They say there’s no arguing about taste, but some decisions seem so objectively awful that the internet can’t help but call people out. Sometimes, it’s okay to be a bit judgmental about art. Unsurprisingly, a huge number of people get tattoos featuring characters from the legendary TV show The Simpsons.
Unfortunately, not all of those designs turn out to be winners. One account on Instagram collects some of the most egregious Simpsons designs ever, and they’re so bad, it’s hard to look away. Check out some of the worst offenders and biggest fails below!
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The [Bad] Simpsons Tattoos account has been horrifying Instagram with awful ink and terrible designs for nearly a decade, since September 2015. Over the years, the curator of the account has amassed a following of 141k people. The account is a testament to the fact that The Simpsons has had a deep impact on popular culture. Even to the point that some people choose to get tattoos featuring the most popular characters from the show.
However, just because a TV show character or pop culture icon is popular doesn’t mean that you can pick a tattoo artist at random. No matter what design you have in mind, whether it’s low-key or elaborate, you have to be careful that you reach out to someone who’s skilled, experienced, and qualified to get that particular job done well.
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In this day and age, with such easy access to the internet, it’s easier now than ever to evaluate a tattoo artist and their body of work. Many artists upload their designs on social media or their business sites so that they can show off the type of work that their customers can expect.
After looking through their photo archive and checking some online reviews, you can either give them a call, send them a message, or pop into their salon for a quick chat.
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On the one hand, you, as the customer, want to get a feel for the artist and figure out whether you can trust them to ink your fave design in their personal style.
On the other hand, the artist will likely want to gauge your attitude as well and to check whether there’s a match between your expectations and their skill level and approach.
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For example, someone who doesn’t focus as much on animated character designs may feel like they’re not experienced enough to ink Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, or Maggie. On the flip side, someone who’s very much on top of pop culture might see this as a challenge that genuinely excites them.
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Often, artists put small stylistic twists on designs, so you have to be okay with them taking some small liberties. Let the professionals do their jobs without micromanaging them.
That being said, you also want to be transparent about your expectations. If something genuinely bothers you, speak up. Just try to be friendly about it. At the end of the day, you won’t get anywhere without open and honest communication.
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Regret is something that we all face at some point in our lives. Most often, we regret the things we don’t do rather than the ones we end up doing. However, if you get a truly awful tattoo, it’s only natural to feel upset and embarrassed.
Luckily, there are lots of ways to remove tattoos with modern technology. The biggest downsides, though, are that it can be expensive, time-consuming, and painful.
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With that in mind, it’s usually best to thoroughly think through your choice before committing to it. Something that you could do is get a temporary tattoo of your design and see how you feel about it a few weeks or months later.
You could also set your design as your phone wallpaper and then check whether or not you’re sick of it months down the line. In short, you want to get a sense for how you’ll think of the tattoo not just now when you’re super excited, but also after lots of time has passed.
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The Cleveland Clinic explains that one popular way to remove tattoos is laser tattoo removal, which involves focused beams of light heating up the ink particles in your skin to break them down so that your immune system can remove them. Usually, this takes multiple sessions.
Another technique is dermabrasion, a surgical procedure where your outer skin layers are removed, including the tattoo ink. This will leave an open wound on your skin, which will need lots of time to heal.
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Other procedures include chemical peels (using chemicals to remove the permanent ink from your skin), surgical excision (removing the skin with the ink and then stitching the skin together, but this only works for small tattoos), and removal creams (they contain irritating and damaging acids that work slowly over months and may not be as efficient as other techniques).
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Which of these abhorrent Simpsons tattoos do you personally feel are the very worst of the bunch, dear Pandas? Were there any designs that you thought were so bad that they’re actually kinda good?
Have you ever regretted getting a tattoo? What designs are you the most proud of? What, for you, are the signs of a truly great artist? We’d love to hear your opinions. Feel free to share yours in the comments.
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