What tattoo styles are there and what are their meanings?

Numerous styles cavort in the tattoo scene. Since you often just choose a motif because you like it, we will help you to correctly classify your desired motif or already stung tattoo. We present the most important styles briefly and crisply:

Intense, extreme, almost exaggerated - that's the motto of the New School Tattoos. They are inspired by many different pop cultures such as anime, manga, video games or comics. You can recognize this style by the intense and preferably fancy colors, like neon or different shades of one tone, the extreme 3D effects and the wide outlines. Many tattoos are related to a personal meaning, whereas a New School tattoo is more about character and creating a true work of art.The fun and the joy of the tattoo are here in the foreground.

Old school tattoos belong to the older styles and are characterized by patriotic symbols. Hearts, daggers, pistols, roses or ships are associated with the old school style.Many of these motifs have their own unique and individual meaning and are a popular choice for tattooing for this very reason. The reason for the eye-catching motifs is mainly because the tattooing techniques of the time were very different from those of today. The quality of the machines and the ink was not particularly high quality, the motifs were kept simple and striking, so that they still looked like something after a long time.

Just like watercolors on paper, these types of tattoos seem to radiate a certain lightness. The loose brushwork, the intertwining of colors and delicate splashes of color: Watercolor tattoos are real works of art under the skin that are also very unique. The trend draws its inspiration from watercolor painting, which dates back to the 9th century.The style is a modern interpretation of colored tattoos and thus goes along with the spirit of the times. Watercolor tattoos differ from other tattoos only in their shading and coloring. The color gradient shows smooth transitions, often without any contours at all. However, it does not have to be colorful, because Black Watercolor Tattoos look extremely elegant.

Dotwork is a new trend entering the tattoo world, which describes the unique technique of tattooing and has recently gained popularity. Tattoos that are stitched in the dotwork style do not describe the motifs, but rather the shading of them with dots of varying size and intensity.This style is especially suitable for detailed patterns, ornaments and mandalas.

Since dotwork is stitched one dot at a time, some tattoo artists put aside their tattoo machine as it is not the best tool when it comes to these tattoos. Some artists are even convinced that the so-called "hand poking" allows more precise work in this case.

Consisting of wild collages of realistic motifs paired with scribbles, geometric signs and writings to create an almost chaotic look, Trash Polka Tattoos are tattooed exclusively with black and red ink. Created this type of tattoos Simone Pfaff and Volko Merschky, two Germans from Würzburg. The focus is on the contrast between the detail of the realistic tattoos and simple graphic elements, the colors black and red and large and small motifs.

In 1950, a new style of gang-affiliating tattoos broke out in the Latino community in California prisons. Since the means available to create a tattoo behind bars weren't exactly the best, and tattooing was actually illegal, the style evolved, which was done exclusively with black and gray ink. Chicano tattoos can represent many elements. From family and neighborhood to culture, feelings or memories. Mostly they include realistic portraits like the sugar skull, religious, realistic or cultural motifs, gang symbols or writing.