Deciding you want to get inked is step one. As for landing on the tattoo ideas you love enough to make permanent? That can take a little more consideration, whether it’s your first time or your fifteenth.

In general, tattoos have become a lot more mainstream in recent years. Contemporary jewellery brand Astrid & Miyu (who offer teensy tattoos as part of their service) noticed a 35% uptick in bookings for fine line tattoos from 2023 to 2024.

Everyone from A-listers to our bffs have jumped on the train and multiple tattoos scattered across our bods have become mega popular. Millennials and Gen Z are a lot less buttoned up when it comes to getting inked (it helps that society and employers have loosened up, too) and these days, you’ll hear far fewer warnings about “what they’ll look like when you’re older” and a lot more acceptance about them being a part of our history and where we were at different moments in time. But, even though our approach to tattoos has become a lot more relaxed, we still want to find designs that remain timeless and immune to ever-evolving trends.

Here to help, we’ve rounded up the best tattoo ideas – from dainty designs and uplifting quotes, to bold illustrations and graphic symbols. Sometimes, even a single dot will do (anyone remember Phoebe’s tattoo of the Earth “from a great, great distance”, in Friends?)

What are the best tattoo styles?

The answer to this is, of course, subjective. There are so many tattoo styles out there and what one person likes, another may dislike. But generally speaking, there are a few styles that continue to be popular. Cursive styles, for instance, always look cool – choose a word, phrase or single initial and find a size/font you like.