• US$190

• 21 designs

• 11 designers

---

Tattoo Design Brief

Hello,

I'm seeking help designing my first tattoo,, and I’d like it to reflect my personal story and values. I included a photo of myself. I recently retired from the U.S. Navy after 22 years of service. During my career, I sailed over 10,000 nautical miles and was attached to special forces. I want this tattoo to carry traditional sailor symbolism as well as cultural depth.
Key Elements:
- Sparrows: I’d like two small sparrows. Traditionally, sailors tattoo one sparrow for every 5,000 miles sailed. For me, these birds will represent my time at sea, my love for travel, and the idea of always returning home. Sparrows also symbolize protection and guidance.

- Island-Style Pattern Work: tribal/Polynesian-style patterns, but I’d prefer them to be abstract or symbolic—no palm trees or ocean scenes. Ideally, the patterns would represent traits like *warrior spirit*, *protection*, *sailing/journeys*, and *family*. If you know specific patterns that carry these meanings, I’d love to include them.

- U.S. Sailor ideas that could be added, but open to your creativity: Old-Fashioned Ship’s Helm, and or distressed, worn, or partial U.S. Flag: As a nod to traditional nautical imagery, and a US Sailor, it could include an old-style ship’s wheel or helm. It can be centered or blended into the pattern work.
Style & Placement:
- All black ink: with variation in shading for depth..
- Placement: I want this as a shoulder wrap. It should begin around the V-neck area of a T-shirt, wrap over the shoulder, and back of the shoulder, and taper down to the mid-bicep—designed so it can be fully concealed under a polo shirt.

This piece is meant to capture my identity as a *sailor, warrior, protector, and traveler*. I’m open to your artistic ideas and any cultural insight you can bring to make this design truly meaningful.

Thank you!

Target Market(s)

see description

Industry/Entity Type

see description

---

Colors

Designer to choose colors to be used in the design.

---

Look and feel

Each slider illustrates characteristics of the customer's brand and the style your logo design should communicate.

---

Requirements

Nice to have

• see description

Should not have

• see description

---

Files

Download all files - 4.9 MB