The History of Word Tattoo Designs
You see written words have been a part of tattoos for a long time. However, it wasn't until recently that the words became the tattoo itself. It used to be that the words were used to embellish and enhance the tattoo design. For example an anchor tattoo might have the words "home sweet home" written under it. Another example might be the classic heart tattoo with the letters mom written under it. You get the idea here lettering used to be an extra piece to add on. However, these days tattoo lettering and literary tattoos have taken the main stage and they are no longer part of the embellishment but they are part of the tattoo itself.
Different Font Styles
There are many different styles of fonts and new fonts being created every day. The possibilities are unlimited and you can even custom design or have a custom designed font created for your tattoo if you want. However, some of the most common fonts that are used in tattoos are below. These are broad categories and there obviously are many more options within each category.
Celtic - A beautiful lettering font for tattoo designs. The Celtic's were the first to create illuminated manuscripts of the Bible and therefore had perfected the art of calligraphy. There are a few different styles that can fall under the Celtic look. These can include everything from the ornate illuminated capital letters to a simple uncials font. There are so many options and if you are getting a quote or saying that is Irish, Celtic or European you might want to consider a Celtic font.
Gothic - Gothic of course came from the calligraphers that were writing the Bible during the Gothic era. Gothic letters are often very ornate with lots of embellishments. This has been used heavily in gangster tattoos but can also be used in any kind of tattoo letter design. There are a wide variety of different gothic fonts everything from really heavy black lines to much lighter and flowing lines. Gothic fonts can often look great as a literary tattoo.
