Reading Notes: Body Type

February 10, 2007

Reading Notes: Body Type

Introduction:

Today’s typographic tattoos are a modern twist on an ancient and worldwide form of personal and cultural ritualistic expression. Declarations of love or hate, political and social commentary, satire, personal mottos and beliefs, religious devotion, logotypes, homage to public figures and entities, beloved song lyrics, or just lain fun: Typographic tattoos provide an indelible and ineradicable commitment. These “intimate messages” are the ultimate tribute to words and letterforms, acquired with pain and bloodshed.

Although substantial tattoo subcultures still exist (prison, biker, military, fraternity, sports teams, and gang tattoos) there is a newly defined stratum of the tattooed: affluent, culturally aware, sophisticated, and highly educated young people who are choosing to adorn themselves with tattoos consisting of typographic messages rather than imagery. The traditionally tattooed paved the way for these tattooed newbie, who envision the typography of the tattoo as the image itself. This book offers a unique graphic depiction of this significant and pervasive pop-culture phenomenon.

What’s new is the sophistication and awareness of tattoo design. Words serve as literal text as well as figurative art, revealing intimate belies, life’s challenges, and value systems. Those pictured in these pages have chosen to set themselves apart, to make their individuality, and at the same time, to join a tribe of kindred spirits, to bond with others who have similarly altered their bodies.

Many new tattoo artists are often design school grads with a broad knowledge of typographic choices. They have studied letterforms, and have been trained in the nuances of letter design .both the tattooed and those tattooing them are responding to our visually driven culture. Patrons of tattoo parlors, sensitized to the differences among various typefaces by the availability of many fonts on their computers as well as by our highly graphic and typographic daily media experiences, often provide their own redesigned messages. They understand the implications of their choice of lettering style-the forms of the letters themselves have the power to amplify the meaning of the text.

The typographic tattoo trend described is being driven in part by the new elite: celebrities in the world of sports, film, modeling, and music who have gotten “message” tattoos and made them even more socially acceptable.

Tattoos are enjoying a tremendous resurgence, and they have evolved from rebellious and antisocial statements to mainstream social acceptability. Tattoos are no longer a bar to employment at even the highest levels, and recent polls show that 16 percent (41 million) of all Americans are tattooed. Many of your friends and neighbors are “sporting ink” (as it is popularly known); though you might not know it if the tattoos are in “private” places.

A Harris Interactive poll found that 36 percent of twenty-five to twenty-nine-year-olds have tattoos. The Mayo Clinic found that 23 percent of university students have one to three tattoos. And even if you don’t have a tattoo, you might have fantasized about getting one. Maybe you’re simply a voyeur-people are fascinated (often simultaneously attracted and repelled) by tattoos. So perhaps it is not surprising that there is such widespread interest in tattoos and tattooing.

Traditional tattoo lettering is generally a variation of simple capitals, using a single or mono-line; a script-based style; or a “gothic” (blackletter) form. A popular twentieth century lettering style, military in its origins and usually attributed to tattoo artist Norm Collins, is “Sailor Jerry” lettering, consisting of an outline with filled-in double-stroke verticals. Hand lettered and customized versions of lettering styles often reveal the personality of the tattoo artist, just as a person’ handwriting expresses his individuality. These forms may be embellished with elaborate flourishes, a common companion in the tradition of calligraphy and the lettering arts.

Newer forms of tattoo lettering are based on typefaces widely available on computers and online. These forms have very specific shapes, and though they were not designed to be used for tattoos, many adapt well, as long as the artist is skilled enough to reproduce the design details faithfully.

A lettered tattoo is no easy task for the tattoo artist, though it may appear simpler than an elaborate pictorial tattoo in fact, many artists do not take the trouble to document their typographic work, believing that lettering requires less “talent” on their part… however, nothing could be further from the truth. Just as type design is a profession which requires tremendous skill and training, with an eye for harmony and subtlety, the rigors of tattooing letterforms quickly expose the artist’s level of expertise, since there is little room for error.

