Employees of Darkside Tattoo and Piercing. Photo submitted.

Darkside Tattoo on Washington Street has been tattooing and piercing UND students and Grand Forks citizens for 12 years. During this time, they have done hundreds of Sioux head logo tattoos.

Tattoo artist Justin Luckow has done many Sioux logo tattoos since he started working at Darkside in 2010.

“We’re one of the more reputable shops in the Grand Forks area,” Luckow said. “Especially to be able to keep four or five artists busy at all times.”

Sioux logo tattoos have always been popular at Darkside, but demand increased after the name change in 2012.

“The Sioux logo tattoos are very popular, but they still don’t trump the birds, the crosses and the Pinterest popular tattoos,” Luckow said. “Between the other tattoo artists and I, we’ve done hundreds.”

Luckow said the Sioux logo tattoos are getting boring for him and his fellow Darkside co-workers, but it’s still as an honor to mark their customers permanently.

“I’m not a sports fan, but I think that those tattoos are awesome especially because of the statement they make,” Luckow said.

Darkside’s spooky ambiance is created by black leather couches, black cross-shaped coffee tables and the sound of tattoo guns buzzing.  UND junior Chloe Vettel felt the effects of this ambiance when she got her tattoo in 2011.

“I felt that the Darkside was a bit intimidating when I walked in,” Vettel said. “But once I was greeted by the receptionist at the front desk and met my piercing artist, I felt a lot more comfortable.”

UND junior Emily Langness watched in amazement Luckow inked her friend in September.

“I thought that the technique was really cool,” Langness said. “The tattoo gun pen was really tiny, and it looked like a mechanical pencil to me, it was amazing to me that Luckow could do such amazing work with that small of a tool.”

The artists at the Darkside are friendly and can be seen cracking jokes with their clients to put them at ease during a painful tattoo session.

Adele Kieger is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].