As ModCloth’s resident nail nerds, the Nail Klub was stoked to help celebrate Geek Week, but coming up with the perfect tutorial had us stumped. We gals played with plenty of ideas — from periodic table patterns to wizard faces with 3-D beards — but nothing seemed to fully capture the diversity and eccentricity of geekdom.

We had settled on a comic strip version of the newspaper transfer trend when Bree, a graphic designer, shared an amazing update to the technique. Instead of transferring newsprint images onto her nails, Bree used rubbing alcohol to put full-color, computer-printed pictures on her digits. The pictures, which Bree shrunk with her computer’s photo editor, turned into bright, bold, temporary tattoos for nails. Apart from being a scientific stunner, these nails are also fully customizable to your unique, geeky tastes.

Whether you’re big into binary or want to keep your favorite Magic card at your fingertips, this trick lets you flaunt your fascinations for all to see! Check out the tutorial below, and get some more tips after the jump!

We had an absolute blast decorating our nails with everything from Urkel and Screech to Data from The Goonies. Along the way, we found that 50-percent isopropyl rubbing alcohol worked the best for transferring the ink. We used a white base coat to help the colors pop, and made sure the polish was totally dry before trying a transfer. Sometimes, tiny bits of paper stuck to the transferred ink — to remove it, we just waited for the ink to dry, then gently brushed the paper away with our fingers. Finally, we sealed in this manicure with a clear top coat, which instantly brightened the ink and gave our images a glossy, photo finish!

Do you wear your geekiness on your sleeve? Have you ever tried a geek-inspired beauty tutorial?