Signature Tattoos Brings Ink, Integrity to Ferndale

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Signature Tattoos Brings Ink, Integrity to Ferndale
January 21, 2011
by Megan Fry
Ferndale Patch

There are no sofas in Signature Tattoo – and with the exception of a few chairs used while tattooing or being tattooed, there's not much in the way of seating at all.

This is, of course, aside from the aptly dubbed "Panther Bench" – an attention-grabbing wooden bench carved in the form of the big cat common in traditional tattooing. It was designed, whittled and painted by tattooist and shop co-owner Mark Heggie.

"We stir a lot of commerce here. There's always 10 people in our shop. It's actually a little distracting when I'm trying to work," Heggie said smiling. "It's the 'Signature Social Club,' we call it. People come to hang out. That's why there aren't a lot of sofas there. We're not trying to make it too comfortable.

"No one ever went to a tattoo shop to be comfortable."

Heggie designed the shop's interior and layout himself, but despite his efforts, or perhaps because of them, Signature Tattoo has an overwhelmingly comfortable feeling. At least for a place where people pay to be pricked by needles.

Bright Victorian-style paint and artwork lines the walls, including the ubiquitous "flash art" found in virtually every tattoo shop on the globe. Flash art is a pre-drawn tattoo design, as opposed to custom work, which a client and artist work on creating together. Make no mistake, Signature lives up to its name.

"Unlike other tattoo shops in the area, all the pictures on the wall are our own artwork," Heggie said. "We aren't buying them from tattoo supply companies. We're following the tried-and-true tradition of tattoo shops since the '20s and '30s. Back in the '40s, '50s and '60s, original flash art is how the tattoo artist made his money. We still paint every day."

The "we" of Signature Tattoo includes shop co-owner Dan Rick, Sam Wolf and Davey James – all experienced local tattoo artists.

The shop opened its doors Oct. 30 with a well-advertised special: $20 tattoos, all small original flash art pieces designed by the artists. Between 500-600 people showed up that day for the special.

Ferndale Mayor Craig Covey was the first client to receive a tattoo at Signature. His choice? A fern leaf on his forearm, his second tattoo.

Not too long ago, a city official would have been unable to patronize a Ferndale tattoo parlor. Until earlier this year, antiquated zoning laws prohibited tattoo parlors from opening up shop in downtown.

"When I first sat on City Council, tattoo parlors were considered adult businesses and as such were severely limited in the locations that they could locate in," Covey said, now an Oakland County Commissioner. "We only had one or two areas in the whole city that would allow what we termed an adult business and once one was in a location, there couldn't be another one within 1,000 feet."

In the case of tattoo parlors, Covey said, there was a prejudice against them and they were listed along with adult bookstores and XXX locations as adult businesses.

This changed in the mid-2000s when Covey, then a councilman, worked with his constituents to liberalize the ordinance. There was still more legislative work to be done this fall when another tattoo parlor wanted to move in across the street.

"We changed the adult business ordinance in that we took the tattoo parlor issue out of the adult business language," Covey said. "This past fall, the ordinance still included a section that said tattoo parlors would have to be within such and such number of feet from each other. And when we had two that wanted to move to downtown Ferndale within a block of each other, we made it possible to have two tattoo parlors in the downtown area."

Heggie had been interested in opening a shop in Ferndale for some time, as most of the clientele of his other shop, Big Top Tattoo in Utica, live in Royal Oak, Ferndale and Detroit.

"Since the legislation was changed, I knew that everybody and their brother would trying to open a tattoo shop here," Heggie said. "We take what we do a lot more seriously than other shops, so it's almost like we felt a responsiblity to set a precedent in Ferndale so that when people were introduced to a tattoo shop here that we were setting a standard."

Within two weeks, the 2,000-square-foot space at 230 W. Nine Mile Rd. had been rented on a five-year lease.

"Dan (Rick) and I were looking to open another shop. We had been looking all over and in the east side of Mount Clemens and Clarkston on the north side. This just seemed perfect. We have one of the most coveted locations in the state. The other best location would probably be downtown Ann Arbor, but for the price we really nailed it."

The tattoo artists moved in last June, but there was much work to be done to bring the shop to the level of aesthetic integrity to which Signature is committed.

"I built the place myself," Heggie said. "Dan handled all the backing stuff, dealing with the city and employees, all the legislation and health department stuff. I wielded the power tools and it worked out rather nicely, but it was so much work."

Heggie said he would ultimately like to add two more tattooist stations and bring in a body piercing specialist. For now, he is enjoying putting the finishing touches on what he feels stands apart from the average shop.

"As old and jaded as we might be, we still legitimately love tattooing," Heggie said. "I think that passionate connection really brings a light to our shops that you can't find anywhere else.

"Five percent of tattoo shops in the country have that sort of magic – people who legitimately care ... I think being able to sleep at night is way more important than someone's $100. We are busy enough because of our integrity that we don't need to hustle every Joe on the street. We'll do whatever you want: I'll tattoo your girls' name on your neck, if you want an ice cream cone tattooed on your face I'll do it, but I'll tell you what a bad idea it is and why I think it's a bad idea."

Covey said he's pleased with the efforts of city officials to liberalize the adult classification, allowing two tattoo shops to locate downtown. Avatar Studios opened just two weeks after Signature. Covey said he won a drawing for a free tattoo from Avatar and plans to get his second Ferndale tattoo soon.

"Tattoo shops pay taxes and employ people," Covey said. "Tattoos are a form of art, fashion and body decoration. No different than coloring your hair, or piercing your ears."
What would you have the boys at Signature Tattoo whip up for you? Tell us in the comments.