Tattoo Designs come in all shapes and sizes. When it comes to tattoo designs, there are no rules, anything goes. A tattoo is made by the insertion of ink into perforations or cuts into the skin. Technically speaking, a tattoo design is micro-pigment implantation. The word is traced to the Tahitian tatu or tatau , meaning to mark or strike (the latter referring to traditional methods of applying the designs). In Japanese the word used for traditional tattoo designs or those that are applied using traditional methods is irezumi ("application of ink"), while "tattoo" is used for non-Japanese designs. Most tattoo enthusiasts refer to tattoos as tats, ink, art or work, and the person who produces the tattoo designs as an artist. This usage is gaining support, with mainstream galleries holding exhibitions of tattoo designs and photographs of tattoos. Tattoo designs that are mass produced and sold to tattoo artists and studios and displayed in shop are known as flash. Tattoos have become very fashionable in recent decades in most parts of the world, particularly in North America, Europe, and Japan. The growth in tattoo civilization has seen the arrival of new tattoo design artists into the industry, many of whom have scientific and fine art training, and that coupled with advancements in tattoo colours and the ongoing refinement of the equipment used for tattooing has led to a marked upgrading in the quality of tattoos being produced. Movie stars, models, popular musicians and sports figures are just some of the people in the public eye who are commonly tattooed, which in turn has fuelled the acceptance of tattoos within mainstream popular culture. In 2005, a telephone census of tattoo designs conducted by an International company asked over 1000 US citizens to give their opinions of tattoos as a form of art.
