10 Designs Your Local Tattoo Artist Wishes You Wouldn't Get

By Emily Orofino
POPSUGAR Photography | Matthew Barnes
POPSUGAR Photography | Matthew Barnes

Thanks to the balmy kickoff of Summer, we're seeing a lot more skin — and that includes the revealing of tattoos. Women and men are showing off everything from tiny, delicate designs to larger, watercolor-inspired masterpieces. There's no denying that ink has become extremely popular — it's evolved dramatically from being a more underground, subversive trend to practically commonplace. But have you ever stopped to wonder what tattoo artists think of your permanent body art?

At this point, the men and women behind the needles have seen it all — and they have feelings about what they've worked on. Reddit user twitchy_taco asked professionals which tattoo trends they are sick of, and the responses were both astounding and fascinating. We don't necessarily agree with their opinions (after all, what you choose to immortalize on your body is your decision alone), but they certainly provide an interesting perspective. Read on to discover the worst tattoo trends, as voiced by the artists themselves.

  1. White ink designs. "White ink tattoos are very annoying," explained Reddit user aceboogie1123. "They look good right after they're done but pretty soon you can hardly see them. I actually know a few artists that refuse to do them."
  2. Rib tattoos. "I'm sick of rib tattoos because it's super stretchy," remarked Reddit user ladycoleopterist."A good 20 percent of people I tattoo there will shake and twitch through the whole thing. Girls of Pinterest, make calf tattoos the next big thing!"
  3. Ink in Asian characters. "Because anything from Asia is automatically mystical and wise," sarcastically said Reddit user cunninglinguistician, who is annoyed by "generic 'deep phrases' (or incorrectly translated/gibberish writing)."
  4. Designs from Pinterest. "The thing that gets old quickest is the hot Pinterest tattoos," divulged Reddit user lunchboxink. "I don't mean this in an elitist way, it's just that I always prefer doing custom work but there are only so many ways you can make an infinity knot with words in it original. After the 100th one it gets a bit old."
  5. Tattoos of people's faces. Reddit user VertonerAura submitted this response, and user Brainlessbart chimed in, adding, "I never got why people do this, portraits never look good and people's appearances change . . . not to mention those weirdos who get celebrities tattooed to themselves."
  6. Certain word combinations. "Any combination of the following words: dream, laugh, hope, love, live, dance," declared Reddit user houseofleopold. "It's like 'build your own inspirational quote.' Yes, so inspiring on your foot."
  7. Watercolor motifs. "It will look like a horribly pale bruise that's blotchy," complained Reddit user Woe2TheUsurper. "Sure it looks beautiful when it goes on and is first healing, but guess what so does every tattoo. The difference between bold lines and watercolor is one holds for a long time, the other maybe a year."
  8. Infinity tattoos. "My [brother-in-law] is a tattoo artist," shared Reddit user Bexlyp. "He put up a sign in his booth that says 'If you saw it on Pinterest, I lose interest.' He's so godd*mn tired of infinity tattoos."
  9. "Ugly crosses." "It's a shame when people have bad taste in crosses," lamented Reddit user Briarrose. "It's such a simple thing that's supposed to be meaningful yet some people can't seem to get past the second page of Google Images."
  10. Unoriginal tiny tats. "I've seen people come in who've gotten them done a few years ago and of course want them so dainty and tiny that they've aged into little squishy black balls," explained Reddit user system_failure. "I understand that these designs are easy to do and are easy money grabs to pay the bills but I want my clients to walk out of the shop with a tattoo made to last and a tattoo with at least some original qualities to it."