Aardvark Tattoo Company

• “Aardvark” because it’s first in the alphabet, gender neutral, odd enough to be memorable, cute but not too cute

• Founded 2/14/10, began to make profit after about 3 months

• Co-owned by 2 artists (us) and a piercer/manager

• 2 current independent contractors• All custom shop; our motto is “it’s not about

us, it’s about YOU”

Aardvark is different because…

• We are CLEAN and professional

• Our choices of décor, furniture, logo, and other promotional materials are all selected and created with this as our guiding concept

Division of Labor!!• Most shops are

owned by one artist, sometimes an investor

• Artists don’t make the best managers!

• Lack of management leads to supply shortages, lack of promotion, general chaos and stress

Irish: works harder than both of us.

How we started

• Business plan- not only important for investors, but also to clarify your “game plan”

• Split up the work- I did all the graphic and web design, Irish did construction and publicity, Paul did the comparison shopping for all fixtures, furniture, and supplies

Obstacles•NO ONE wants to rent to a tattoo

shop! •Or insure it•Or lend to it (a bank wouldn’t, and

private lenders are fraught with problems)

•Hustlers- credit card machine companies, “contractors,” etc.

What, exactly, do you DO?

• Customer presents idea in a consult

• We sketch for them and agree on a basic layout & plan

• We create a finished drawing, often using digital manipulation

• After the client approves the design, we begin the tattoo!

• On many larger pieces we do multiple sittings

The finished product!

A brief history of tattoos

Tattoos (or scarification) appear in every culture in the world

Oldest discovered tattoo is from about 3,300 bce

Often associated with coming of age rituals, healing, and other sacred rites

Techniques range as widely as subjects do

The modern tattoo machine was developed in 1891 by Samuel O’Reilly

As the art form grows, so does the cultural acceptance

Jeff Gogue

Guy Aitchison

Mike DeVries

Nikko Hurtado

James Kern

Paul Booth

Ooh, pretty! I want one!

WAIT!•You must be 18 in the state of Oregon to get a tattoo, those who tattoo minors risk heavy fines and imprisonment

•Those who tattoo minors or outside of a licensed shop are irresponsible, and most likely unskilled and DANGEROUS!

•Staph infections/mersa•Hepatitis A, B, and C•HIV

•Cover-ups cost more, removal costs more AND hurts more

•Bad tattoos make you look bad!

THINK before you INK!

• Find a licensed artist you can trust who will listen to what you want

• If the shop is dirty, reusing needles, or makes you at all uncomfortable, LEAVE!

• Look at examples of other art & come with an idea, please don’t pick it off the wall! What’s the rush?

• Your tattoo is an expression of who you are! The quality of your tattoos shows how you feel about yourself!

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever”

- John Keats

Thank you!