Some typographic forms are especially difficult to execute well: the narrow, compressed, sans serif forms of the frequently tattooed Harley-Davidson logo, for example. The spaces inside the letters (counter-space) as well as the spaces between the letters (kerning) cannot be allowed to fill in with an errant slip of the needle. Small forms with seriffed details are also a challenge, as the serifs and stroke weights must be precise and consistent in order to appear cohesive. The smaller the letterforms, the more difficult it is for the artist to stay true to the design. Longer texts are also more difficult, since they require the ability to sustain a consistent typographic tonal weight, or “color,” throughout the passage.

Tattoo artists can selfdom afford to specialize in typographic tattoos, but some become known for their skill in tattooing text. In New York City, Stephanie Tamez is the artist most in demand for typographic tattoos. In Chicago, it is Nick Colella. BJ Betts, a tattoo artist based in Delaware, has also devoted himself to typographic tattoos, and has written the Custom Lettering Guide for tattoo artists who want to perfect their lettering skills. B’s advice ranges from creating a contour guideline for banners to techniques for adjusting the word spacing and letterspacing. What makes his book different from other typography books? The special considerations that must be taken into account: the skin’s changing elasticity as it ages, and the fact that tattoos can fade and bleed (spread) over time. Consequently, BJ suggests that very small text be avoided, and that centering a tattoo can minimize the appearance of sagging later on. Symmetrical tattoos create a sense of balance.

Both artists point out that it is critical to take into account the shape of the body part as well as the shape it will create as it moves; a well-designed tattoo will follow these natural shapes. This can be difficult in the case of longer passages that need a consistent baseline (the line where the type “sits”); type is generally read along a straight line, but the body has no true straight lines.

In the case of text tattoos that wrap around a body part, such as an upper arm or an ankle, careful planning is necessary to ensure that the quote fits around the circumference perfectly, while maintaining consistent height, stroke width, and weight, letter spacing, and word spacing.

The technique of tattooing has changed very little over the course of its history. Various pigments are forced under the skin by means of a pointed object. The process involves a certain level of craftsmanship in applying the correct amount of the pigment, and determining the proper level of dermal penetration to avoid scars or ruptured blood vessels, in early times, tattooing instruments consisted of sharpened sticks, pieces of ivory, or bone. Pigments might have been soot, ash, plants, or other organic materials, or earthen minerals.

The electric tattooing machine, patented in 1891 by Samuel O’Reilly, was based on Edison’s electric pen, which punctured paper with a needle point. That model is still the basis of today’s tattoo machines.

When the skin heals over the wound, the tattoo is “sealed” and permanent. (Even the current laser-removal techniques and plastic surgery, it is virtually impossible to remove all traces of a tattoo; some scarification will remain.)

The rich history of tattoos stretches back as least five thousand years. In 1991, the five-thousand year-old frozen corpse of the so-called “Ice-Man” was discovered on an Italian mountaintop and his well-preserved skin clearly bore fifty-seven tattoos. In Egypt, mummified remains from approximately 2000 BCE revealed tattoos, and in Japan, clay figurines dated 3000 BCE and older were found to have faces painted to represent tattoos.

In almost every ancient culture, and on every continent, tattooing played a role, from the tattooing of slaves and criminals in ancient Rome, to Incan and Mayan tattoos representing signs of courage.

In pacific cultures, tattooing had great historic significance. In the ancient world, Polynesian tattooing was considered the most elaborate and skillful. When the explorer captian cook brought back tattooed Polynesians to England, tattooing became popular there. In 1862, the Prince of Wales, who later became king Edward VII, received his first tattoo. When he was tattooed before ascending to the throne, many British aristocrats got tattoos, often of their family crests, others in the social elite had tattoos: the Furstenberg, the Vanderbilt, Emperor Wilhelm II, and Lady Randolph Churchill.

In the western world, after the turn of the century, the upper classes began to turn away from tattooing and the practice became associated with the military (who often commemorated their tours of duty or their ships, plans, or units), circus “freaks,” and fringe types – bikers, prostitutes, juvenile delinquents, prisoners, gang members, and the like. Typography could often be found in the ribbon or “banner” area of a tattoo “mom” being the most common tribute to a loved one. However, in general, the text was subsidiary to the image.

