Welcome! I’m excited to introduce Blink, an appointment-scheduling platform I built from the ground up to solve the very real pain points that tattoo studios face every single day. Whether you’re juggling dozens of walk-ins, coordinating multi-session sleeve projects, or simply trying to prevent scheduling clashes in a busy shop, Blink is designed to keep your calendar under control. Powered by Next.js, styled with Tailwind CSS, and polished with the shadcn/ui component library, Blink brings together the speed of React, the clarity of an intuitive UI, and the convenience of automatic QR-code check-ins—all in one cohesive package.

Traditional scheduling methods—phone calls, social-media DMs, handwritten notebooks—may feel personal, yet they leave too much room for error. Double bookings, vague appointment notes, and missed reminders chip away at a studio’s reputation and revenue. Blink grew out of countless conversations with tattoo artists who wanted a tool that feels as creative and flexible as their art, but as reliable and structured as a professional calendar system. My goal was simple: eliminate the administrative overhead so artists can spend more time designing ink and less time answering, “Are you free next Tuesday at 3 p.m.?”

Blink presents clients with a clean, visual calendar that clearly highlights open slots. By tapping a date, users instantly see available hours, eliminating the need for back-and-forth messages or phone tag. A single form captures preferred time, basic contact details, and optional session notes—then confirms the booking in real time, locking that slot for the artist.

After booking, clients can revisit the Blink portal to review every upcoming session in one place. They’ll see the exact date, start time, and any special instructions captured during booking. This transparency drastically reduces no-shows and forgotten appointments, because the details live where clients know to find them.

On the studio side, each new booking appears automatically in the artist’s Google Calendar thanks to a secure, one-time OAuth connection. No manual entry, no copy-paste mistakes, just instant synchronization that keeps personal and professional calendars in lockstep.

Blink ships with two distinct dashboards. Clients see a streamlined interface focused purely on finding and reserving times, while administrators gain a powerful command center for spotting scheduling conflicts, blocking out vacation days, and toggling artist availability. Each view is purpose-built, cutting clutter and surfacing only the controls relevant to that role.

Good UX adapts to context. Blink’s theme switcher lets users swap between a crisp light palette or a subdued dark theme on the fly. This is more than a cosmetic touch—artists often work in dimly lit environments, and dark mode prevents eye strain while still displaying time slots with perfect clarity.

Next.js powers Blink’s server-side rendering and API routes, assuring lightning-fast page loads and SEO-friendly markup for studio landing pages. Incremental Static Regeneration keeps marketing content fresh without manual rebuilds, while dynamic appointment APIs remain fully real-time.

Tailwind’s utility-first approach meant I could iterate on layouts rapidly, matching brand colors and spacing without wading through bloated style sheets. The shadcn/ui library layered in accessible React components—buttons, date pickers, dialogs—ensuring visual consistency and keyboard-first navigation out of the box.

Global state across calendars, form wizards, and modal flows is orchestrated with a lightweight React context. Because performance matters, complex date selection logic lives in memoized hooks, keeping re-renders minimal even on lower-powered mobile browsers.

Every confirmed booking generates a unique QR code that embeds the appointment ID. Clients can add this code to Apple Wallet or a simple PNG in Google Photos. When they arrive, a quick scan on any iOS or Android device brings up the exact booking in the admin panel, marking them as “Checked In” automatically. The result: no paper forms, no manual name searches, just a friction-free greeting and more time for artistry.

By combining visual scheduling, automated reminders, calendar sync, and QR-code verification, Blink directly addresses the headaches of double bookings, missed appointments, and miscommunication. Studio owners reclaim lost productivity; artists stay focused on creativity; clients enjoy a polished, professional interaction from first tap to final tattoo.