Unfortunately, I can't recommend this shop. I had a couple of tattoos done by Zack Taylor at the end of March. I've included photos of what they look like now, mid-May, so not even fully settled yet!
The 8 ball is mostly fine, though the text is completely illegible. I'm not even salty about this one because we discussed this possibility at the time of my appointment (according to him, using needles of multiple widths in a single tattoo "looks bad" so he couldn't just use a thinner one for the text), and he ended up changing it from what I originally wanted to say. I suggested that he just put "IDK" because I didn't think any of the options were actually going to fit better than the original, but he opted for this. I trusted him to make the best call, but obviously, that was a mistake on my part.
The one on my wrist is just bad. Anyone can tell you that. I communicated with him the first week or so afterward about how it was healing, expressing my concern that it was blowing out (I've attached a photo I sent to him and you can see it looks like it's "leaking"). He told me it was a "scab" and to chill, that he'd touch it up once it was healed. A touch-up would help somewhat, but there's not a lot of room to fix it, honestly. He refuses to do so now, anyway. Full disclosure: we had a personal relationship that ended badly since my appointment. Tattooing is super intimate, and I completely understand him not being comfortable with touching it up at this point. The feeling is mutual, but this is also the skin I have to live in every day. Having a very visible, poorly done tattoo is distressing and honestly feels disfiguring. I thought he could muster the professionalism to at least resolve the issue in some mutually agreeable manner (e.g., having someone else do the touch-up, a partial refund so I could have someone at another shop fix it) and felt it was unfair not to give him the opportunity because it's literally his job. Tattoos are mostly permanent, and they can seriously impact our self-image. It's a sensitive situation. Unfortunately, he was dismissive, callous, and degrading. I'd include screenshots of that exchange but he took out an insurance policy by weaponizing intimate details of my personal life and our relationship.
At that point, I contacted the shop directly because I didn't feel like it was fair to punish the shop with a negative review without giving them an opportunity to resolve the issue. The personal issues between Zack and I have absolutely nothing to do with the shop or my tattoo being bad. Let me be clear that everything that transpired between us took place outside of the shop, my actual appointment was uneventful and we parted with a hug. I haven't been back into the shop at any point since my initial appointment. I am not sure who I spoke to specifically, but I've attached screenshots of the conversation. Essentially: the shoddy work that comes out of their shop isn't their problem, and I'm, respectfully, 86'd because their employee doesn't know how to keep personal and professional matters separate. I guess I shouldn't be surprised given the fact that he was bragging about sleeping with clients during my appointment. They seem confident that this won't become a liability to the shop, but I wouldn't be so sure.
I knew Zack when he was a broke apprentice making paper towel runs in Port Orchard and I thought he respected his craft more. This led me to ignore the negative reviews about him, and that was a mistake. He's loyal only to his ego. Not only will he not lose any sleep over giving you a crappy tattoo, but he seems to derive some sort of pleasure from doing so if he has a problem with you. That is NOT someone you can trust to permanently alter your body. The respect that your tattooer shows your body should NEVER be conditional. While Super Genius has some rad artists, I would seriously caution anyone against patronizing a shop that condones this attitude in its artists. Apparently, they are of the mind that no publicity is bad publicity and have zero qualms about their shop being associated with objectively bad work. Your ability to feel comfortable in your skin is not a priority or even a concern to them. That is a violation of the trust you extend to your tattooer with your body, and that trust is SACRED. Don't give your money to people who would dishonor it.
I fully anticipate a response from the business owner attempting to discredit this review as some sort of personal vendetta. You have the photos and the receipts, plus all the other negative reviews with the same (!) common theme. So that's ultimately your call, and I really hope you don't make the same mistake that I did. read more