One horrific exception was the tattooing of numbers on concentration camp inmates. The Nazis were well aware that Jewish custom and law prohibited tattoos, and the tattoos thus contributed to the dehumanization and humiliation of the prisoners. Less well known is the fact that SS soldiers had their blood type tattooed on their forearms, in the event of a medical emergency. (This practice continues today among some military groups.)

In the late 1960s, tattoos became a popular form of antiestablishment and anarchistic expression for disaffected college students, paralleling the social and sexual revolution roiling America. Charismatic tattoo artists such as Ed Hardy, Lyle Tuttle, and Henk Schiffmacher developed followings and further popularized the form.

In the intervening years, the popularity and social acceptance of tattoos has exploded. But the driving force behind today’s prevalence and “normalization” of tattooing is unquestionably the new cultural aristocracy: film stars, the kings, and queens of rock, sports heroes, celebrities, and artists of every persuasion. The tattoo world has now become the ultimate in chic. (One disturbing spin-off: young people “selling space” to advertise whose logos are then tattooed on their bodies.)

This book is a visual adventure in o the complex and vivid realm of contemporary typographic tattoos. These texts provide a permanent record of life’s passages: emotional, physical, and spiritual they reflect who we are, who we want to be, and were we aspire to go.

Tattoos may be conceived to shock, impress, titillate, or amuse, and ultimately to communicate a message of self, of style, and of sentiment. These personal messages are deeply permanent, perhaps more permanent that some of the feelings that aspired them. Still, we cannot help but admire such a strong commitment to the printed word and to the typographic shapes that give it voice.

One: literature, poetry, and lyrics

We’ve all been inspired by beautifully written words, weather they are prose, poetry, song lyrics, or epigrams. Our favorite words are texts which resonate with us personally – which speak deeply to something within us, based on our own intimate emotions and experiences. From dante to Shakespeare, to Whitman to Vonnegut, our world is rich with texts that bring us to deeper understanding of ourselves, our world, and the human condition.

Although it is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, an even more significant tribute is to make these words a part of our own being, to etch them immutably into ourselves, into our own skin. The authors of these words might be surprised to learn that the products of their creative imaginations have been so closely taken to heart… perhaps the would be flattered by the courage of those who have committed these words not only to memory, but to flesh.

Two: typography

In the world of design, there is a distinct subculture of those who are deeply passionate about typographic forms. The letters that, in the form of words, communicate the entirety of our civilization from generation to generation are themselves the products of many hundreds of years of development. As type design Berthold Wolpe wrote: “Letters, those seemingly commonplace little signs taken for granted by so many, belong to the most momentous products of creative power. They are the abstract refinements of creative imagination, full of clarity, movement, and subtlety.”

Is It any wonder, then that some of us who devote our lives to the design, study, and use of typography have chosen to declare our love of letterforms, with typographic tattoos? For those who do not exist in this character-driven world, the passion for letterforms may seem arcane. Another motivation of these tattoos, then, might be to educate nonbelievers, to make them understand that little matters more to us than the beauty and functionality of typography.

Three: self-expression

Every tattoo represents an expression of who we are at our very core. It’s a dramatic way to make others aware of our innermost concerns, or to speak out about the thoughts and emotions that define us. Typographic tattoos can articulate intense feelings- feelings important enough to be permanently etched in the skin and made visible to the world. Because these tattoos are words rather than images, they brook little interpretation. They are specific; they offer the precision of language.

Tattoos can be transformative; many are testimony to an inner pain, and can provide a kind of catharsis by their very evidence. Cynicism, hopelessness, and alienation are common themes, yet other tattoos express jubilation and celebration. Some self-expressive tattoos are aspiration; others are marks of a recovery fro trauma or a rite of passage. In any case, we need not speak. They speak for us.

