500 Tattoo Designs [Hardcover]

Henry Ferguson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Pocket Guide Series | Publication Date: June 30, 2004

Tattoos are no longer unusual or uncommon; they are now an undeniable element of mainstream style and fashion. But tattoos are expensive and, more importantly, permanent; so choosing an image is a very big decision. Here to help is 500 Tattoo Designs, a vast reference library of popular tattoos. Neatly organized by theme, the clearly executed line drawings cover every conceivable subject area — historical and traditional to modern, from tribal imagery of native American Indians, Japanese and Chinese characters, arcane hieroglyphics to gothic skulls, Celtic amulets, and more. The book also features body positioning hints for specific designs, a discussion of color dynamics, and notes on health and safety. Whether you want to show off your design or conceal it, this book is packed with hundreds of possibilities.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Henry Ferguson is one of the UK's leading authorities on tattoo and body art. As well as being the publisher of Body Art magazine, one of the foremost journals on body art, he co-authored (with Lyn Proctor), 'The Art of Tattoo', published by Chrysalis Books. He lives in Norfolk. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thunder Bay Press (June 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159223139X
• ISBN-13: 978-1592231393
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #389,764 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, March 16, 2005

By 

Julia Acevedo (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 500 Tattoo Designs (Hardcover)

I'm in agreement with the other two reviewers here, but I thought I would elaborate a little more as to why I think "500 Tattoo Designs" isn't very good, rather than just saying it isn't. To begin with, the book is filled with very simple line drawings, some colored, some not, that are so rudimentary they actually remind me of the pictures in a child's coloring book. The desings are divided up along world cultural areas or groups: Japan, Celtic, Native American, and so on, but there is no explanation offered for any of the meanings of the designs and no real cultural context given besides the area or group of origin. Most of the designs *are* appealing, if simple, but if one were about to have a tattoo permanently inked upon one's body, I should think that one would certainly want to know not just the meaning of the chosen design but also a bit more about where it originated and who it was conceived for in the first place. I imagine one would hardly want a fertility symbol or religious tattoo if one had no interest in such things to begin with, hence my complaint of no information about the designs.
I believe this book would be better suited to a graphic artist, or maybe even a DIY-er with an upcoming major stencilling project and no ideas, as I feel that many of these designs would make excellent stencils if they were enlarged.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wingdings and other crap, December 6, 2004

By 

"co-op_bookstore" (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 500 Tattoo Designs (Hardcover)

This books looks sleek, if you judge it by its cover, but that is the only "slightly" interesting tattoo in the whole thing. The Book looks like the author simply took Microsoft Word Fonts such as Wingding and others with symbols, and pasted them onto his pages. Its all a load of crap, not worth the paper its printed on. A HUGE disappointment.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't judge a book by it's cover, May 6, 2006

By 

M. K. Berriman "Punkndoodl" (Las Vegas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 500 Tattoo Designs (Hardcover)

Seriously, what is on the cover is no where close to the crap inside. Please save your money. When I read the other reviews I thought, it can't be that bad. Actually, it turned out worse than what was said. Just like everyone says, it definitely looks exactly like a coloring book. You can actually get better ideas from coloring books. There is no creativity in these designs. They are all boring and very basic.