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Ink Link magazine
This was a mockup design that I curated in my last year of university. This project is aimed at those who seek information on tattoos. It includes features on upcoming events within the tattoo community, features on up and coming artists and why they’re significant and even a piece on a somewhat controversial tattoo style: blackout.
Contents page
The placement of the image here is to create direction for the eye. The woman is facing the right, an empty space filled by the text. It provides emphasis on the text and thus draws the eye there.
The photo feels like a nice contradiction to the usual sexy images of women with tattoos and feels almost sweet and innocent. I have no issues with the sexual portrayal of tattooed women, I just think it's important to make people aware that it's often more than an aesthetic. Especially for women, as we will discover in a later spread.
Event - International Tattoo Convention
A three page feature providing the vital details about the next International Tattoo Convention. It highlights some of the artists that will be attending, the venue, the mini events, among other things.
Event - International Tattoo Convention
The third and last page of this feature talks about what else can be expected at the Convention, besides the artists.
Feature on women and tattoos
Of course, tattoos are really sexy, but that is merely one facet of us inked women. These stories come from different women sharing their experiences with tattoos and what their tattoos mean to them. Among them is an elderly woman who got her first tattoo at 53 years old. She says it was the most confident she'd felt with her body in ages.
Blackout tattoos
A four page feature talking about a recent trend in the tattoo community. Not everybody enjoys the style, as it's extremely bold and perhaps in some cases, quite limiting.
A narrative of colour
This feature talks about the relationship that people of colour have with tattoos and how we are taking back a practice that used to be used to degrade us or mark us as owned property.
I felt this was a beautiful depiction of decolonization in that it does not remove colonization, but repurposes the customs to suit people of colour.
The reason for the big gap in the right hand column is to emphasize the fact that our story is not complete, there is still more to be written; on paper and on our skin.
Event - International Tattoo Convention
The page with the artists to expect sits in colour between two grayscale pages, which emphasises the artists nicely. A tattoo convention, of course, is nothing without the artists in attendance.
Feature on women and tattoos
As a woman who has tattoos, I do feel that we somewhat underrepresented. The majority of the images online are sexualised females.
Feature on women and tattoos
Women share how their body confidence increased after getting a tattoo. And not only that, but tattoos can be conduit for healing or a medium for story telling. Some get tattoos simply because they look good. I think that's the most exciting thing about tattoos; they mean different things to folks, and what is art if not that?
Blackout tattoos
This tattoo style involves a load of black ink covering a large are of the body. Many people have their arms done, but many are not yet ready to give up that much space.