Differences Between Custom Tattoo Designs and Traditional Designs

Tattoos have been around for centuries and there are a wide range of tattoos that are considered "traditional" designs and are still very popular with a lot of people. Then there are others who prefer to have their own custom designs created that reflect their own personality. It might leave you wondering as to what exactly is the difference between custom tattoo designs and traditional designs and is there a difference in their pricing and the time and effort that they take to come to life.

The "traditional" designs are generally characterized with a lot of black in it and minimalistic use of other colors. This is because, for many years the ink used for tattooing was not available in a variety of colors like it is today. The colors available were just basic colors like brown, white and black. With such a limited number of colors, many of the traditional designs consisted of just the black outline. A lot of these tattoos also were characterized with a ribbon with text on it such as an anchor with the name of the sailor's ship on it, or a pin-up girl with the girlfriend's name, or a heart with mom's name on it.

The "traditional" designs have an amazing variety of categories including angels, animals, flowers, crosses, pin-ups, skulls, military symbols, as well as zodiac and other tribal designs. These designs are all characterized with heavy black outlines and basic colors, but they can still be quite beautifully designed to keep up with the current trends and applied in a creative way to give a fresh and young look.

To differentiate "custom" designs from the "traditional" ones is a difficult task because both have their own importance and fans. The custom designs, on the other hand are unlimited in terms of ideas, designs, and even the placement of these tattoos on the body. Tattoo enthusiasts today don't mind having a tattoo on a body part that may be difficult to maintain, impossible to hide or painful to have tattooed. Hence, there are some basic steps that people follow in order to create their own custom designs:

Have an idea in mind for the tattoo design or theme and decide where it should be placed on the body.
Talk to some experienced and skilled tattoo artists and take suggestions/ advice on the specifications of the design and get it drawn out so that they know what exactly you want your tattoo to look like.
Get a tattoo stencil of the custom tattoo design created by a talented tattoo designer so that it is a one of a kind tattoo.

For those who are not artists, but want a custom tattoo done, there are millions of samples and tattoo designs available online that can be uses as a basis to create a custom tattoo. Think of finding one that is close to the idea in mind, and modify it to match your personal tastes and preferences. Sometimes that is done by combining elements from multiple tattoos to create that one-of-a-kind tattoo.

Also, consider colors that are to be used in your new custom tattoo design. Sometimes there are samples available in one color that can be changed to another color in order to make it more personalized.

Though there is a lot of difference between custom tattoo designs and traditional designs, there are some great traditional designs currently available as well as amazing new designs that people can create from their own ideas. Take a look at the wide range of styles, colors and patterns available to have ideas to ensure that the best custom design is created for you. There are so many styles available that the perfect design is not difficult to create. Good luck!