A Carleton student and tattoo enthusiast is launching an online forum for fellow tattoo lovers.
“Tattoo Hero is a community-based website that brings together tattoo artists, tattoo enthusiasts, and people who would like to learn about tattooing,” Steve Tannahill said.
“We want to provide a centralized place for people to be able to easily research tattoo artists in their area so they can easily decide who will do their next tattoo.”
Artists will be able to set up profiles where they can post photos of tattoos from their portfolios, advertise their shops and provide advice to other members.
Tattoo enthusiasts will be able to set up profiles, post pictures of their tattoos or pictures of tattoos that they like and comment, like, and collect pictures posted by other members.
For people new to tattooing, Tattoo Hero will have articles explaining the culture and process around tattoos.
Tattoo Hero also plans to provide a paid service that would allow members to consult with tattoo artists online, according to Tannahill.
Tannahill said he had his first exposure to tattoos at the age of 18.
“My first tattoo was not very well thought out. A friend and I just went out and got one for fun,” Tannahill said.
Tannahill said artist Jimmy Gobeil was the first to get him really excited about tattoos.
“Seeing his work really got me excited about getting my first large tattoo. He did my three-quarter sleeve and has since finished it into a full sleeve,” Tannahill said.
Tannahill is in his fourth year of software engineering at Carleton, although he originally planned to get a degree in electrical engineering.
“My mother encouraged me study engineering, so I started off in electrical engineering due to my love for electronics. I enjoyed the coding much more than learning about electronics so after two years I changed to software engineering,” Tannahill said.
Tattoo Hero will be live by the end of February 2013.
