Get ink of a dragon that starts on your lower back, with a long tail that reaches around your hip area. Encourage your artist to be creative when designing the tail, so that it draws visual interest to the hip area. Go for color here, incorporating orange, red and green and add a fire-breathing component for added creativity. You could reverse the tattoo as well, and have it start on the hip, with a tail that wraps around to your back, depending on your personal preference.
If you have a more whimsical male personality, get a design of stars that starts at your hip and trails around to your back. Depending on your desire, you can do smaller stars for a less significant design or something bold, like larger stars inked in black. You could also fill the stars in with colors that reflect your personal style or a funky pattern, like dots or stripes.
Get ink of Japanese characters down your hip area. Opt for something significant to you, such as an important date or phrase that has meaning for you. Japanese characters are generally tattooed in black; however, if you want ink that complements your skin tone, you might opt for a color. This is a more simple tattoo than say an animal design; however, it can carry greater meaning, depending on the characters you choose.
Because a hip tattoo generally consists of some kind of wrap design because of the shape of the area, a tribal tattoo is a good design for this part of the body. Tribal tattoos are characterized by lines and swirls with barbs and abstract swirls, depending on the tattoo artist's creativity. You could do a tribal tattoo that just wraps around the hip or something that wraps around the back to the other hip.