Earlier, tattoos would usually be a graphic, and might have had an additional side-note or footer as a written part, done to enhance the tattoo itself, such as an anchor with “Home Sweet Home” written above it or a heart with “Mom” below it, etc. But nowadays, lettering tattoos have become the norm and people in fact get only letterings done too. Thus now the lettering-tattoos have become quite common.

One important aspect of a lettering tattoo is its font, to which new styles and options are being created every day. There are an infinite number of possibilities that can be made and you can in fact create your own custom font style too. However, the most common general font styles are listed below for your reference. These styles are more like broad categories, and neither are they an exhaustive list, nor are they specific styles, i.e., each such style has several sub-styles under it.

Celtic - The Celts had created illuminated manuscripts of the Bible – were in fact the first people to do so – and hence had perfected the ancient art of Calligraphy. The different styles that can fall under the Celtic look can include fonts like ornate illuminated capital letters to a simple uncials font. If you are getting a quote or saying that is Celtic, Irish or even European you may want to consider a Celtic font.

Gothic – These fonts were developed primarily by those that were writing the Bible during the Gothic era. They’re usually very ornate with lots of embellishments, which has been quite heavily used in gangster tattoos. There exist a huge variety of Gothic fonts, such as those with heavy black lines to much lighter and free-flowing lines. Literary tattoos usually look good with a Gothic font.

Calligraphy – Technically any form of aesthetic writing is calligraphy, hence this is not exactly a style of font, but rather a collection of all styles. But over time, people have come to associate the word ‘Calligraphy’ with a certain stereotyped set of fonts, such as those rendered as if written with a calligraphic pen (one which has a wedge held at 45 degrees while writing). There are a lot of different calligraphic styles to choose from too, and different styles can create a vastly different effect on the tattoo, so you should choose carefully.

If you are thinking of getting a famous quotation, section of song lyrics etc as a tattoo, you really should spend a good deal of time deciding on the font that you’ll want to be using in the design, as it will change the whole look and feel of the tattoo once it’s done.