A tattoo on the back of the neck can show off individuality in concept and design while facing less “jobstopper” stigma than pieces on the throat or below the ear.
Your ink could be an intriguing piece hidden under a collar, or an always visible tattoo providing clues to your passions and interests.
If you’re a collector that prefers a more traditional design palette, black and gray tattoos utilize great variations in shading, line, and contrasting ink application to look snug in a range of placements on the neck and nape.
If you want to be daring, bringing vivid color and bright designs featured in new wave and neo-traditional neckpieces can pop from the skin or rise up from your back and spine.
Check out this awesome gallery of back of the neck tattoo ideas you can use in creating your next piece of body art.
1. Butterfly Tattoo Ideas
2. Tattoo Ideas Featuring a Cross
3. Tattoo Ideas for Women
Source: @elinorab via Instagram
4. Flower Themed Tattoo Designs
5. Heart Themed Tattoo Art
6. Tattoos Ideas for Men
7. Mandala Style Tattoo Ideas
8. Meaningful Tattoos
9. Small Ink Designs
FAQs
Are back of neck tattoos for men or women?
One glance at tattoo collectors these days show times keep changing. Gone are the days where your birth gender determined where and what type of tattoo you got from the tattoo artist.
Both men and women enjoy small tattoo designs, in custom or flash tattooing. I have a custom-designed Mjolnir tattoo in black and gray, while my sister has a Celtic knot she took from a flash sheet as a walk-up.
What style of back of neck tattoo should I get?
Simple is often beautiful with neck tattoo designs.
Bold black linework and negative space work effectively. American traditional applications featuring sharp lines and crisp simple colors also look good, while lettering and script tattoos never go out of style.
If you want to be daring, bringing vivid colors featured in new wave and neo-traditional neckpieces can pop from the skin or rise up from your back and spine.
Why are neck tattoos often called jobstoppers?
In the past, tattoos – especially highly visible ones – carried strong associations with criminality that can still be felt today in different parts of the world.
Because of these ties to criminal elements, in the past employers were unlikely to hire someone with visible tattoos: hence, jobstoppers.
Attitudes are changing, however, a neck tattoo very well may still disqualify you from more professional settings like offices, board rooms, or customer-facing roles, so make sure you’re comfortable with getting a neckpiece and the stigma it may entail.
What are popular back of neck tattoo ideas?
The increase in these types of tattoos means that there is a great mix of traditional and contemporary tattoo styles being etched onto the back of the neck.
Flowers, the Christian cross, hearts, written script, and butterflies are all examples of eternal tattoo themes being represented in back of neck tattoos.
More contemporary ink designs include mandala tattoos, anatomical hearts, 3D eye tattoos, symbolic ink, and small precise single needlework.
How much do back of neck tattoos cost?
For the very quick, very small simple tattoos shops institute a shop minimum (anywhere from $50-$150).
More complex work can cost around $200 for an hour from a well established, skilled professional.
By nature of their location, most designs would take only an hour or two. In demand artists and single needle specialists can charge up to $500 per hour.