Owls became very popular in the early 2000s. Seen as a symbol of wisdom, owls began popping up everywhere, especially in tattoos. The arrival of Harry Potter also helped to keep owls popular among younger audiences. Realistic, black and grey renditions of owls were a very popular choice, especially among men. The realistic renditions were seen as more masculine in the realm of tattoo designs. Owl tattoos were also created in illustrative styles as well as new school styles. New school tattoos burst onto the scene marrying traditional flash designs and bold lines with neon colors and anime influences. The common characteristics of owls worked well to show case these bright bold colors and exaggerated designs. Owls would be depicted with larger than life eyes and with unnatural colors. Staying in line with bird themed tattoos, peacock feathers were also a very popular choice. These feathers could be curved to fit any location on the body, or to fit in between other existing tattoos. While some people chose black and grey renderings of the feather, majority opted for full color. 
Just as the nineties had lower back tattoos, the 2000s claimed the space under the collar bones. This was another location that was viewed as fairly easy to cover for employment. Chest pieces also became increasingly popular, but collar bone tattoos remained on top. Most often, the same design would be placed under each collar bone, usually mirrored. One of the most commonly requested designs were nautical stars. These stars were especially popular in California, with the location of shading determining whether they were “Nor-Cal” stars or “So-Cal” stars. As the trend of all things vintage grew, the demand for vintage themed tattoos grew as well. Traditional swallows, either holding a banner or not, were another common design for tattoos under the collar bones. If there was a banner, chances are it was a memorial piece for a loved one. However, a lot of these banners were used to display the phrase “Only God Can Judge Me,” which also became an extremely popular tattoo in the 2000s.
As the 2000s merged into the 2010s, advancements in ink and tattoo machines opened up the world of tattooing to nearly endless possibilities. These newer technologies brought more artistic freedom and the designs moved away from traditional flash and ready-made designs. The process of getting a tattoo was now a collaborative process between artist and client. However, this did not save us from some dreaded tattoo trends that were as common as Starbucks. Impractical tattoos were among one of the most notable trends of the 2010s. One of these being small finger tattoos. What began as a sort of “joke tattoo,” quickly turned into a common design. Small mustaches were tattooed on the inner side of index fingers, so that the wearer could place their index finger above their upper lip and look like they had a small mustache. Another impractical tattoo request during this time was inner lip tattoos. People opted for funny or punchy sayings such as “bite me,” which would only be visible if the wearer pulled their lower lip down exposing the inside. Both inner finger tattoos and inner lip tattoos were very impractical since the skin in these areas does not hold onto the tattoo ink very well. The skin on the sides of fingers is thin and delicate, and tattoos in this area would often blow out or look patchy and blurry in only a few years. Since the inner lip area is constantly moist, much of the ink put into this area would be pushed back out, resulting again in patchy, blurry, blown out tattoos. Both of these common locations required constant touch ups and would often times still end up mediocre at best.
