Mythbusters!!!

Tattoos & piercings still have a certain air of mystery to them and myths that need to be debunked.  From the slightly nervous first timer anxiously awaiting their first experience of needle to skin, to the seasoned professional tattoo collector – everyone is welcome, but chances are they still have something to learn!! The following myths are ones that we have encountered at our own studio but work equally as well for most other shops:

Myth – you always need an appointment at Kustom Kulture.

• Fact: No! We OFTEN have space for walk in tattoos. With 5-6 artists on any one day, we regularly have someone available for straight-forward and simple tattoos, even sometimes for bigger more complex ones if you don’t mind waiting around while we get it ready. If you want to check whether we have spaces before travelling long way, just give us a call – 01934 522666. (By the way – the earlier you turn up the more chance you have to get it done there and then!).
• If you have a design that you have been considering for a while, and the urge takes you to add some beautiful ink to your body, then chances are there will often be someone available that can help you. But get there in a good time – and be realistic – if you turn up just an hour before we close with a design that you want for a half sleeve, you’ll be able to chat to an artist and plan the design but will have to book the tattoo in for another day. If your design can be drawn up and tattooed in the same day, you can sit and chill on one of our sofas, flick through the magazines on offer, and we’ll even bring you a cuppa!

Myth – Kustom Kulture has a long waiting list (especially with some artists)….I’m going to have to wait aaaaaaaages for an appointment!!!

• Fact: Noooo! Our waiting list for Saturdays occasionally extends as much as two months ahead for some artists but we still often have space for walk ins, even on Saturdays. Even our busiest artists rarely have a weekday waiting list longer than a couple of weeks. We aim for the process between consultation and tattoo sitting to be as short as possible. Your tattoo means a lot to you, which means it means a lot to us – we want to make sure that your requirements are fresh in our minds and will work with you towards that aim 🙂

Myth – Tattoos are expensive at Kustom Kulture.

• Fact: Wrong. Our reputation of giving high quality tattoos often seems to lead to an assumption that we are dearer than other studios. I have lost count of the number of times people have said “Is that all?” when we quote a price. Good quality does not equal rip off prices! We offer Value for Money – plain and simple. You might have heard the expression “A cheap tattoo isn’t good, and a good tattoo isn’t cheap”, but it’s a relative term. Is a tattoo a lot of money when compared to the price of a bar of chocolate? I guess so. But compare it to the cost of a painting that you would buy at an art gallery and suddenly the costing makes more sense. You’re going to be wearing this art on your skin for a lifetime!

Myth: £80/hour – I can get it done cheaper elsewhere!

• Fact: We are quick. We can often tattoo at twice the speed (or more!) of other artists – without exaggeration. We have been flabbergasted to see how long some “artists” have taken over simple tattoos when people come to us to get them fixed. If we can tattoo it in 2 hours and your £60/hr artist takes 3 hours, you do the maths. Secondly, we often run offers, such as whole and half day sittings and discounts on pieces we particularly want to do. Just ask at the studio for info or check out our pages on Instagram, facebook, twitter & of course here.

Myth – my mate got a kit and does it from home, he knows what he’s doing!!

• Fact: No, your mate does not know what he is doing – and if he does, then he doesn’t care. Unless they are registered with the local council, ITS ILLEGAL. ITS DANGEROUS. What apprenticeship did they complete? What hygiene training do they have? Where to they sterilise their equipment? Where do they get rid of contaminated needles? Where does their clinical waste go? Do their kids/dogs etc play in the same area? Is your blood putting their kids are risk? No? What about all the other people that get tattooed there? Did you know that 1 in 200 people have Hepatitis B? Still feel safe? DON’T DO IT. GO TO A PROFESSIONAL. We have all this set-up for a reason! Don’t put a price on your health – it doesn’t matter that ‘Joe X’ can do it for you in his garage for twenty quid…..what matters is that there is chance you will contract HIV or Hep because these scratchers have inadequate hygiene procedures, you are more likely to contract an infection after your tattoo is done, and chances are the quality of the work will be pretty crappy too – so odds on that money you thought you’d ‘saved’? That and more will be paid out fixing the bad design that you have ended up with. I cannot stress this enough – DO NOT GO TO SCRATCHERS FOR YOUR TATTOO!!!

Myth – black hurts more than colour

• Fact: No, the needles hurt, not the ink! It’s true that the outline tends to feel sharper but its all easily handled, we promise. If it hurt that much, people wouldn’t keep coming back to us, time after time.

Myth – (and we hear this one a lot, hence it’s inclusion!!) ‘My mate got trained at Kustom Kulture’

• Fact: Unless his name is Steve Black, he/she didn’t and is full of poo. Our studio has a fantastic reputation and some people will drop in our ‘name’ to make themselve’s ‘better by association’ when they actually have no connection to us at all.

Myth – Kustom Kulture only do big tattoos, not the small stuff.

