In March 2006, just over twenty years ago, I created a tattoo that I could never have imagined would one day become iconic. It featured a Zagreb tram combined with the unmistakable symbols of the Bad Blue Boys supporters group.
If someone had told me back then that this particular tattoo would become one of the most copied pieces I would ever create, I probably would have laughed. Yet that's exactly what happened. My design sparked countless variations on the same theme, and many tattoo artists, consciously or not, used it as the starting point for their own interpretations.
Over the years, I've come across every imaginable version online. Some were almost literal copies—so poorly executed that you'd rather forget them the moment you see them. Others, however, genuinely impressed me. Their creators preserved the original concept while elevating it through exceptional technical skill and artistic execution. Those are the kinds of tattoos that even the world's finest tattoo artists could admire. And that's the true beauty of a great idea—it eventually takes on a life of its own.
But let's go back to 2006.
Digital photography was already available, which made my job considerably easier. I literally stood on Tratinska Street photographing passing trams while we were working at a tattoo studio there. The challenge was to capture the right tram, from the right angle, at exactly the right moment. After that came Photoshop, sketching, refining the composition, and shaping the design until it was exactly what I had envisioned.
Unfortunately... or perhaps, in hindsight, fortunately, artificial intelligence didn't exist yet. You couldn't simply type a few sentences into a prompt and let a computer do the creative work. An idea first had to be born in your mind, then captured through the camera lens, shaped by your own hands, and only then transferred beneath the skin. It was a slower process, but for that very reason, it was also a far more personal one.
As the saying goes, the operation was a success and the patient survived. And quite unintentionally—without any grand plan or ambition on our part—Zagreb gained another iconic tattoo motif. In fact, not just a motif, but an entire tattoo theme that has remained alive for more than two decades.
Looking back today, what makes me happiest isn't the fact that my work has been copied so many times. It's something else entirely. A single idea, born spontaneously in a small Zagreb tattoo studio, managed to leave a lasting mark. And in the end, that's probably the greatest compliment any artist can receive.