a permanent tattoo applied like a patch
At a Shoreditch launch on July 23, 2026, London-based skin technology company CipherX will invite visitors to get a permanent tattoo from a patch. His Microdot Tattoo System trades the familiar hum of a tattoo machine for hundreds of tiny structures, each of which transfers pigment to the skin before dissolving.
The patch stays in place for about fifteen minutes and the image darkens over the next 24 to 48 hours.
The current format keeps the tattoos deliberately small, with each design limited to a 15mm circular canvas. Carbon black motifs include a bold star and a tiny chair, while custom artwork remains limited to select editions.
Customers select a design online and then redeem it at a CipherX pop-up, where trained staff prep the skin and apply the single-use patch with a special hand-held applicator.
images © CipherX
from the tattoo machine to the microdot patch
Once the patch is aligned, the applicator pushes its tiny points through the upper layers of the skin in a single motion. Each microdot combines biodegradable material with tattoo pigment, turning the patch into both an image carrier and a delivery system.
It remains attached to the body while the structures dissolve and leaves the pigment behind in a stable arrangement. Microneedle tattoo patches have appeared in academic research since at least 2022, but CipherX is turning the principle into a manufactured consumer product.
Although the first image appears as soon as the patch is removed, it may appear pale during operating hours. The marks deepen over the next two days and visually merge into a continuous form.
CipherX describes the experience as painless, while its public guidance also mentions temporary redness or mild irritation. Aftercare includes petroleum jelly and avoiding prolonged exposure to water for the first 48 hours.
a permanent image built of microdots
For CipherX, the pixel offers a useful model for translating digital artwork into a permanent image on skin. A file is transformed into a field of pigment-filled microdots and then a disposable patch whose tiny dots reproduce the design on the body. This gives the tattoo a strange sequence of material. It moves from screen to mold and then patch to skin.
By shifting much of the image creation process to software and manufacturing, the system changes the familiar relationship between the user and the tattooing process. A conventional tattoo is developed through the movement of a hand on the skin. Here, the design arrives pre-set and the applicator controls alignment and pressure through a repetitive action. CipherX received the 2026 Red Dot Best of the Best Implementer Award.
a personal question becomes a skin technology company
Materials scientist and designer Ferdinand Kohle began exploring the concept in late 2020 while studying Design Innovation Engineering at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London. ‘I was interested in tattoos but found conventional tattooing out of my reach due to my phobia of needles and blood,‘ explains.
His technical background gave the question a practical direction: could dissolving microneedles deliver permanent pigment to the skin through a single application?
After Kohle founded CipherX with clinician and researcher Karl-Anton Harms, tattooing became the first commercial use for a broader skin technology platform. The company is also exploring cosmetic treatments and medical labeling, alongside drug delivery and health sensing.
For now, Microdot tattoos remain available through approved pop-ups and trained professionals. The Home app is further down the company’s roadmap, where the patch could move tattooists beyond the studio and into retail spaces or live events.
