1. Insect Throat Tattoo

If you’re a fan of the creepy and crawly, consider getting an invertebrate throat tattoo! The symmetrical shape of both insects and spiders makes them ideal for placement on top of the throat. For a simpler tattoo design, stick with a single insect with wings that spread across the sides of your neck.

Incorporate a world of flora and fauna around the centerpiece of a beetle. Or, if you just want someone to have your back, position your tattoo design over the base of the neck. And with the variety out there in the animal kingdom, you have a plethora of images to pick from, whether you want something dazzling with color or unadorned with black ink.

2. Avian Throat Tattoo 

Let your tattoo take flight! Owls are among the most common choices for bird tattoos on the neck area due to their particularly symmetrical faces and enigmatically large eyes. As with insect throat tattoos, avian throat tattoos are a great way to incorporate wingspans into the natural flow and curve of the neck. You can even meld multiple bird tattoos together to create a kaleidoscopic effect.

This is also a great opportunity to flow naturally into the tattoo art on your chest, so take some time in front of a mirror to see what comes naturally amongst your other pieces. Talk to your tattoo artist about whether you prefer an illustrative, traditional, or realistic style to find the perfect winged creature for you.

3. Wild Animal Throat Tattoo 

Tap into your wild side with a wild animal throat tattoo. While the face on top might be cute and cuddly, your wild animal throat tattoo will show that you’ve got a beast inside of you. Wrap a sinister snake around your neck as a nod to the original villain. Fuel your ferocious side with a snarling wolf or bear.

American traditional or neo-traditional styles are a great place to start if you’re looking for a tattoo idea, with strong linework and coloring that’ll surely make your neck tattoo stand out. Plus, depending on how furry you want your beast to be, your own fur can flow down into it for an extra realistic feel.

4. Flora Throat Tattoos

Flower tattoos are some of the most beautiful iterations of throat tattoos. Include flowers as adornments to another central image, or simply decorate your neck with an abundance of flora. Flowers tend to be aligned around a central symmetry of their own, which can line up perfectly with the throat as the petals extend across the bends of the neck. And don’t feel compelled to include a rainbow of colors!

Incorporate white ink with grayscale to give your flower a ghost-like appearance. Flora throat tattoos also leave a great deal of room for ornamentation around your chosen image. Dotwork is a fantastic option for simple yet intricate framing that’ll allow your flora throat tattoo to pop.

  

5. Geometric Throat Tattoos 

Push the boundaries of dimensions with a geometric throat tattoo. Incorporate an optical illusion that disappears into your chest — a great option if you ever want to have a shirtless reveal. Utilize dotwork to fade out as your neck tattoo design moves into the collarbones. Or use the linework from your chest piece to begin extending upwards the neck.

Most geometric throat tattoos stick to black and gray ink due to the price of ink being cheaper and thus allowing you more options for intricacy and complexity without an outrageous bill at the end. Geometric throat tattoos are also a great option for experimenting with negative space, which can also help you keep costs low while still getting the perfect piece.

 

6. Grayscale Throat Tattoos 

If you want to keep your color scheme in black and white, consider getting a grayscale throat tattoo. Whether your throat tattoo is illustrative or verbal, grayscale is always a solid choice. Religious throat tattoos can also have a particularly ethereal effect when applied in grayscale.

Grayscale is a great chance to go all out with shading or stick to simple linework and use the negative space to make your image pop. If you’re looking to keep costs down, this is the ideal option to incorporate into your design choice since black and gray ink are cheaper than colors.

7. Side Throat Tattoos 

Most throat tattoos are the first thing one sees, but you can give a sneaky surprise with a side throat tattoo. Since the skin is more taut and even on the side of the throat than the front, a side throat tattoo is able to incorporate more linework and shading without the risk of the ink blurring or bleeding into the design.

Find inspiration from the plurality of designs shown below and talk with your tattoo artist about whether or not the positioning on the side of the throat might be just what you’re looking for.

 

8. Otherworldly Throat Tattoos

Blast off with an otherworldly throat tattoo. If you want your throat tattoo to inspire a double-take, then this is the option for you. Include a psychedelic face or mask under your normal one. Find inspiration in your favorite fantasies. An enormous eye is an especially spooky option and a fun way to remind people — “eye down here.

   

9. Traditional Throat Tattoos 

Pay homage to some of the oldest examples of throat tattoos with a traditional throat tattoo. With countless images to choose from, you can scour the internet and traditional tattoo books to find the ideal image.

Anchor throat tattoos are especially timeless, honoring the original sailors with traditional tattoos. Another great option is to use the torn skin technique to give the appearance of a dagger digging into the skin. Traditional tattoos blend together particularly well, so no matter what you choose as your central image, there are plenty more to add alongside!