of rebellious individualism is the driving force in getting tattooed. I think that is reductive and misses the point.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

[slayer9019]

I see way too much lettering and once you get past a few words.... you have to stop and read it and in the majority of cases, I'm sorry I did.

CG

It breaks my personal 10/10/10 rule.

10 feet away you know what it is

10 seconds you know what it is

10 years it will still look good

[DJDeepFried]

I don't get the text thing, but it doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. Anybody who's considering getting a long quote -- I would direct them to this post which makes a pretty damn good case against.

Most Honorable Blog: The Letter of the Law: Laws for Lettering and Tattoos

[MadeIndelible]

Thanks for posting that link, @DJDeepFried .