Alyssa's Arabic Ink

It wasn't Alyssa I approached on a Friday afternoon outside of Madison Square Garden, but her friend, who had several visible tattoos.

However, the friend was unhappy with all of her ink, so I asked if anyone else standing with her if they had work they'd like to share.

Alyssa offered up this Arabic tattoo, behind her right ear:


The script is the transliteration of her name, Alyssa, which she said means "flourishing" in Greek.


Definitions I have found point to it meaning "rational," or "noble," rather than "flourishing". Nonetheless, it is widely regarded as a very pretty name.

This was tattooed at Crazy Fantasy Tattoo in Manhattan. Work from that shop previously posted on Tattoosday can be seen here.

It just so happened I recently read the book Arabic Tattoos compiled by Jon Udelson. It's an interesting look at the phenomenon of the increase in popularity of Arabic script tattoos, and well worth a gander.

My favorite Arabic tattoo that has appeared on Tattoosday is this one.

Thanks to Alyssa for sharing her tattoo with us here on the site!

Tattoorism: Brian's Ohm

This was sent to me by Brian, in Southern California, who's celebrating his birthday today. It's a stunning black and gray tattoo and well worth sharing here on Tattoosday:


Brian explains:

"This is my first tattoo and [it] meant a lot to me. It's an ohm, which is sort of a Buddhist peace symbol. It's sort of a reminder to me about what I have to do.


I wake up and see it, and it reminds me how to live my life and how to interact with others. Behind the symbol is a copy of my thumb print, just to make it a little more personal and how it pertains to my life...The artist is Placaso at Lowrider Tattoo in Orange, CA."

Thanks to Brian for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday! And Happy Birthday, Brian!

We Pause Today for a Moment....

Technical problems today on the home computer, so instead, here's a great story on the Las Vegas Tattoo Convention last weekend.

Never mind the quality, it's quantity that counts

At the heart of a design rip-off dispute in Canada is the sweater worn by the woman in the centre of the picture above, according to this item on CBC News. According to member of Vancouver Island's Cowichan First Nation, it submitted a bid to knit its traditional Cowichan sweaters for Canada's Olympic uniforms but the Hudson's Bay Company decided to make its own. Say the Cowichans, Hudson Bay's version of the sweater embodies the elk and a maple leaf but lacks authenticity.

Particularly galling is the fact that Vancouver's Olympic Committee has threatened legal action against businesses that use the Olympic logo or even use the word 'Olympic' but apparently made no effort to accommodate the creators of the Cowichan design."

Hudson's Bay has defended its decision and maintains that the big issue was obtaining a sufficient supply.

Missy Needs a Miracle

I met Missy last month in Penn Station and she shared this, her first tattoo:


This is also the first Icelandic tattoo on Tattoosday!

The phrase in Icelandic, "Mér vartar kraftaverk" , Missy loosely translated as "I need a miracle". It is a memorial tattoo for a friend of hers who was killed after being hit by a car.

This tattoo not only serves as a memorial (she needs a miracle to bring her friend back), but also provides strength and prayers for any future challenges she may face in life.

The phrase was inked by Chi Chi Gunz at Silk City Tattoo in Hawthorne, New Jersey. Work from Silk City has appeared previously on our site here.

Thanks to Missy for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Design, residuals and the long tail

"If you are not an IP lawyer, please send this post to someone who is. Or you might want to just pitch this idea to them. If you are at all interested in personal fabrication, 3D printing, mass customization etc. it is crucial that such a business be created. If you can, please try to motivate someone you know to start it.

After all as Warhol said, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." And everyone won't all be able to make their way to the offices of Fancy, Fancier & Fancy-est esq. on Park Avenue".

So writes Joris Peels on his Shapeways blog, in an impassioned post entitled "The democratization of manufacturing, design residuals and IP". Joris argues for the creation of business models for, among other things, design-based creativity based on the fact of the 'long tail' that follows the exploitation of new designs and the means of extracting income from it. The big problem, of course, is "how?" Joris states:

"Some product designers are also increasingly getting into the royalty game charging between 3-5% on future revenues from their designs".

It would be good to know who they are, how they do it and what happens when the long tail meets the law of diminishing returns: the smaller and more obscure an infringement is, the less cost-effective is its enforcement, particularly where any damages award might reflect the design owner's expectation of receiving a royalty of just 3-5%. Readers' comments are welcome.

Lady Miscue of Delight

This was almost an orphan post, but I have enough to make it work.

Last month, I boarded the 2 train, downtown, and was standing next to a young lady with a colorful fairy on her upper right arm:


The woman's name was Elura, and she had this done at Daredevil Tattoo in Manhattan. Other work from Daredevil has appeared on Tattoosday previously here.

Alas, the train was noisy, and Elura was getting off at 14th Street, one station away. I asked her what the fairy was about, and she said, "She's Lady Miscue of Delight".

I scribbled that down and Elura said she would e-mail me with more detail. She never did and, try as I might, I couldn't figure out what looks like a fairy, and sounds like "Lady Miscue of Delight".

So that is what I will call her, until I have been corrected.

Regardless, thanks to Elura for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

UPDATE:

Jeremy, below, in the comments, suggested that perhaps Elura meant, Lady Miss Kier, of the musical group Deee-lite:



The photo indicates that may be correct. Thanks Jeremy!