How Our Consultation Process Works
(And Why It Matters)

Walk-in culture exists for a reason. Flash tattoos, simple script, small symbolic pieces — there's a category of work where a walk-in studio does exactly what's needed. We're not dismissive of that. But it's a different thing entirely from what we do at Thundercat, and the difference starts before a single needle touches skin. It starts with the consultation.

We get asked about our process fairly often — usually by people who've experienced the alternative and found it lacking. So here's an honest, step-by-step account of what happens when you come to us, and why we do it this way.

Why we use consultations

For a considered, custom tattoo — the kind that was designed specifically for your body, your vision, and your reasons — the consultation isn't a formality. It's where the work actually begins.

We need to understand you: your references, your lifestyle, your skin type, how you think about your body, and what your long-term vision looks like. None of that comes through a booking form. And without it, the tattoo we produce is our best guess at what you wanted, rather than what you actually wanted.

"The consultation is where a good idea becomes a great tattoo. Skipping it doesn't save time — it just moves the uncertainty from the design stage to the finished piece."

There's also an artist-matching question. We have resident artists and a rotating programme of exceptional guest artists, each with distinct styles and strengths. A consultation tells us who is the right fit for your piece — which is often not the first available artist, but the right one.

Step 1: The application

The process begins with our application form. It takes approximately two minutes to complete, and we've kept it that way deliberately. We ask about:

• Placement and rough size
• Style preferences (or your reference images if you're not sure how to name the style)
• Any relevant medical information — allergies, skin conditions, medications that affect healing
• Your timeline and any hard deadlines

This gives us enough to know two things: whether we're the right studio for what you have in mind, and if so, which of our artists is best matched to your piece. Both of those answers matter, and we'd rather give you an honest answer on fit early than take your booking and produce something that doesn't do justice to what you came in with.

Step 2: The same-day reply

We reply within hours on our open days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday) or by noon the following day if your application arrives on a Tuesday. You'll get a personal reply from a real person — not a template acknowledgement, not a booking link, not a bot. A reply from someone who has read your application and has something useful to say about it.

Step 3: The conversation

Once we've established that there's a fit, we move into the real consultation — either in person at the studio or, where appropriate, via a call or message exchange. This is where we go deeper.

We want to understand: what the design means to you, what you love specifically about your reference images (because "I love this" and "I want this" are different things), what you want to avoid, any concerns you have about placement or pain, and how you think about your existing tattoos if you have them.

We'll also push back if we think something won't work. Not defensively — but if a design concept doesn't suit the placement you have in mind, or if a style is going to age poorly in a way you might not anticipate, that's worth saying. Artists who agree to everything upfront and let you discover the problems later are not serving you. That's the job.

Step 4: The design

Once we've agreed on direction, your artist creates a custom design. This is original work produced specifically for you — not adapted from something else in the portfolio, not a template with your name on it.

You see the design before we book the session. Nothing is booked, no deposit is taken, until you've seen the work and had the chance to respond to it. We don't believe in "you'll see it on the day" as a studio practice. It produces anxiety in clients and it prevents the kind of iterative improvement that turns a good design into the right design.

Step 5: Approval

We iterate until you're genuinely happy. Not "fine with it" — genuinely excited about what's going to happen. We've found that this standard produces better sessions: clients who are confident in the design are calmer, more present, and more satisfied with the outcome. The artist can feel the difference in the room.

We also don't start until both artist and client are aligned. If the artist has reservations about how a design element will execute on skin, that's part of the approval conversation too. The final design should be something both parties are proud to be associated with.

On the day

You arrive knowing exactly what to expect. The stencil goes on, we check placement together — because placement on a body is different from placement on paper, and a few minutes here is worth more than any amount of reference-checking beforehand. We make adjustments if needed, and then we begin.

There are no surprises. That's the point. Every element of the session has been considered and agreed. What remains is the making of the thing.

After: what we offer beyond the session

The session ends. The relationship doesn't. We offer aftercare support for seven days post-session. If something looks unexpected during healing — unusual redness, patchy areas, questions about the peeling process — you can message us with photos. We've seen every variation of how tattoos heal, across every skin type and placement. We'd rather you ask than worry, and we'd rather know about a problem early than hear about it months later when the window for a straightforward fix has passed.

Most of what people message us about is completely normal. Some of it requires a closer look. Either way, you'll have an honest answer from someone who did the work — not a generic aftercare sheet.