When you have to decide where to put your tattoo, you need to consider a number of factors. What are my best features? What are my worst features? What are my career options, and where do tattoos, or other body art, fit into my future career?

There are basically two approaches to body art/tattoo placement:

1.) The body art is for you.

2.) The body art is for the public.

If the body art is for you, the obvious answer is to place the tattoo or piercing somewhere most convenient for you to see, but not obstruct any future plans or careers.  If the body art is for public consumption, then like a billboard, the most obvious location is preferable. If you are a billboard, then by definition, you can’t be other things (minister, teacher, confidant, salesman of other products, etc.). Essentially the tattoo or piercing distracts from your prime goal of fulfilling your occupation. If the tattoos helps your occupation. . . great, but what if you change jobs?

Your tattoo becomes a billboard for whatever it is you’re selling. . . religion, love, rebellion, grief, etc. Once you become a billboard for whatever permanent product or idea you had, it is very difficult to change, or conceal. If you are a tattoo artist, it is completely appropriate to display your work on your own body. If you are a poet and your body is your art, go for it!!  But if you plan to work in the mainstream, you cannot be a billboard for something else without drawing attention away from your real paying job. 

Where do I place my tattoo? The answer is simple.  Answer yourself who the tattoo is for, and choose the most logical location for your answer.

Where do I place my tattoo?

Here are some commonly recommended places for tattoos for your own enjoyment. Stay away from the neck, hands, lower arms, and of course the face.  For woman, also avoid the legs, ankles, and feet for those who frequently wear dresses.

1. Upper back above the shoulder blade

2. Upper butt cheek

3. Upper arm (deltoid)

4. Lower abdomen

5. Upper thigh

6. Chest side on the rib cage (under arm)

7. Inner thigh

8. Biceps

9. Upper outer chest (away from the center)

10. Lower “small’ of the back

Obviously these are easily concealed locations, yet also easily seen for your own “consumption.” If you feel an overwhelming need to put you tattoo on display, please re-examine your need to do this (your motivation), and try to go small.