Why Inkstinct?
Inkstinct is the first project that gives Tattoo enthusiasts a 360 degree representation of their world.
We are not simply talking about a database of thousands of images to inspire users on their next tattoos but also their favorite studios, the best artists, curiosities and trends.
Tattoos are art forms and we, above all, have a project that respects the artists and their art.
In the 5 years since Instagram’s release, the tattoo industry has evolved immensely. It has seen artists’ careers taken to new heights, brought exposure to tattoos as an art form, inspired the creativity of a generation and given us lovers of ink a platform to view, share and discuss all styles of tattoos and tattoo culture. Before Instagram, if you wanted to get a tattoo you usually went to your local tattoo shop with a design.
But if you wanted a tattoo from a great artist, your only real option was to buy tattoo magazines and somehow find websites that had the artist’s portfolios on them.
While attending tattoo expo’s, we started to collect business cards, so we could follow the artists Instagram accounts. After seeing all of the different styles that were being created, it opened our mind to the level of detail that could be achieved on skin. Then all of the sudden tattoo sharing pages on Instagram started to become popular and people from around the world had a new found interest in tattoos. People who never thought they would get a tattoo were starting to make tattoo wish lists and people who always wanted a tattoo but never knew what to get, were finding every single tattoo style imaginable.
It was at this time where we understood there was no real player taking advantage of this huge opportunity to meet the needs of a growing and hungry global audience.
Starting with a large collection of studios in 2013, we developed an algorithm to speed up the process of creating the only app in the world that represents the most important worldwide collection of tattoo artists, images and studios. In 3 years time we have created a database with more than 80.000 studios, each of these are synced directly with Facebook, so that our app is always up to date with the artists’ contact, images and other informations.
In 2016 we added single artists profiles and connected them to their Instagram page. This is is an important distinction as individual artists often work in a larger studio but also want to be seen as an individual with his proper brand, art form and following. Our industry is traditionally very slow. Up till now, there is very little competition and most people get their tattoo information from physical magazines or conventions.
Inkstinct has positioned itself as the only place in the world where a tattoo lover can connect with artists from all over the world and experience tattoos as pure forms of art.
Our strategy is to create a community of tattoo lovers who interact in a similar way as how they do on Facebook but in a closed group of passionate people and artists. We see a natural business model of creating a marketplace where tattoo lovers can find and bid on exclusive designs found only on Inkstinct. We see the opportunity to become the default platform for newbies, tattoo collectors and tattoo artists.
We have invested a huge amount of our time in editorial work where we have classified the different categories in such a way that the app and website are easy to use and where tattoo lovers have an easy time setting up their profile in similar way that one does with Apple Music.
Most of the content of our app is generated by our algorithm or is manually updated by the studios themselves. This creates an extremely efficient content generation system, where the best content is filtered out to the top by likes, shares and comments.
More info soon, in the meantime please visit Inkstinct official website.
