Gardnerville man makes his mark on the tattoo industry

Life-long Gardnerville resident Bigg Jacobsen, 44, said public perception of tattoos has changed over the years.

"There are people out there who still think tattoos are for prisoners," he said, "but really these are business owners, mixed in amongst the people, no longer just sailors and bikers."

Jacobsen, who's owned Bigg Impressions Cleaning Services the last 10 years, has also worked as part-time manager for Distinct Ink in Carson City for about a year. The job came about after owner Zach Mueller tattooed portraits of Jacobsen's deceased parents onto his chest.

"I searched out people who could do it," he said. "I had an existing tattoo that I wanted covered. It's kind of hard to make a portrait out of an existing tattoo. But it was such a great experience that I put the portrait of my mom on the other side of my chest. They were both done with Zach."

Jacobsen said he's proud to work for Distinct Ink, which has been in Carson City for 15 years.

"Like every business that's taken a hit, Distinct Ink has not escaped the recession by any means," he said. "But they had their reputation built up before the recession. A good reputation holds a lot of weight in the tattoo industry."

Jacobsen said Distinct Ink is featured in the February 2011 edition of Skin & Ink magazine.

"It just came out yesterday," he said last week. "The little shop is in there, in about six pages of write-up. It's a national magazine, one of the upper tier magazines for tattoo people."

While Jacobsen loves ink, he said the thing he loves most about Distinct Ink is the family environment created by Mueller and his wife Lori, and their two children.

"I'm really proud of my tattoo family," he said. "They're really tight down there. Zach and Lori give a lot back to the community in Carson. They have a tight group of friends, just a good family feeling. They were parents before they became business owners, and those kids come first before anything."

Jacobsen said the future of the shop involves reaching out to more trade magazines, making Distinct Ink as permanent a presence as possible in the industry.

"We're just trying to bring up the quality of work in the Carson City area, and have fun while doing it," he said.

Distinct Ink is located at 934 Corbett Street, Carson City.

For more information, call 883-6878.