Thinking about getting a tattoo

[nemo137]

Nothing fancy, just the Latin motto "Dum Spiro, Spero" on my right bicep. I want it in black, with the words vertical, and each word slightly offset, like stairs. I just don't know what kind of lettering I want it in. Any advice or thoughts?

[Kire]

1. While I breathe, I hope?

pretty cool

make sure they spell it right

[nemo137]

2. Yeah, that's right. I forgot to put in the translation. Sorry

But yeah, when I get it I'm having a friend whose literacy and attention to detail I trust do the work for me.

[Kire]

3. my friend got a tattoo with one of the words spelled wrong

It was a Black Flag (punk band) symbol, that says "This is a song about regection." He didn't even know it until I pointed it out to him days later. I haven't seen him in a long, long time. What I've heard about him is not good.

[nemo137]

4. That's unfortunate.

I've heard my tattoo artist friends heap derision on anyone who's not careful enough to get everything right.

[Kire]

5. Speaking of tattoo mistakes.

Have you ever heard of Hanzi Smatter? It's a blog "dedicated to the misuse of chinese characters in western culture". Especially tattoos.

http://www.hanzismatter.com/

It's hilarious.

[Richard Steele]

6. Do the design yourself, and then pay for a REAL artist to push the ink.

If you actually care about the the frickin' FONT, then you aren't ready.

You are gonna bear this mark till the day you die-
It needs to be all about YOU.

I have 5 tattoos...the only one I regret is the fanciest one,
the professionally-executed one...
because it was done too early, just because I had an Idea
and some cash and a friend who did tattoos...

The ones I did myself with razor blades and cigarette ashes
are still pretty cool.

[nemo137]

8. I care about how it looks.

I have a very specific kind of lettering in mind, but I can't do my own lettering to save my life, so I'm trying to find something that clicks.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

7. Start playing around in word.

See what font you like. Print it out and bring it in to your tattoo artist. Don't get too fancy with the font, especially if you're making it small. Check out the portfolio of the tattoo artist before they do it. Make sure you like their work. Any good artist will be proud to show it off.