• Fact: No, not all all – We do ALL size of tattoos – from little butterflies, symbols, names on wrists right up to full body suits. We welcome all tattoos of all sizes and you often don’t need an appointment for small ones. And your design is just as important to us if it’s a small heart on your wrist, as it is if it’s a full colour bodysuit. What matters to us is that we give you the best advice and that you walk out with a tattoo that you are happy with. If your intended design is not going to work, then we’ll tell you why, but we will also always offer you an alternative approach if possible. What matters is that you have something that you are happy to ‘wear’… and that we are proud to say that we have done.

Myth – Kustom Kulture’s piercer is male.

• Fact: Well, yes, Allan is indeed a fella. Quite a nice one actually 😉 Allan is relaxed and professional, and we’ve received a lot of compliments that he puts people at ease before, during and after the piercing. But if you would prefer a female piercer, no problem – you can make an appointment with Wendy (who trained with Allan).

Myth – Your IPL operator is male

• Fact: As above, yes – its Allan again!! – Wendy is also trained though so if you would like hair removal on those more intimate places ladies, and would prefer a woman, just ask, Allan won’t be offended!

Myth – Tattoo studios are scary places

• Fact: This is probably one of the biggest myths out there, but we really hope that our studio is not! We try really hard to be welcoming and friendly, to put people at ease. We offer free, professional advice and we have a laugh in the process. If you’re still unsure, pop in for a browse. You’ll be offered help, probably a free coffee and there will be no pressure or obligation to go ahead until you are ready. I promise you we aren’t intimidating, we’re not gruff, we’re not angry, neither are we flesh eating zombies. We are a group of like-minded people who LOVE what we do and hope that that enthusiasm comes across to you. We’re a good bunch really!!

Myth – you’re out in Worle and hard to get to/hard to find

• Fact: We are in the middle of Worle high street, between two bus-stops for the number 7 bus from the town centre and just 10 minutes walk from Worle Train Station. We are opposite Properjob over the zebra crossing, so dead easy to find. There’s a map on our website here. And if you are unsure – just give us a call, we’ll guide you in.

Myth – If you are tattooed, you will be unemployable.

• Fact. Not true. The prevalence of the tattoo culture and ‘inked individuals’ in modern culture is a testament to that. 5 or 6 years ago, I worked with a matron at a hospital that was tattooed from neck to ankle, elbow to armpit, with a full japanese bodysuit. Our clients include nurses, doctors, lawyers & policemen. Just be mindful of your career path & work environment and use common sense when deciding on placement of your tattoo. If you’ve just turned 18, don’t have a single tattoo yet and are coming in asking us to tattoo your hands or neck, chances are we’re going to advise you to have a rethink! Some tattoos are nick-named “job-stoppers” due to their placement. It’s wrong, but it’s a fact.

I really hope this goes some way to smashing some of the myths that exist around our studio, and tattooing in general. And if you have questions, just ask in the comments section, and we’ll do our best to answer 🙂

And more conventions….

And there’s more conventions on the way now! After a busy few days arranging, we’re going to be here, there, and everywhere 🙂

Tattoo Tea Party in Manchester in March, North Lakes in Carlisle in April, Inkfest in Weston in June, Tattoo & Toy in Cardiff in July, Tattoo Royale in Harrogate in October & Halloween Tattoo Bash in Wolverhampton in November.

The year is filling up nicely and as always we are really looking forward to appearing at these shows. It’s great to tattoo in a different environment – meet new people, happily put faces to names that we have come to know – they are always good fun. Spaces for bookings are limited but you can contact us at the studio for more information.

Conventions 2014

Conventions are great….. the atmosphere, the collection of talent all under one roof, meeting new people and putting faces to the names that we know, working in a different environment – not to mention the after-parties too!! They are always inspiring and challenge us to find new perspectives on the work that we do. It’s for this reason that we will happily be participating in several conventions in 2014, the first of which is Tattoo Tea Party in Manchester on 1st & 2nd March.

You can see the video of last year’s show here:

…and this year’s show promises to be equally as fun. We still have some availability for clients to be tattooed at this convention, as well as some of the others that we will be working at in 2014. Conventions are not only great for tattoo artists, but tattoo collectors as well. You get a chance to see work ‘in-the-flesh’ from artists that you would not normally have the chance to see, work with your existing artist in a different environment, enter your tattoos into competitions, buy artwork and clothing, – there really is so much going on. If you’d like to join us at the Tea Party, then give us a call and we can discuss your design ideas. It’s also great to see familiar faces at these shows too, so even if you have no plans to get tattooed currently is is still definitely worth buying a ticket for the show.

See you there!!

Choosing a tattoo and finding inspiration

Anyone looking to get a tattoo nowadays is in a very lucky position. With such easy access to images on the Internet, it has never been more simple to find ideas. However when you are faced with the choice of everything under the sun, it can be a little overwhelming and difficult to know where to start.

It does rather depend on the style of tattoo that you have chosen. You will probably have an idea in your mind of whether you want colour or black and grey. Whether you want the tattoo to be realistic or bold or fantasy or stylised, or even abstract. You will probably know what you want pictorial images or patterns or maybe a mixture.

