Man who reads like a computer

System Error Occurred.

It’s bad enough when you see it on screen, but what about on someone’s shoulder?

Manchester graphic designer Andy Bainbridge’s head fell to pieces at the end of summer ’95.

“It was a long, hot summer – very trying. I don’t know what possessed me but I felt in need of a permanent reminder of it,” says Bainbridge, who works for consultancy The Chase.

The answer was a tattoo of this memorable phrase, which Bainbridge sees as “my own personal logotype. It’s at the top of my headed notepaper”.

And he’s not stopping with System Error Occurred. Future plans include Norton Disk Doctor on his chest, Restart and Shut Down on his left and right hands and Not Enough RAM Available To Complete Request on “an unmentionable part of my anatomy”.

Bainbridge already has an abundance of sixteenth century lettering in Celtic bands adorning his person. “I don’t know what possessed me. I may not carry these plans through,” he adds.