A tattoo: a permanent piece of art and expression of oneself etched into yet another piece of art – your body. Whether a person takes seconds or years to decide which design is worthy of being forever a part of their skin, tattoos do a beautiful job of revealing something about their owner. Their values, their hardships, their triumphs, their aesthetics.
For the past few years, I’ve had the same ideas of exactly what tattoos I’d want to get and in what places. The only thing stopping me? Being scared of how permanent they are. I tend to be excited and passionate about things in quick bursts. I’m hooked for a couple months then I’m tired of it. I have the same fear that after looking at the same ink on my shoulder, forearm and back for the rest of my life, I’ll regret it.
That hasn’t stopped me from constantly exploring different tattoo designs, though. If you’re like me, afraid of the permanence, or just not into anything flashy or bold, minimalist tattoos are your best bet. They’re typically an outline of your choice, keeping the look dainty and simple.
Here are a few designs that minimalist tattoos can be centered around, and you can’t really go wrong with:
- Nature
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I would absolutely love to get a sun tattooed on my shoulder. I love nature, and there are so many things within it that you can use as inspiration for a tattoo: the sun’s accomplice (the moon), a wave, a tree, a cloud, a rainbow, a bird, a butterfly, plants, blades of grass, stars, vines, mountains. You could even do less known ones, too! Go for a small bug, mushrooms or an animal. Everything within nature really beautifully lends well to simple tattoo designs.
- Birth Flower
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Yes, flowers are a part of nature! They deserve their own section, though, because what a lot of people don’t know is that just like birthstones, there are birth flowers. A quick Google search will tell you that carnations are for January, violets are for February, daffodils are for March, daisies are for April, lilies are for May, roses are for June, larkspurs are for July, poppies are for August, asters are for September, marigolds are for October, chrysanthemums are for November and holly is for December. Of course, you’re not limited to your birth month! Choose whichever flower best suits your taste. These outlines really look beautiful anywhere, but I think they’re especially nice on the forearm or back of your ankle.
- Mental Health
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This is a tattoo that I personally look into a lot, but know it would require a lot of thought before choosing a specific design because of how meaningful and sentimental it is. Because mental health is so individualized for each person, you can choose how you’d like to express it. I’ve seen a few minimalist mental health tattoos online that I can see being really prominent to a lot of people, while still able to be ink’d in a simple way: the semicolon, the serotonin hormone chemical structure, a green ribbon, an outline of a body with flowers coming out of it, etc. The placement of these tattoos can also be really important to a person. Many choose to put it on their wrist or thigh in reference to self-harm, but of course, it can be placed anywhere.
- Important Date
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No one has to know what they mean, but just seeing the numbers of a significant date ink’d on your own body is a way for you to commemorate or memorialize whatever that day may mean to you. It can be a birth date, a death date, an anniversary date, the day you turned your life around, the day you found God or the day you realized something important. Because these are composed of numbers, you can choose your own minimalist font and ask for it to be as small as you’d like since there isn’t much detail that needs to be put into it.
- Travel Related
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For all those that love to travel (and are really missing it while in a pandemic), keep that hope and passion alive with a travel-related tattoo. Outlines of maps, planes, the earth, a compass or a sailboat are popular choices, and they simply speak for themselves. No one will have a doubt in their mind that you have a love for travel and exploration.
- Short Phrase
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Another tattoo that will speak for itself (literally): quotes. Choose a short one that has a lot of significance to you. There are plenty out there, some only being one or two words, but still clearly communicating a far-reaching message that can touch both yourself and others. You could go for a Bible verse or a popular phrase or word that keeps you grounded or serves as a life motto.
At the end of the day, it’s your body and your choice, making a tattoo design your choice to make, too. Minimalist tattoos are so simple but yet so meaningful for many and you literally have endless options of designs that are modest and effective. Dabble around in some ideas, and find the one that will both speak to you and for you.