Four: self-love

A celebration of self…what better motivation to indelibly mark one’s flesh? Narcissism is a common theme in typographic tattoos rather than using imagery to flaunt the uniqueness of our identities, why not simply use our own names, nicknames or initials? Our birthdates, our birthplaces, ourselves… what could be more worthy of worship?

A surprising number of individuals had no more lofty goal than self-aggrandizement when choosing to tattoo themselves. Should this be considered a trivial motivation? In an age when we are endlessly examined by external measures and statistically classified into demographic segments of supposedly link-minded others, perhaps it is to be expected that people will choose to proclaim their individuality with a tattoo. It is a celebration of self, a tangible reminder that we are unique beings upon this earth, and that we have the power to define ourselves.

Five: love

Ahhhh…love. Love in all its forms: love longed for, love lost, love regained, unrequited love, married love, cheating love, forbidden love, painful love, passionate love. Love has inspired every form of expression and demarcation. Perhaps because we know that love can be so transient, we feel the need to make it as permanent as we humanly can…in the flesh. Weather to impress the object of our love, or simply to declare our love to the world (“wearing our hears on our sleeves”), a tattoo embodies commitment in its most literal form.

Tattoos of the names of loved ones are perhaps the most common motivation for a text tattoo, form the stereotypical “mom” to the memorialization of loved ones who are no longer with us. An entire book could be done on this tattoo theme alone grief and loneliness drive many to visit a tattoo parlor for the first time, to mark their devotion to the departed forever in the flesh, to help erase the pain, and to remember.

Six: politics

Political expression and freedom of speech are fundamentals rights, as is freedom of the press. It follows, then, that tattooing our political beliefs is a fundamental right as well. Protests against the government or the military, proclamations of revolutional credos, calls to action: these are tattoos in the tradition of great social movements. Words have the power to change the world.

As the saying goes, “all politics is local,” and one’s own skin is about as local as it gets. We are able to exercise our right to put our personal politics on display, in a way that indelibly proclaims our deep commitment to our cause.

Seven: religion

One of the oldest motivations for tattooing, and one which continues to be enduringly popular, is a tattoo as a mark of devotion to our faith, including biblical passages, tattoos in the sacred language of the church, and prayers. Although some religions discourage or even forbid tattooing, the pain and suffering associated with the acquisition of a tattoo assuages guilt and dovetails with the notion of resolute adherence to the tenets of our religious beliefs.

The significance of a tattoo’s permanence and the symbolism (as well as reality) of the blood which must be shed in acquiring it appeal to those who hunger to connect more closely with their religion. Believers who seek to ensure the protection of their chosen powerful deity by declaring their loyalty in the flesh.

Eight: belief systems

While not associated with a specific religion, many typographic tattoos spell out deeply held beliefs or convictions, credos, personal philosophies, and rules to live by. Some text tattoos are clearly exhortations, reminders to live a pure or meaningful life, to seek a higher purpose amid the mundane daily grind.

Tattoos that reveal one’s personal belief systems are often intended to uplift one’s character and inspire strength, to urge the wearer to search for truth and justice, and to hold firmly to a specific way of thinking and being. These text tattoos are generally hopeful or inspirational in nature, representing the optimistic expectations that one will indeed live up to the worlds that have been so carefully chosen and inscribed.

Nine: homage

Paying tribute may take many forms, including that of a typographic tattoo. The tattoo represents a desire to connect with the object of devotion by committing to wear its symbol or mark. We may also wish to commemorate a place or an event that is significant in our lives, or to identify with our sports heroes. Companies such as Harley-Davidson and Apple Computer have attained cult status, and tattooed variations of their logos abound.

Especially during wartime, soldiers, sailors, and aviators commonly inscribe themselves with the names of their units, ships, and planes. These tattoos function as talismans against danger as well as pay homage. The tattoos of corporate logos are a more recent phenomenon, presenting a bond with a company’s philosophy or image, not surprisingly in a society driven by commercialism and materialism. Designers refer to logos as “marks.” These marks are the ultimate tribute, the highest form of brand awareness.