It is quite common at the moment for people to know the overall look that they like, but to find it difficult to decide on the specifics. For instance people often know that they want a black and grey sleeve with a lot of shading. That is a starting point, but we need to know what images you want within the sleeve. We need to know what is going to be a tattoo “of”. Think about the kind of things that define you as a person. What are you into? What are your hobbies? What are the iconic images that you are drawn towards? What kind of artwork would you hang on the wall at home? What T-shirt designs do you like? If you think about yourself and your own likes and dislikes, you will come up with a tattoo that is unique to you and your personality. You could just go on google and search for “black and grey tattoo sleeve”, but then you will be in danger of copying everyone else and getting a tattoo that is “trendy”. The danger here, is that if it is trendy today, it will be dated tomorrow. So we recommend you start by looking at yourself and your own life, hobbies, loves, etc.

If you decide you want realism, either colour or black and grey, it is usually best to stop thinking about the reference pictures as tattoos. It is far better to search on Google and various other sites, listed below, for photos of the actual thing you want. For instance if you want a tattoo of a realistic rose, look at photographs of roses not tattoos of roses. If you want a realistic black and grey angel, look for paintings of angels or photos of statues. Don’t look at peoples tattoos if you want it to be realistic.

If you want patterns such as tribal, Polynesian, mandalas, Maori designs, or any other tattoo that is a pattern rather than an image of an object, it is fine to look at photographs of other peoples tattoos just to show us the kind of thing you want. It’s a starting point.

For most other styles: British/American traditional, Japanese traditional, or any other theme, it is fine to bring us ideas of other peoples tattoos or photographs of patterns on paper, they don’t need to be actual tattoos on skin.You are also welcome to design things yourself to give us an idea, but we will probably need to tweak the design to make sure it works as well as possible as a tattoo. You don’t need to be an amazing artist to do this-even a doodle can sometimes be helpful to help us to understand the image that you have in your head.

In addition to the obvious search engines like Google, you may also like to search on stock photo websites such as istockphoto.com. Photo stock websites are great for finding images of people and photographs of animals and flowers. If you want more creative ideas, deviantart.com is a good site to visit. There are all kinds of skill levels from the people who have submitted their pictures but sometimes it is good just to be able to get more creative ideas of the kind of thing you want for a tattoo. For instance if you search deviantART for Batman, you will find numerous different interpretations of the idea and it helps to get your own creative juices flowing and helps you narrow down your own idea in your minds eye.

But bear in mind whatever your reference, unless you have permission from the original artist, we will need to design something unique for you so we’re not just simply stealing somebody else’s work. That’s not on.

Once you have decided what you want and found reference pictures that will help us understand the style in which you would like it, then either pop in or call us up to arrange a consultation if you need to speak to a specific artist. If you can print pictures off or bring them on a memory stick that is most helpful. Please do not bring them on a phone or iPad if you can possibly help it because when you leave you obviously take the pictures with you. We need to be left with something!

Once one of our artists has discussed the idea with you and worked out size, placement, cost and all the design details, we will either book you straight in for an appointment or take a design deposit so that we draw something out for your approval before you book. Please be aware that design deposits are non-refundable so please be as specific as possible about what you want and be comfortable that your tattooist understands your ideas up front.

If you’re happy to give the tattooists free reign to go crazy with the design and be as creative as possible, please be sure to let them know. This is often the way to get the best unique result. However if your requirements are very specific, be sure to communicate those too. We are happy to work either way as our main objective is to not only do a great tattoo, but to do a great tattoo that you are going to be happy with the rest of your life.

Hopefully this helps you to formulate some ideas and gives you an idea of where to look. If you are still stumped, please feel free to pop in and chat to us anyway and maybe we can help to clarify things with you.

Either pop in or call us on 01934 522666.

Thanks for reading – we’ll be updating again soon.

A Welcome!! :)

Hello there, and if you are reading this, a very warm welcome to the Kustom Kulture blog. We hope to use this as a platform to share our work with you, to answer some of the more frequently asked questions that we receive, and to offer advice and insight into the experience of getting a tattoo/piercing or using any of the services offered at our laser clinic (laser tattoo removal, permanent hair reduction/removal, red vein/skin pigmentation/roseacea & acne treatment).

There are six artists at Kustom Kulture, as well as a resident piercer and laser specialist – & there are various ways to reach any of the artists here; either by popping into our studio in Worle (just a 10 minute bus ride from Weston-s-Mare town centre), by calling the studio on 01934 522666, messaging our timeline/mail on our facebook page (www.facebook.com/kustomkulturetattoos), commenting on our instagram feed at http://www.instagram.com/kustomkulturewsm, or visiting our website at http://www.kustomkulture.co.uk. We invite you to look at our photograph albums, either on facebook, instagram or our website – we appreciate your comments and look forward to discussing your design ideas with you.