A tattoo flash is a design printed or drawn on paper or cardboard, and may be regarded as a species of industrial design. It is typically displayed on the walls of tattoo parlors and in binders to give walk-in customers ideas for tattoos. Most traditional tattoo flash was designed for rapid tattooing and used in “street shops” – tattoo shops that handle a large volume of generic tattoos for walk-in customers.
Flash is either drawn by the individual tattooist for display and use in their own studio, or traded and sold among other tattooists. Hand-drawn, local tattoo flash has been largely replaced by professional “flash artists” who produced prints of copyrighted flash and to sell at conventions or through the Internet.
