Tattooing Fonts: Where to Get Tattoo Fonts and How to Use Them

Go to any festival, beach, or other event where skin is aplenty and you'll certainly see your fair share of tattooing. Font designers have taken notice too, designing arts and letters that mimic the tattoo fonts scrawled into the flesh of today's population. How will you put these visually appealing tattoo fonts to good use in your publications and websites?

Though you may be inspired and ready to ink your next newsletter, ezine, or blog post with tattoo writing, take as much care with tattooing fonts as you would with any other funky font. For example, you wouldn't create an entire newsletter using graffiti fonts would you?

Where to Find Tattoo Fonts
Before you can begin your tattoo-themed design, you're going to need to get your hands on fonts that mimic the text styles popular with tattoos. Fonts can be found online like any other style of font. However, because tattoo artists use different fonts when inking their tattoo phrases onto clients, you may find search results catering to these artists with letters and stencils. When searching for fonts, it's helpful to fine-tune your search by using terms like "tattoo typography" or "tattoo fonts for graphic designers." Better yet, go directly to some of your favorite font foundry and use the foundry's search tool to search for tattoo fonts within the foundry's offerings. It shouldn't be long before you find suitable fonts for print or Web tattooing.

Font Legibility Concerns
Like graffiti fonts, tattoo fonts are often difficult to read. Keep legibility in mind as you search. Overly ornate fonts may be fine for some words, but possibly too hard to read for others. In fact, you may want to go with an easier to read font for the tattoo phrases and use tribal symbols traditionally used in tattooing to complement the font.

Appropriate tattoo font uses. As with other specialized fonts, tattoo writing has its place. While it may sound untraditional, tattooing fonts could be the perfect choice for a wedding invitation (if the couple is into the tattoo culture). Tattoo fonts could be ideal for newsletters, ezines, and websites published by motorcycle enthusiasts or customizers, tattoo artists, and companies catering to a hip, trendy crowd. This doesn't mean the entire publication should be set in tattoo fonts. Use the fonts wisely just as you would other highly stylized graphics.

Tattooing fonts can add the perfect vibe to your publication. Once you have found a good font foundry with legible and attractive tattoo fonts, let your imagination and design sense guide you. Take care not to overdo it, and have a little fun with your design.