| Recently I was approached by someone asking for | | | | this very concept and that is beyond the scope of this |
| assistance in designing a pair of tattoos; one of them | | | | article. What should be addressed is the level of |
| and one for their partner. They were concerned about | | | | exposure of the meaning behind the text tattooed: will |
| using text rather than images. Initially they wanted to | | | | most admirers understand the artwork or is something |
| simply get a tattoo of each other's names, but through | | | | more private preferred? |
| the course of discussion, they began to think about | | | | Placing the text also comes into play. The length and |
| accompanying images that were meaningful to them in | | | | shape of the artwork may be determined by the |
| various ways. Effectively, they became confused and | | | | kerning of the characters and the style of font used. |
| overwhelmed making their decision. The idea of text | | | | This will interact dialectically with the canvas provided |
| compared to images needed to be explained and | | | | by the receiver's body. What space on the skin that is |
| explored. | | | | available and desirable will in part determine the size |
| Text is imagery. Font, point size, kerning, and script all | | | | and shape of the text. |
| come into play when considering text for a tattoo. The | | | | Text need not be isolated, either. Surrounding or |
| main difference, and even then only in part, is the | | | | integrating text and characters with non-semantic |
| semantic association with the chosen text. Initially, the | | | | artwork can provide a combination of meanings and |
| couple mentioned above had disassociated the | | | | increase the shapes and styles to be thematically |
| imagery of the text itself with the semantic meaning. | | | | presented through tattooing. Related non-semantic |
| Once the elements of the text as art became clear, | | | | artwork to semantic text is a perfectly acceptable |
| they needed advice. What style should they get? How | | | | parallel presentation, as is creating a collage of |
| large should the text be? How far apart should the | | | | meaningful images and words to form a more |
| letters be spaced? Should the words the wanted | | | | complicated and in depth personalized tattoo. |
| tattooed be in their first language or in another? | | | | Semiotic discussions may well be too complicated of a |
| Using one's first language for text tattoos has | | | | concept when thinking about creating a personalized |
| immediate meaning and most likely meaning for those | | | | tattoo, but it is important to remember the concept that |
| most often admiring their artwork. Using another | | | | text is artwork in and of itself when choosing to |
| language could make the meaning of the text or | | | | incorporate semantic meaning into tattoo design. |
| characters more personal, almost secretive, in the | | | | Enlisting the assistance of an online tattoo design |
| same way that some religious text is "hidden" from | | | | service can be very helpful to ensure the beauty and |
| public knowledge. Some Buddhist texts, for instance, | | | | clarity of a text oriented design. Read some reviews |
| are written in scripts only taught to monks such that | | | | of services and select the service that is best for you. |
| mostly only those who study the text can gather the | | | | Some services are even text specific, such as |
| semantic meaning behind the text. Choosing to use the | | | | Chinese language tattoo design sites, and these |
| Chinese character for love would only mean love to | | | | services will always have experienced artists available |
| those who can read the character unless explained, | | | | to help you make informed decisions when creating |
| otherwise it would be a beautiful array of stokes and | | | | your custom text oriented tattoo designs. |
| lines rather than an idea. Pierician semiotics discusses | | | | |