Inkslot - Booking and Studio Operations Platform for a Tattoo Collective
Tattoo Studio Platform for a Berlin Collective
Designed and built a clickable studio console for a Berlin tattoo and piercing collective with 3 studios: today's floor by station, bookings with deposits and consent forms, session records with ink and needle batch numbers, ink stock with compliance status, and a traceability search that finds every client a recalled batch was used on.
Most of our work is under NDA. Per agreement, we can share the work but not the company details - all names and identifying information shown here have been changed.
Impact
Dashboard, bookings list and day board, booking detail with 7 tabs, inventory with the ink batch panel, and traceability with recalls.
Searching recalled grey wash batch MR-24-0917 lists the 7 sessions and 5 clients it was used on. The recall tracks contact per client, and Close recall stays locked while anyone is still to contact.
Deposits of 50 € for flash, 100 € for custom and 200 € for larger pieces. One free reschedule up to 72 hours before; a later cancellation or a no-show forfeits the deposit, unless a manager overrides with a reason.
24 clients, 12 artists including 2 guest artists, 3 studios, 13 session records, 23 stock batches, 7 ink products, 6 autoclave cycles and 2 recalls.
The Problem
Schwarzlinde took requests through Instagram DMs, a shared inbox and a paper diary per studio. Clients sent the same idea to three artists, deposits arrived by bank transfer with no reference, and no-shows cost about one chair-day a week. Consent forms sat in a folder, health answers were written next to names in plain view, and when an ink supplier recalled a batch nobody could say which clients had been tattooed with it.
Our Solution
Inkslot takes a client from a custom request to a healed tattoo: artist accept or decline, consultation, deposit, digital consent with an age check, a minimal health questionnaire, session records with ink, needle and autoclave batch numbers, and aftercare check-ins. The studio console runs the day, the stock and the recalls across all 3 studios.
The Challenge: Safe Tattoos With a Paper Trail
A tattoo studio in Berlin handles health data, regulated inks and sterilised instruments as well as bookings and money. Each session has to be traceable back to the bottle, the needle batch and the autoclave load, without exposing what the client told the artist about their health.
Health Answers Are Special Category Data
Under GDPR Art. 9 the health questionnaire needs explicit consent, minimal questions, separate encrypted storage and access for only the assigned artist and the studio manager. Paper forms in a folder met none of that.
Inks Under REACH and German Rules
REACH Annex XVII entry 75 restricts hazardous substances in tattoo inks and sets labelling rules, including a batch reference and an ingredients list, and Germany's Tätowiermittel-Verordnung adds national rules. Non-compliant or expired inks must never reach a client's skin.
Recalls Nobody Could Answer
When a supplier withdraws a batch, the studio has to find and contact every client it was used on. With batch numbers on paper, or not written down at all, that list could not be built.
Hygiene Records for the Inspector
The local health office expects a hygiene plan and records of sterilisation. Autoclave cycles lived on a clipboard, and a failed cycle did not stop its grips and tubes from going back into use.
Our Approach: From Studio Rules to a Clickable Console
Spec and Rules Research
Mapped 7 roles from client and guest artist to front desk, studio manager and owner, 49 screens across a mobile-first client web app, an artist app and the studio console, and the data model for requests, bookings, consent and health forms, session records, stock batches, ink products, autoclave cycles, recalls and payouts. Wrote down the rules the design follows: GDPR and BDSG, REACH entry 75, the Tätowiermittel-Verordnung, health office hygiene oversight, an 18+ age rule for tattoos and the UWG rules on reviews.
Clickable Demo on a Production UI Kit
Built the studio console's 5 key screens on a production dashboard kit: the dashboard with KPIs, today's floor per station and a needs-attention list, bookings with filters, a day board and a quick view, the booking detail with status tracker, forms, session records, aftercare and audit timeline, inventory with the ink batch panel, and traceability with recalls. All actions run on local state.
What a Production Build Adds
The client web app and the artist app, Stripe or Mollie deposits and card payments, a card terminal for final payment, Stripe Connect or SEPA payouts, email, SMS and WhatsApp reminders, calendar sync, EU-hosted image storage and a lexoffice or DATEV export. Staff auth by role, an encrypted store for health answers with a retention schedule, an append-only audit log, privacy request handling and legal review of every item the spec marks to confirm.
Why It Works: Safety Built Into the Booking
Health Answers Behind a Logged Reveal
The booking shows only that a client answered yes to a health question. The answers stay hidden until the artist or manager reveals them, and every reveal is written to the append-only audit timeline next to refunds and policy overrides.
Blocked Stock Cannot Reach a Session
Each ink batch carries its compliance declaration, label checks, restricted-pigment flag and expiry. Expired, quarantined and non-compliant inks cannot be picked on a session, and a failed autoclave cycle blocks its load until it is re-run.
Every Session Traceable to the Batch
Session records hold the ink, needle and jewellery batches and the autoclave cycle used. One search by batch, product or cycle id returns the sessions and clients affected, and a recall turns that list into a contact checklist.
Policy Outcomes Decided by the Clock
Reschedule, cancel and no-show apply the cancellation policy saved with the booking, and show the outcome before anyone confirms: refund over 72 hours, forfeit under. A manager override needs a reason and is logged.
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Enterprise Software Engineering - Human + AI
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Location
Global Headquarters
21 Merchant Road, 3rd Floor, Singapore 058267
Main corporate office and leadership operations
North America Office
548 Market Street, PMB 12345, San Francisco, CA 94104
Client operations and business development
India Office
402 Shivalik Shilp II, SG Highway, Ahmedabad 380015
Engineering and delivery center
Enterprise Software Engineering - Human + AI
Contact Us
Locations
Global Headquarters
21 Merchant Road, 3rd Floor, Singapore 058267
Main corporate office and leadership operations
North America Office
548 Market Street, PMB 12345, San Francisco, CA 94104
Client operations and business development
India Office
402 Shivalik Shilp II, SG Highway, Ahmedabad 380015
Engineering and delivery center
© 2026 - Copyright. All Rights reserved Oceanlab