Walking up West Erie Street in downtown Kent, patrons of Pulse Dermagraphics Studio are confronted with a large cartoon face on a red door. The face, in the likeness of Pulse owner Jason Wells, greets customers as they walk up a narrow staircase into his tattoo parlor.

“It’s basically a custom, more of a personal tattoo shop, a place that you can actually come, get tattooed and not be rushed out the door,” Wells said.

Although Pulse has been open for just a few short months, opening the business has been a goal of Wells’s for some time.

Web-exclusive photo gallery:  ‘Tattoos for smart people’