Editor-in-Chief
Mara Velez
Founded TattooDesignsBlog in 2017 after eight years at Skin & Ink and Rebel Ink. Oversees the Style Atlas taxonomy and the weekly trend report.
About the Archive · Est. 2017
A working archive of tattoo culture — not a marketplace.
TattooDesignsBlog is an editorial archive and trend desk run by a 9-person newsroom of editors, working artists, and dermatology consultants. We catalog what 7.2 million readers have saved, inked, and asked about — across 38 style categories and 24 body zones.
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Weekly design drops + style deep-dives — 142,000 subscribers.
By the Numbers
The archive, the team, and the audience — quantified.
12,400+
Original design entries indexed across 38 style categories
1.8M
Monthly readers; 7.2M served since 2017
142,000
Newsletter subscribers · 38% avg open rate
41
Verified partner studios across the US, UK, Canada & Australia
Publishing output: 60–80 new design entries, 4 long-read style guides, and 2 artist features every month. 9 full-time editors, 3 contributing artists, 14 guest curators in 6 countries.
Founder · Mara Velez
Eight years on the tattoo beat, then a magazine-grade archive.
TattooDesignsBlog was founded in 2017 by Mara Velez after eight years writing about tattoo culture for Skin & Ink and Rebel Ink magazines. The thesis was simple: the internet had a thousand tattoo galleries and no working reference desk. Readers didn't need another wall of pretty photos — they needed a curated taxonomy, honest trend reporting, and a place to turn a vague idea into a brief they could actually book.
Mara built the first version of the Style Atlas taxonomy in a Brooklyn studio apartment, working with a small group of apprentice artists she trusted. That taxonomy — co-developed with 180+ working tattoo artists and now used as a reference by three international apprenticeship programs — still organizes every entry on the site.
What started as a personal reference file is now a working archive read by 1.8 million people every month, with a trend desk that publishes weekly design drops and quarterly Style Atlas updates. The team has grown to nine full-time editors, three contributing tattoo artists, and two dermatology consultants — and the editorial standards haven't moved.
The Newsroom
The desks that run the archive.
A 9-person editorial team of writers, working artists, and dermatology consultants — not an anonymous content farm.
Managing Editor
Jules Okafor
Runs the daily archive and assigns the long-read style guides. Joined from a regional arts weekly in 2019. Edits the 2024 TDB Index.
Contributing Tattoo Artist
Rosa Mendes
Working fine-line artist based in Lisbon. Co-developed the Style Atlas taxonomy and contributes monthly placement breakdowns.
Contributing Tattoo Artist
Daniel Park
Korean-American blackwork artist in Toronto. Leads the archive's Irezumi and traditional Japanese coverage and curates the quarterly trend report.
Plus 5 additional editors, 1 contributing artist, 14 guest curators across 6 countries, and 2 dermatology consultants on retainer.
Studios, Press & Awards
Cited by the outlets that cover the culture. Worked with by the studios that make it.
41 Partner Studios
A verified network across the US, UK, Canada, and Australia contributing trending design data — including:
- Black Iris Tattoo · Brooklyn, NY
- East Side Ink · Toronto, ON
- Sacred Canvas · London, UK
- Wildheart Tattoo · Melbourne, AU
- North Star Studio · Portland, OR
- Casa Mariposa · Mexico City, MX
Press We've Been Quoted In
- Allure
- GQ
- Refinery29
- BBC
- Inked Magazine
- Tattoo.com
"Sites That Shaped Tattoo Internet" — Inked Magazine, 2023
Recognition
- Best Niche Publication — Arts & Lifestyle
- Top 10 Tattoo Resource
- Featured in "Sites That Shaped Tattoo Internet"
Editorial Milestones
Eight years of archive work — a print-style timeline.
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2017
Founded in Brooklyn
Mara Velez launches TattooDesignsBlog after eight years at Skin & Ink and Rebel Ink magazines. The first 200 design entries are tagged using a hand-built style taxonomy.
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2020
The Style Atlas taxonomy ships
Co-developed with 180+ working tattoo artists across 6 countries. The taxonomy now organizes 12,400+ entries and is used as a reference by three international apprenticeship programs.
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2022
"The Style Atlas" e-book published
The 96-page field guide to modern tattooing goes out free to the newsletter. 410,000 downloads to date — and counting.
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2023
Best Niche Publication — Arts & Lifestyle
TattooDesignsBlog wins at the Independent Publisher Online Awards. Inked Magazine names the site in "Sites That Shaped Tattoo Internet." The newsletter passes 100,000 subscribers.
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2024
The first TDB Index
The 2024 TDB Index ranks the year's top 200 designs by saves, shares, and confirmed bookings across the 41 partner studios. Cited as a trend source by Allure, GQ, Refinery29, and the BBC. Named a "Top 10 Tattoo Resource" by Tattoo.com editors.
Read by 142,000 subscribers every week.
One weekly design drop, one style deep-dive. No marketplace pitches.
Get the Weekly Design DropEditorial Contact
TattooDesignsBlog Editorial, LLC
118 Mott Street, Suite 4B, New York, NY 10013, USA
[email protected] · +1 (212) 555-0184
For artist interviews, partnership inquiries, press requests, and corrections. We do not offer tattooing services and do not facilitate bookings.