Its a big decision deciding to get a tattoo, but its just as big a decision choosing which design to have. You would be surprised at how many people just randomly choose designs from a tattoo catalog or the just pick the first one suggested by the tattoo artist. Although some people may be happy with a random design, most of us would want to take time to choose a tattoo that reflects our character and personality. The best way around this issue however, is to design a tattoo to your own requirements.

Step 1 - Get A Design Idea

The good news is that you don't need to be an artist to design a tattoo . Of course, it helps if you have an eye for design and at least some idea of what kind of tattoo you would like. When considering a design most people like to reflect their personality, or something that has happened to them in their life. Popular ideas are things like the names of children or partners, cultural identities like maori tattoos, or even sporting allegiances, the possibilities are endless . Crucially, you should choose a design that reflects something about you - and hopefully something that will still be important to you over the years.

Step 2 - Find A Design Thats You

Throughout the years even the best artists have sought inspiration at some time in their career. Even artists can benefit from doing good research into their designs. A good place to start is, of course, looking at other tattoo designs for inspiration. It possible to find a huge number of tattoo designs online. The problem with most free tattoo designs is that they have been used hundreds of times before and so are hardly unique. I thoroughly recommend that you join one of the good paid services online to get access to the best range of personalised tattoo designs.

Step 3 - Find an Artist

The next step on your quest is to find a tattoo artist. Most tattoo artists will let you use your own designs. You could, of course, just trawl the local directories or visit some local parlours but that can be a bit hit and miss. Thats where the good paid tattoo services come into their own as they all have active communities that you can ask for advice.

Step 4 - Test Your Tattoos

Like an engineer, once you manage to design a tattoo its a good idea to test it. Again, the best tattoo website enable you to upload your design and they send you a temporary tattoo for this purpose. Once again, the best tattoo design websites allow you to upload your own designs and try them out.

Step 5 - GoFor It
Now that the groundwork has been done, you've managed to design a tattoo, you've chosen an artist who you trust and you've even tested it, its time to take the plunge. The best thing is because you took the time to do it right you will now enjoy your own individual design for the rest of your life.