We’re a private studio so we do not accept walk-ins. Each artist schedules their own appointments, and handles all of their own correspondence. Go to the “artists” tab and select who you’d like to work with and their booking link will take you where you need to go.

• Make sure to hydrate well at least a few days before the appointment

• Eat a meal and bring snacks and something to drink in case you need them

• Wear comfortable clothing that makes the part of the body that will be tattooed easier to reach

• Bring comfort items that might be nice to have during the appointment. Here are some ideas:

  • hoodie or sweater

  • fidgets

  • headphones

  • sunglasses

  • earplugs

  • something to drink

If it's during business hours, you'll be able to enter the first set of doors and enter our studio number in the call box to be let up. If it's out side of business hours, you'll need to call the shop phone number (provided by your artist) and your artist will come down to let you in.

• Once you have been buzzed in you will enter the elevator and go up to the fifth floor

• Outside of the door there’s a table with masks, please grab one if needed

• Once you’re settled into the space you’ll fill out a consent form

• When the artist is ready they will bring you to their station and they will begin the tattoo process which starts with finalizing the design size and location, then stenciling, then the actual tattoo, and finally wrapping the new tattoo in either an adhesive or non-adhesive bandage

• You will receive the aftercare information

Ishkode is located at 126 N 3rd St, STE 550, in Downtown Minneapolis, at the Savoie Building.

Click here for photos and more info about the building!

If you'll be driving to the appointment we'd recommend giving yourself extra time since parking can be tricky to find depending on the day. The closest option is hourly, on-street right in front of the building, if you can nab a spot (but this parking is only 4hrs max); and then cheapest is in this lot marked here, at $5 for 12hrs on Saturdays and Sundays, and Ramp C is another decent option! (Unless there's an event, in which case it would be cheaper to park elsewhere!) There are often a lot of events in the summer, so just something to be aware of!

Here's a link that will hopefully help a bit with parking things: https://en.parkopedia.com/

Lighting:

• We have a huge skylight in the waiting area and a window by soraya omid’s station that lets natural light shine in so we rarely turn the overhead lights on.

• Artists use either headlamps or ring lights to help light the area they’ll be working on.

• In the evening, we may need to turn on the overhead lights.

Sounds:

• Everyone uses rotary machines which are very quiet in comparison to coil machines.

• We play music at lowish sound levels. Please let us know if you’d like us to change what’s playing because your experience is important to us.

• There can be several conversations happening at once, which can get loud at times.

• If sounds are a concern our artists will do their best to accommodate a session during "quiet times" — times when few, if any, other artists are in the shop

Overall environment:

• The main area has an open floor plan which includes the waiting room, sink/snack area, and the tattoo stations.

• There are two tattoo stations on one wall and two tattoo stations on the other.

• There is a large taxidermy bird in between nipinet and soraya omid’s stations that holds sentimental and cultural value.

• We’re in an old warehouse building, so it can get a bit drafty and with AC in the summer it can be chilly. We recommend bringing an extra layer just in case you need it.

We have several different styles of tables and chairs in the shop that have weight capacities that vary from 330-700lbs. If you have any questions or concerns about our furniture’s' weight capacities, please inquire with your artist!

Masks: ishkode requires N95 masks (or equivalent) to be worn when inside the shop. We encourage clients to bring their own, but if acquiring one is not feasible the shop can provide it when necessary. In the case that you need accommodation around wearing an N95 we ask that you inform the artist at time of booking, since our minimum requirement is for a surgical mask to be worn in lieu of an N95.

Guests: In an attempt to keep the number of people at a minimum in the space we ask that clients come with no more than one guest to their appointments. Guests are asked to follow the same covid requirements as clients.

Everyone charges on a sliding scale. Check in with the artist to confirm what form of payment they accept.

Spanish and Farsi are languages soraya omid can communicate in.