December Chicago Tattoo News
Gifford
12/2025
Nominated for best of Chicago, Fresh tattoos, new available designs.
Hi everybody, thanks for checking in and seeing what’s going on in the studio. We’ve got a couple fun new’s items this month so I’ll stop yacking and get right to the point!
First, we want to extend a sincere and heartfelt thank you to all our loyal newsletter readers. We called and you answered by nominating us to The Chicago Readers Best of 2025 list. Not only did we get a nomination for Best Tattoo Shop but two of our artists, Dima and Gifford (yes, that’s me) received nominations for Best Tattoo Artist. Voting for the winner is going on now until the end of the month so we would really, REALLLLLY appreciate your vote, your friends votes, and anyone else you feel so inclined to bother to ask to vote for us. Every vote helps and these local accolades really help bring attention to our hard working artists and team. You can vote by clicking here https://chicagoreader.com/best-of-chicago-voting/ clicking on the Buy Local category, and scrolling alphabetically to the Best Tattoo shop and Best Tattoo Artist category. Once you hit submit it will lock you out of the Buy Local page, so make sure to vote in any other categories you want as well before you submit. The Chicago Reader has done a great job hosting these local awards for as long as I can remember, and it’s worth putting some time in going through the different categories to help support all your other favorite local staples as well!
As it’s December, it’s the perfect time to remind everyone that we do in fact sell Gift Cards.
You can buy them online here or stop in the studio to grab one. If you have a tattoo lover in your life who’s been hinting they want some new work, it’s the perfect gift.
If you know which artist they like you can always go the extra mile and schedule a free consultation along with your sweet gift card gift.
Pro tip - don’t try to schedule the actual tattoo! I’ve found over the years that both clients and artists are usually much more comfortable agreeing on a design idea ahead of time rather than one being sprung as a surprise.
If you’re just itching to to get a tattoo and still have no idea what you want, I have a newer direction i’m trying to explore and looking a few clients to get some of these pieces or a similar concept for a discounted session rate while I build a new portfolio. I’m calling these Cyber Portraits. These designs can be done as is, or used as a jumping off point to discuss your own cyber portrait idea. If you’re interested and want more details and a free consultation, please full out the booking link
