The top typographic tattoo?
Tony Di Pietro, University of Rochester Systems Analyst/Programmer and attendee at ATypI 1999 in Boston tends to flash his arm a lot. It is not his rippling muscles which the ATypI conference colleagues are lined up to see, but his right arm's tatoo of a page from Giambattista Bodoni's Manuale Typographico.
Di Pietro remarks that his Italian heritage and Bodoni's had something to do with his passion, but he also maintains that the specimen book is one of the most beautiful he has ever seen. For his first wedding anniversary, his wife Kimberly gave Tony an Iris print (purchased from Octavo) of the page.
A year later, his wife was away attending a conference and Di Pietro went to get the tatoo on a "super hot July Day" (the friend who accompanied him to the tatoo shop passed out). The tatooist had been doing tatoos for ten years, but she had also been a graphic designer. Di Pietro comments that she did not recognize the typeface.The others in the tatoo shop became interested and gathered around while this hour and a half process went on.
Tony surprised his wife with the Bodoni tatoo when she returned ( her first reponse was "That's not real!") Di Pietro adds that a tatoo is ultimately personal and should reflect the person, but also indicate what his interests or passions in life are. For Di Pietro, the Bodoni page as tatooed on his arm represents his interest, his love of his wife, and his dark fascination with body art.
Most people's response when seeing this page rendered on Tony's arm is "Where is the rest of the alphabet?"
