Tattooing is considered one of the oldest forms of art, and people still celebrate this art form today. Whether it is a tattoo for your advocacies or simply the act of inking permanent designs on your body, there is no doubt tattoos are impressive works of art.
Are you in the market for a new tattoo? Or perhaps are you looking for some cool tattoo fonts you can apply in your next design? Well, we tell you right now that the process of selecting the right font can be time-consuming and a bit challenging.
There are several aspects to consider when choosing a font for your tattoo, such as the mood, project type, brand, font size, content, and font weight, among many others. If you are choosing a font for a real tattoo, know that it is crucial that you choose wisely and take your time weighing the options. As you know, nothing is more permanent than getting inked, well, to express that thought. Your tattoo will be on your body for the rest of your life.
Feeling pressured? Tattooing should not just be for social media bragging. You should know that once you get inked, it will be permanent in your life. So, we have curated some of the best tattoo fonts you can incorporate in the design you wish to get inked with, so your font selection process will be just a piece of cake. There are several tattoo font styles out there for your design project. There are Celtic, cool, cute, and Gothic fonts, name it.
But before we head over to our list, let's learn about the basics of tattoo lettering.
What A Lettering Tattoo Or Tattoo Font Is
Well, a lettering tattoo or a tattoo font means exactly what it sounds like. It is a tattoo design that utilizes uppercase or lowercase letters and numbers. Lettering tattoos have swiftly become a popular choice when it comes to tattoo designs.
Whether you want to get inked with name, date, or a sentimental word or phrase designs, lettering tattoos let you display your message is a bold and direct way. When done right, they can appear in the design beautifully and of course, it will properly convey the message you want to share.
So, what are the things you should consider when getting inked with a tattoo font design or getting a lettering tattoo?
Tattoo Fonts: Things To Consider
Spelling And Grammar
The right spelling and grammar are some of the most essential things you must ensure when you are getting inked.
When it comes to receiving a permanent lettering tattoo, there is nothing worse than having the word or phrase misspelled, or having incorrect grammar.
Be sure to check, double-check and triple-check these details, and have another set of eyes take a good look before you permanently tattoo the mistake and it is too late.
The Message
The contents of your tattoo are also very important. In many cases, you want onlookers to see its design and understand what they are looking at.
Whether it's the name of a loved one or a popular quote, you must make a well-thought-out and conscious decision about what exactly you are inking on your body. If you choose to have a lettering tattoo in a foreign language, make sure you confirm its content and spelling from those who natively speak that language. Avoid fully relying on Google. You never know how much context and nuance might matter.
Once you validate your tattoo's message, you can even add more details like numerals or glyphs. But always, always, always, check the meaning of the message.
Tattoo Fonts
Of course, tattoo fonts. They are another point to consider. Choosing the best tattoo font is a critical decision to make in the process of the tattoo design. And, it is also fun since you can personalize your tattoo in your own way with these fonts.
When choosing a font, consider the message, how long the phrase will be, and what mood you want to express with your lettering tattoo. Just because you like how the font looks do not mean your message will also look good in that font. So, be sure to consider this match.
Picking the wrong and improper font can throw the entire vibe off. You might think you have nailed it with a handwriting font, for instance, but once applied to your skin, it might not flow exactly as it appears on paper or on the screen.
Furthermore, it is also important to discuss the font with the tattoo artist. This ensures the font and the ink will go well together.
And one final point to keep in mind. If you're working on a tattoo project for commercial purposes, make sure you are using a free font, or you have paid the fees involved. If it is for personal use, be sure to check the terms of your chosen font style.
Size
Once you are done selecting the best tattoo font for you, it is also important to consider the sizes of the letters. You'll want to scale this size depending on the message your tattoo says, how it looks with the font style you choose, and where you will be putting the tattoo on your body.
A lettering tattoo that is too big or small can affect legibility and take away from the tattoo design. This is another crucial step to coordinate with the tattoo artist. Everything may look perfect on paper, but tattooing that design on your skin is another matter.
There you go. Now that you've learned the most important things to consider when availing of lettering tattoos, these shall make the overall design and process much easier.
However, just to add, when it comes to your tattoo or design project, you have a particular vision in mind and may need guidance to accomplish that vision. To further help you to choose the right lettering font tattoo, take heed of this checklist below.
- Typeface or typography style (serif fonts, sans serifs, script fonts, etc)
- Font weight or boldness
- Font size
- Font color
- Other font effects (outline, shadow, solid, shading, etc.)
- Body placement
- Kerning (the spacing between each letter)
- Any visual add-ons
8 Best Tattoo Font Styles And Scripts: Get Creative And Download This Collection Today
Looking to add a new tattoo design, but think you need more inspiration? We recommend that you take a look at this rundown of eight of the best tattoo font styles today. You can find script, standard, angilla, calligraphy, scroll, italic, curve, old-school, thick, and more font styles, name it. Clients from around the world are loving these styles. Here's the list. Welcome.
1. Rebel Nation - Tattoo Graffiti Font
If you want to exude strength in a revolutionary manner, try this Rebel Nation - Tattoo Graffiti Font. Its shape resembles the aggressiveness and abundant energy of the youth, often the age group with a rebellious attitude. This design speaks in the strongest of languages, bursting with rage, and empowers the younger generation that likes their voices to be heard. This font style's uppercase has an inner gloss effect, while the lowercase is a plain shout shape.
