Would you like something a little more original?

Can it be a little more original? - Column

"Can I have a little more?" is often asked when you ask for a hundred grams of Lyoner or a hundred and fifty grams of medium-aged Gouda at the sausage and cheese counter. It's a standard phrase that is actually part and parcel of shopping at the butcher.

It would often be desirable for tattooists to be asked in a similar way "can it be a bit more original?", because far too often customers pick up tattoos that, on closer inspection, are not exactly a highlight in terms of originality; infinity loops, birth dates, names, mini stars, heartbeat curves... because for every tattooist who has just read this, these motifs immediately trigger the yawn reflex.

Let's start with names and dates of birth; you get tattoos of people who are particularly important to you. And you probably know their names and dates of birth... so the question arises; why do you get them tattooed? Probably not for yourself, because these are things you won't forget anyway. And the fact that the person sitting next to me in the sauna can see from my skin that Melissa was born on 8 May 2018 and Sebastian on 3 September 2020 isn't really necessary either, is it? Apart from the fact that my skin is not an official form on which I would have to enter the personal details of relatives.

The infinity bow is of course a symbol that is suitable for expressing unconditional love and eternal connection. However, this symbol is now used so excessively that its mass distribution overshadows the meaning of what is actually a beautiful symbol and the aftertaste of the standard stamp significantly diminishes the importance that the wearer associates with this symbol.

Let's move on to the three (or four or five...) asterisks, which are supposed to symbolize father, mother and brother (or sister). Or which stand for parents, grandparents and children. Or for dog, cat, mouse or for peace, joy, pancakes... yes, that was a bit of a polemic, but I think it makes it clear that this is actually a completely meaningless symbol that can be filled with absolutely any content you like.

"But the important thing is that it has a meaning for me!" is something you often hear. In principle, yes. And nobody has to justify their decision to get this or that tattoo motif.

But you have to be allowed to ask; if someone's children, grandparents or something else is so important to them that they want to have an eternal reminder of this person engraved on their skin in the form of a lifelong image - i.e. if something is so important, isn't it a little bit of a mistake to simply choose a standard motif from the crawl space for something so important that thousands of others also wear? Given the importance of the motif, wouldn't it be appropriate to look for a more original, more individual solution that does more justice to the person being honored, instead of a "one size fits all" motif?

It doesn't necessarily have to be a portrait tattoo; if grandma was great at baking, how about a tattoo of her apple strudel in neo-traditional style? Your daughter loves her Bobby car and your son is crazy about Ninjago? There's sure to be a tattoo artist who can create a great motif that will give you wonderful, individual memories of your children whenever you look at it. Did your father always take you to Schalke games as a child? Wouldn't his fan jersey be a nice motif?

When someone is important to you, you associate an infinite number of beautiful experiences, impressions, memories or special feelings and moments with this person. With a little imagination and creativity, you can create the most amazing tattoo motifs that reflect the uniqueness of this person in your life and express their specialness for you.

You think you're not that good at it and you don't really know how to go about creating such an individual motif? That's not a problem, because, as I said, there are professional tattoo artists who will be happy to help you make it a little more original.

Text: Dirk-Boris Rödel

Graphic: Jonas Bachmann