About GOOD DAMAGE
For tattooers and everyone else. Free to read, good to support.
Tattoo culture deserves better coverage.
Too much of it is built around reposts, paid exposure and press releases. Too little takes the time to document the people, places, ideas and history that make the culture what it is.
GOOD DAMAGE is an independent tattoo culture publication, online now and in print from 2027. We cover tattooing as a craft, a community and a part of wider culture, from the artists and studios shaping it to the conventions, machines, techniques and histories that keep it moving.
The work matters more than the category it sits in. And we look beyond the tattoo world itself, not as a trend, but as part of the people and culture around it.
You don't need to be tattooed to have a place here. You just need an interest in the people, work and culture behind it.
Tattooing has a history worth documenting, a present worth paying attention to, and a future still being shaped by the people working in it. Yet much of that story goes unrecorded. Independent publications are disappearing, print is increasingly rare, and too much coverage reduces tattooing to trends, aesthetics or a product to sell.
Old assumptions persist too: that tattooing is inherently rebellious, unprofessional, or something people grow out of. None of that accounts for the depth of the craft or the lives and communities around it. We think the answer is better coverage.
- Document the work.
- Talk to the people doing it.
- Preserve the stories that might disappear.
- Give it the attention other creative fields get.
Without sanding off the things that make it distinct. In Australia, New Zealand and beyond. Not to define tattoo culture, but to document it as it is, and make room for more people to understand it.
Tyson Beable
Ty has spent years working alongside tattoo artists, studios and brands, creating content, building marketing strategies and relationships across the industry. He's married to a tattoo artist, so his life and work sit inside the community GOOD DAMAGE covers. He knows the industry from the shop floor, not just the feed.
He isn't a tattooist. His job is to document the culture, ask the questions, find the stories and give them the editorial space they deserve.
The best stories come from inside the culture.
GOOD DAMAGE is open to writing, photography and story ideas from working tattooers, people in and around the industry, and photographers anywhere in the world. You don't need to be a professional writer. You need something worth telling.
We'll hear any story. What we publish is journalism: reported, honest, and about something bigger than any one person's portfolio.
House rules
Journalism first- No paid placement. Coverage can't be bought, and contributing doesn't buy it either.
- Minimal self-promotion. Your own work can be part of the story, but it can't be the whole story.
- Tell us about any connection: your studio, your clients, your friends, your sponsors. We'll disclose it where it matters.
- We edit everything. You'll see the edit before it runs, and you're always credited.
- Send original work you have the rights to, and permission from the people in your photos.
Back it. It's free.
No corporate backing, no investors. GOOD DAMAGE grows because readers sign up, follow along and pass it on. All three take less than a minute.
Aster Media
GOOD DAMAGE is published by Aster Media, an independent creative and media studio based in Cairns, Queensland. Aster Media also works with tattoo artists, studios and brands on content, photography, marketing and campaigns, including helping artists keep their books full through the quieter months.
Aster Media clients get no special treatment in GOOD DAMAGE. When a story involves one, we say so.