Top 103 Unique Tattoo Ideas [2020 Inspiration Guide]

There are a lot of generic ink jobs in the world these days, so it makes sense that a high demand has risen for unique tattoos. For guys, originality is the key to killer body art.

For innovative charm, all inked guys need to emphasize uniqueness in their tattoos.

There is no point in having body art unless it is sincerely one of a kind. Luckily, the possibilities will never end if you have a savvy parlor at your disposal.

To unlock an unquestionably unique tattoo, all cookie-cutter emblems should be eschewed in favor of personalized artwork. Any image that has been repeatedly reproduced in pop culture is automatically a no-no. Instead, the only route to ravenous appeal is a piece of art that no one has ever witnessed before with their own eyes.

This might sound like a tall order, but we’ve got you covered if it sounds like an intimidating task. Of course, you don’t want to directly copy any of our illustrations either; instead, treat them like a template for your own path towards unmatched pizzazz. These are just here to get your gears going.

To connect with unabashed originality, just peruse our personalized prospectus of unique tattoos for guys!

Unique Tattoo Ideas

Cool 3D abstract tattoo implementing clever geometric elements to pop off the skin. Like how the artist has lengthened the image image with straight line, fine black needle work – it better fits the placement on the outer forearm. The TV snow effect is also a smart technical fill.

Another cool 3D piece, this small tattoo does extremely well incorporating a portion of negative space into the other shapes. Also like the short, sharp, black line flourishes – they help put polish on the final artwork.

This body art is a great fit between style and placement. The checkerboard fill (and massive hole) is an excellent ‘seeing eye’ type pattern, and works well on the calf with the vortex shading. Also, the exaggerated fat black line border further promotes the mind bending visual aspects of the tattoo.

Wicked. The new wave 3D abstract meshes beautifully with the hybrid black shading behind the main image. It could be an image depicting outer space or a biological concept from a high school science textbook. The line technique in the purple/blue shape looks almost like a baker’s cake piping and is cool to look at in opposition to the dark, leathery alt fill.

Love the mix of black line, and single needle fill balanced with geometric shape and circuit board patterns. The artist’s line, fill, and shape creation is beautifully realized – the tattoo is crisp and modern. 

This black tattoo relieves a variety of heavy black shapes with excellent negative space line work. You could almost call it emo Tron. The coolest parts are the neg space curved lines that contrast exceptionally well with black fill to make a flowing, coursing pattern of ink.

When the mix of abstract and animal realism tattooing gets it right the result is phenomenal. The artist has created a flawlessly diaphanous dragonfly based on the simplified black body, then strengthened the art with different technical fills to lengthen and broaden the concept into a highly artistic piece. Using different line thicknesses, lengths, and 3D patterns help make this an amazing piece of body art, fitting effectively with the concepts in pieces on both of the subject’s arms.

Okay, so this color tattoo is when absurd goes out drinking with abstract and has a wild one night stand. It looks totally killer. The symbols – a stylized heart clutched in a fist, and eye inside a diamond – are fantastically rendered in color and exceptionally unique – their placement in the centre of chest and sternum is nicely worked. The artist deploying traditional black and gray alternating shade technique but using purple and aqua is masterful application of flair.

This is bad ass. The artist effectively incorporated a range of styles to build a spectacular chest tattoo linking brilliantly with other work. While still unfinished, you can already see the impressive cover up on the left chest that once filled will be completely unrecognizable behind geometric pattern. The use of a gray, almost water color effect in the right hand shading is extremely unique and looks fantastic.

 

Opposite leg work, with the result looking like a pre-school class has gone mental with permanent markers. One side works negative space to creates it’s main effect, while the other leg is a mishmash of Sharpie like black line. This is a cool concept tattoo that is certainly one of a kind. 

A cool play on the Japanese calligraphy style, without the calligraphy. The black and gray shade work in this piece creates paintbrush effects that vary between vivid and almost washed out. Really like the splash effects on the left and top of the image that finish behind the right ear. It’s a deliberately messy piece that maintains good balance and flow throughout.

Sensational twin lower arm sleeves mixing wonderful technique with a perfect eye for color. Again, the paintbrush effect is an arresting element, however in this pair of forearm tattoos there is more cohesive application of shape and pattern. The vivid range of color is exceptionally well inked back fill. It brings the strength of the black slashes out while solidifying the rest of the arms. This is premier tattooing.

This Latin tattoo means:”For the greater glory of God.” It’s a contemporary style abstract piece balancing well against the old school message of faith. The contrast between flat black ink and negative space word play is eye catching, and improved further by the highlights of geometric line triangles and blue flourishes mixing up the main image.

This is a unique variation on the Eye of Providence tattoo, with the choice to leave out the large triangle shape in favor of the stylized small one most likely a concession to the available space on hand (pun intended). The detail of iris and pupil are the standout technical parts of this piece, well supported by the curved hatches working against negative space filler.