How the rankings work.

The inspectors are a small panel. They are not named, and they do not announce themselves.

Anonymity keeps the assessment honest. If the inspectors were known, artists and studios would try to influence them. The co-founders of SKINGRAPHICA® review every shortlist and sign the final lists, and their signatures appear on the Certified block of every ranked artist's profile.

The inspectors assess the work, not the reputation. Healed results, large-scale projects, consistency across a year of output, and how a piece is likely to look in 10 years. Where it helps, we consult respected artists and industry experts, but final decisions rest solely with us.

There is no application and no nomination.

Artists cannot apply, agents cannot submit and we do not take suggestions from brands, sponsors or suppliers. The inspectors find the work. An artist is on a list because of the work and for no other reason.

Published facts can be corrected. Every profile carries a Request an update link, and every correction is verified by a reply to a direct message from SKINGRAPHICA® to the artist's own Instagram account before it is published. Names are not removed. Each list is an editorial record of a moment in time.

To produce 3 lists, the inspectors have to look at the whole field. That makes the lists a reliable picture of where the best tattooing is happening.

Each year we publish what they show. Which countries and cities field the most ranked artists, which styles are rising and which are settling, how many names are new, how artists move between NOVA, the Top 100 and the Top 10, and how the balance between Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania shifts from one year to the next.

The analysis is published alongside each list and is free to cite with attribution. It is built on an assessment of the work rather than on follower counts, and it becomes more useful each year as the record grows.

The best talent in any field should be able to work and travel freely. A published, independent standard makes that possible.

Chefs, athletes, musicians and scientists have long relied on recognised industry benchmarks when they apply to work abroad. Immigration authorities, including the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for the O-1 visa, consider independent evidence of extraordinary ability. A ranking judged on published criteria by an independent body is that kind of evidence. Tattoo artists had nothing like it. The Global Artist Rankings were built, in part, to give them one.

Every ranked artist receives an official certificate. Where an artist in the Global Top 10 or Global Top 100 needs more for a visa or work permit application, SKINGRAPHICA® prepares formal documentation that sets out the ranking, the criteria and the assessment behind it. We have provided such letters to ranked artists for applications to the United States and other governments, and they have helped elite artists secure the right to work where their clients are. This documentation is provided for the Global Rankings only, not for the NOVA Rising 20.

Immigration decisions rest with the relevant authority. SKINGRAPHICA® provides documentation of a ranking, not immigration advice, and cannot guarantee any outcome.