2. SURVIVOR
On the other hand, this SURVIVOR tattoo font style is a bold, distinct, and elegant Metal Blackletter font. It features accents (multilingual characters), and PUA-encoded numerals and punctuation (OpenType Standard). Try this font design on your tattoos, and reveal that striking attitude.
3. Hekba
If you are familiar with those graffiti you find painted on walls as you drive along streets, this might be the inspiration for Hekba. Hekba, basically, is a graffiti font with gorgeous shapes and blends that are truly one-of-a-kind.
It also has a unique theme, helping this typeface stand out and exude power. Use this font for your tattoos and other projects, so they look cool, trendy, and fun. Be unforgettable.
4. Endles Vintage Script
Meanwhile, if you want to veer away from that rebellious attitude in your tattoo font, you might want to consider this Endles Vintage Script. It is vintage, retro, decorative, and classy. It is categorized under script fonts -- a little bit of the lighter fare.
5. Anti Gravity
"Defyyyying, gravityyyy..." We hear you with that song lyrics, and this font style can actually defy gravity. Anti Gravity is a typeface with a distinct and entertaining theme, yet it is also under the graffiti category.
Using this font allows your project to have that oomph in attitude, but still look flawless. Try this font today.
6. Incognito Tattoo Font
If your personality is about being discreet all the time and not revealing yourself too much, this Incognito Tattoo Font is the right match for you. It is a classic blackletter font heavily inspired by tattoo culture. It pairs best with Gothic and tribal designs.
7. EL PIRATOS - Sailor Tattoo Font
Want to wear that cool, pirate culture? Consider having this EL PIRATOS - Sailor Tattoo Font on your skin. It is a clean-cut old tattoo style that is a bit bouncy and showcases a lot of excitement. Be the captain of the seas that you have always dreamed to be.
8. Bandito Script
Bandito Script is a font style that has a touch of the Wild West, or perhaps the Latino culture. It includes uppercase and lowercase letters, numerals, a wide range of punctuation, and ligatures. All its lowercase letters include alternative fonts and ending swashes.
Here Are Some Tattoo Font Design Ideas
There are literally countless ways to go about personalizing your tattoo design. It will boil down to your preference and your design goals. So, here is a closer look at some of the best tattoo font design ideas that can help further guide you throughout the creation of your project.
Minimalist
Minimalist designs are extremely straightforward in design. They have very minimal text and images. This can constitute names, dates, or symbols. It is highly suggested you go for contemporary tattoo fonts if you want to achieve this design.
Traditional
Generally, a traditional design of tattoo fonts is one that is generally bold, but with lots of detail and animation, almost the opposite of a minimal design. You can ask to be inked with various colors or different shading and outlining techniques with the font.
Picture-Word Combination
A picture and word combination design can vary greatly depending on your preferences and design goals. You can realistically use any tattoo font, provided it alights with the theme of your image.
Font Pairing
Some people are not just satisfied with one font style. They want to pair two different fonts in one design. Is this possible? Absolutely. A great font pairing can look beautiful when done right.
Outline And Shading
Your tattoo design can also incorporate pictures, patterns, outlines, or any other detail inside or outside the letter outline. This can range from a crude shading technique to a more complicated pattern shaded into each letter.
Let's Answer Some Quora Questions
1. What's The Best Font For A Tattoo?
Answering this question is a bit difficult because there are so many lists out there that talk about the best font for a tattoo. But if we are to give one, it is the Rebel Nation - Tattoo Graffiti Font available from Envato Elements.
The shape of this font style resembles the aggressiveness and abundant energy of the youth, which is often the age group sporting a rebellious attitude. Its design speaks in the strongest of languages, bursting with rage, and empowers the younger generation that wants their voices to be heard.
2. What Fonts Are Most Commonly Used In Tattoos?
The most common fonts used in tattoos are cursive, sans serif, and Gothic styles. However, you can be revolutionary as there are now several available font styles that can be used for tattoos. Showcase your personality.
Find The Right And Ideal Tattoo Font Style, Achieve The Look You Want
Love putting tattoos? You might perhaps have seen a photo of a tattoo that you want on your own, such as a tattoo with a script or old school font. Stun in the moment with these professional designs of tattoos you have learned above. Whether you are a creator or simply someone looking for a mockup design, you can find endless tattoo font designs over the Internet, or you can take reference from the list above when you are about to transfer the design to your skin. Many of these font styles for tattoos are incredibly beautiful, they match the various clothes you are wearing (perhaps even the hardest to style like a wedding event, you can find a great tattoo design), and they fulfill your design needs.
Everyone's in the world of tattooing, including those tattoo parlors you frequent, is always on the lookout for the best tattoo fonts to apply on their actual designs. While there are virtually thousands of tattoo fonts available online today, you should know that not every typeface is beautifully crafted. With that being said, we hope that the list of some of the best tattoo fonts we have compiled above allowed you to narrow your selection. What's your favorite tattoo font? Interact with our website and share us your thoughts!