Hongdae Tattoo Arm Lettering Examples: How the Placement, Size and Font Were Chosen for Each Sentence

Hi, I'm Yeonjae, a tattoo artist in Hongdae, Seoul.

Today I'd like to share some of my recent arm lettering work. If you have a sentence you want to carry but feel unsure about the placement and the font before a Hongdae tattoo consultation, these pieces are a good place to start.

The first photo shows a long English sentence in cursive, split into two lines that slant down the forearm. In the post I described it as words about personal choices, the price of those choices, and every low and high along the way, a reminder to embrace the whole journey and everything that made you who you are today.

A long sentence reads best in two evenly spaced lines that follow the length of the forearm, while a short one sits comfortably on a single line. Below I go through how that showed up in each piece. Price and session length are easiest to ask about in the consultation.

Even among arm lettering pieces, every sentence carries a different story. Here is what the posts say, matched to the photo numbers.

The sentences differ, but they share one thing: each is a line someone wants to keep close for a long time. The post for photo 2 says as much, that a short sentence can hold a feeling you want to keep close. In photo 7 the script rises vertically along the arm, follows the shape of the body, and a small star finishes it off.

Three decisions stand out in the photos.

• Sentence length and space: The long English sentence is split into two lines that use the length of the forearm (photo 1), while a short single line fits within the width of the arm with generous space around it (photo 2).
• The character of the font: Flowing cursive (photos 1, 5, 6 and 7) follows the curve of the arm, while the typewriter-style letters (photos 3 and 4) stand apart one by one on a diagonal.
• Added elements: Photo 7 ends with a small star, and in photos 3 and 4 the text sits with a gap above a separate small flower tattoo.

Grouped by placement, it looks like this.

First, think about who you want to read the sentence. If it is for you, the side you can read while looking down at your arm suits it; if you also want others to see it, the side that shows when you roll up a sleeve suits it better. Look at the placements in photos 1 to 7 again with that question in mind and choosing a spot gets easier.

Along the forearm (vertical or diagonal) gives a long sentence plenty of room. Photo 1 puts two lines of a long English sentence here, and photos 5 and 6 put a single cursive line here. Check how the letters read when your arm hangs down and when you lift it.

Across the forearm is a tidy way to place a short phrase. The line has to fit within the width of the arm, so a longer sentence needs to be split into lines or turned along the arm.

The upper arm shows more or less depending on how long your sleeve is. In photos 3 and 4 the text keeps its distance from the small flower tattoo on the same arm, and photo 7 follows the curve of the back of the arm upward. If you'd like to see another upper arm piece, here is our name and arrow lettering post.

Once the sentence is settled, size and line breaks are what people often ask about.

When you think about size, look at the length of the sentence, the width of the spot, and the size at which it stays easy to read, all together. They depend on each other, so fixing only one first tends to throw the others off.

• A short phrase: it can sit on one line within the width of the arm. Photo 2 puts one line across the middle of the forearm and leaves generous space around it.
• A long sentence: it can be split into two lines or run on a long diagonal. Photo 1 splits a long sentence into two lines along the forearm, and the even gap between the lines keeps it looking neat.
• One line, but a long one: as in photo 5, letting it slant gently along the line of the arm gives even a short phrase a sense of flow.

Line breaks read most comfortably at a natural pause in meaning. Photos 3 and 4 split the text into a first line ending in a question mark and a second line of a single short word. Breaking after a comma or a question mark lets the eye move smoothly to the next line. The same sentence changes shape depending on where it breaks, so I recommend comparing two or three line-break options.

The smaller the lettering, the more line thickness and the spacing between letters matter. If the gaps are too tight, letters can look joined together, so we check this together in the individual consultation once we see your wording and arm photo.

It is easier to decide size by laying the layout over a photo of your own arm than by choosing a number first. The actual size and what is possible are explained in the consultation.

A font is easiest to judge by comparing photos. Even if you only say "cursive," everyone pictures a different shape, so bringing one photo you like is the most accurate way to show me.

• Cursive works well with the curve of the arm. The more the letters connect, the more important it is to check that they stay readable. For a sentence with unfamiliar spelling, please check it letter by letter.
• Italic is less decorative than cursive, so it suits a short phrase you want to keep clean.
• Typewriter keeps each letter distinct, so the structure of the sentence is easy to take in.

Photo 7 adds a small star at the end of one cursive line. If words alone feel a little bare, a single small symbol is one option. Photo 4 shows another: leaving some distance from a different tattoo on the same arm.

If you're curious about a large script placed along the side of the torso, have a look at our large script side tattoo post as well.

You don't need much. If you jot down these six things in your phone notes, the consultation goes much faster.

• Exact wording: spelling, spacing, and any full stops or question marks, written exactly as you want them.
• A photo of the part of the arm you have in mind: one with your arm relaxed and one with your sleeve rolled up, if you can.
• A font photo you like: the closest one among the seven above is enough.
• Capitalisation and line breaks: only the first letter capitalised or all lowercase, and where you would break the line.
• Small extras you would like: a star, a flower or a symbol, if you have something in mind.
• How much needs to stay covered: if sleeve length or a work or school setting matters to you, please tell us in advance.

Check the spelling and spacing of an English sentence once more. A single letter can change how the whole sentence reads.

It's easy. Just send the following in this order.

1. Open an Instagram DM to @yeonjae_tattoo. Open the Instagram DM
2. Send the wording, a photo of the part of your arm, and a font photo you like from the checklist above. Share whatever you know.
3. After we see your photos, we talk through size, line layout and what is possible in an individual consultation. Price and session length are also explained then.

The wording does not have to be finished. Send the placement and mood you like first. If you're looking for a Seoul tattoo studio and want a feel for our other work, you can also browse our films page.

I'm Yeonjae, a graduate of the China Academy of Art who, as of 2026, is in the eighth year of working as a tattoo artist in Hongdae. The academy is an art school founded in Hangzhou in 1928, and I bring that fine-art training to the flow of line, texture and balance on the body.

This article is based on lettering tattoo posts on the Yeonjae Tattoo Instagram account and seven photos I checked directly. The meaning behind each sentence is limited to what the Instagram posts say, and I have not added anything about the people who received them. The four AI-staged images above were made to help you picture a consultation, and they are not actual tattooing scenes or real clients.