chris blue inkIn the heart of Belgrave Gate stands a new a bold coloured buliding, one which stands out from all the others surrounding it. It is the newly opened Blue Ink Tattoo studio and stepping inside is stepping into a hub of creativity.

The studio is the creation of Ex Nottingham Forest trainee Scott Tynan and Leicester City captain Wes Morgan. It is not their first venture into the world of tattoos.

“Forest kept me on but let Scott go. Scott became a tattoo artist” Explains Wes

“Scott’s doing well. Two studios in Liverpool and one here. This one opened a couple of weeks ago. He gave me the chance to get involved and I was pleased to.”

The Studio is full of interesting ideas and concepts. From the bright colours on the wall to the huge rooms in which the artwork takes place, it is easy to see this isn’t your ordinary studio.

There are plans for both a piercing room and barber shop in the back as well as launching an exclusive clothing range, I.O.U clothing.

All in all, it is an excting time to be a part of the team at Blue Ink.

As for Wes himself, well he is loving life as captain of a Premier League side.

“It’s not as physically intense,” he says. “We’d quite often have two games a week last year. Physical games, too. But I’d say the Premier League is more mentally exhausting. Me and Liam (Moore), we come off at the end of the some games and we look at each other and we’re like: ‘Mate, that was mad’. You have to be on it for 90 minutes.”

City started well this season, drawing tough opening games against Everton and Arsenal and then seeing off Manchester United 5-3 in a match that was gloriously retold on the back page of every national newspaper the next day.

“The manager sat us down before the game and said we’d be playing 4-1-3-2 and that we were going to have a proper go.

“I remember looking down their team sheet and seeing all the names – Falcao, Rooney, Van Persie – and wondering if we weren’t being just a little bit too ambitious.”

It seemed like he might have been right, at first, as United cantered to an early lead. “We felt the pressure, but I don’t think we ever lost confidence.”

You know what happened next. “We had a few that night, let me tell you,” he says. I was a Man United fan as a kid. My dad supported Man United. To beat them like that – I’ll never forget it.”

And yet there’s been a bit of a wobble since then? “Yeah, although, apart from the Swansea game, I don’t think we’ve played that badly.

“Too many people had an off day at Swansea. We didn’t perform. I don’t know why. It happens sometimes.”

They all knew it, too, he says. He knew, walking down the tunnel to the away dressing room, they’d get both barrels from the manager that afternoon. They did, too.

“He was right to have a go. We let him down. It wasn’t good enough.”

Wes Intends to spend a good portion of his time in the studio and encourages students to come down to see what the place has to offer.

“We want students coming to us with their own ideas for designs”

“If people design things themselves brilliant, we offer the chance to bring those designs to life. We also offer a 10% discount to all DMU students who come here so there is the chance to save a bit of money also.”

Whilst not wanting to lose some of the traditions of the tattoo industry, the team at Blue Ink do want to come away from the stereotypes and cliched environment that can happen within a studio.

“We pride ourselves on being different. We see ourselves as something as a market leader and do see a gap in the market for a more visual experience. We even offer Netflix to watch whilst you are waiting!”

Blue Ink is open six days a week from 10.00-18.00. There are a number of ways to get in touch with the team to either make an enquiry or book an appointment.

E-mail the the team the blueinkstudio@gmail.com, telephone on 01162519452 or follow them through Twitter  @Blue_Ink_Tattoo.

With such an amazing range of styles, laid back setting and student discount, it really is the next generation of tattoo studios.