We were very curious about what inspired the curator to create the s****ysimpsonstattoos account in the first place. "The inspiration came from the rise in popularity of the 'eBay tattoo kit' and the 'Facebook Marketplace apprentice,' coupled with the already popular 'thesimpsonstattoo' Instagram account," they told Bored Panda.
"There was a crossover period between genuinely bad tattoos and the sudden boom of the 'ignorant' or 'trash' style tattoo (intentionally badly done). Most kids have grown up on The Simpsons, with many quotes being core vocab for a lot of millennials and Gen Zs."
Bored Panda also asked the founder of the account what, for them, are some potentially glaring red flags when it comes to tattoo art.
They said that art is "always subjective." One person might find a design to be awful, while others might love it. The curator said that you can find evidence of this throughout their posts, with people commenting that something isn't bad.
According to them, a bad tattoo on their account "can be anything from the content, the placement, reference, or the fact it was done at 2 a.m. on a bathroom floor with a stick and poke needle with no gloves on."
They added that, on the flip side, "a great tattoo encompasses artist originality, with the core elements like line work, shading, colour palette, etc."
The s****ysimpsonstattoos account has been horrifying Instagram with awful ink and terrible designs for nearly a decade, since September 2015. Over the years, the curator of the account has amassed a following of 141k people. The account is a testament to the fact that The Simpsons has had a deep impact on popular culture. Even to the point that some people choose to get tattoos featuring the most popular characters from the show.
However, just because a TV show character or pop culture icon is popular doesn’t mean that you can pick a tattoo artist at random. No matter what design you have in mind, whether it’s low-key or elaborate, you have to be careful that you reach out to someone who’s skilled, experienced, and qualified to get that particular job done well.
In this day and age, with such easy access to the internet, it’s easier now than ever to evaluate a tattoo artist and their body of work. Many artists upload their designs on social media or their business sites so that they can show off the type of work that their customers can expect.
After looking through their photo archive and checking some online reviews, you can either give them a call, send them a message, or pop into their salon for a quick chat.
On the one hand, you, as the customer, want to get a feel for the artist and figure out whether you can trust them to ink your fave design in their personal style.
On the other hand, the artist will likely want to gauge your attitude as well and to check whether there’s a match between your expectations and their skill level and approach.
For example, someone who doesn’t focus as much on animated character designs may feel like they’re not experienced enough to ink Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, or Maggie. On the flip side, someone who’s very much on top of pop culture might see this as a challenge that genuinely excites them.
Often, artists put small stylistic twists on designs, so you have to be okay with them taking some small liberties. Let the professionals do their jobs without micromanaging them.
That being said, you also want to be transparent about your expectations. If something genuinely bothers you, speak up. Just try to be friendly about it. At the end of the day, you won’t get anywhere without open and honest communication.
Regret is something that we all face at some point in our lives. Most often, we regret the things we don’t do rather than the ones we end up doing. However, if you get a truly awful tattoo, it’s only natural to feel upset and embarrassed.
Luckily, there are lots of ways to remove tattoos with modern technology. The biggest downsides, though, are that it can be expensive, time-consuming, and painful.
