If you had to design your tombstone what would it look like?

Why do all tombstones look the same? I always wonder this, when I visit a cemetary and see the various tombstones. Sure, they may have different shapes, different materials and different typography. But the basic template of almost all tombstones is the same. We see the name, the date of birth and date of death. Sometimes accompanied by some more text, like a phrase. Are there certain rules for what should go on a tombstone? Or can we ignore the template and do our own thing? After all, shouldn’t a tombstone tell us something about the person’s personality?

As a designer I can’t help but think about what my tombstone should look like. I sure hope I don’t have to really think about this for a very, very long time, but my creative mind can’t help but brainstorm.

Why should only my name be on it? Why not also mention who I was closest to? I would like to tell the visitor of the cemetary a bit more about who I was. “Patrick Sanwikarja: partner of …, father of …, brother of …, son of …” Etcetera.

And why only my beginning and end dates? Why not also the dates that were the most meaningful to me, like when I met my girlfriend or when my daughter was born? Or other numbers? “His favorite number was 7.” And why only text? Why not a logo? (If you know me, you know which symbol I’d like to have on it.)

Of course putting all this information on a tombstone would be pretty expensive. Bigger stone, more engraving work. Perhaps there shouldn’t be any text on my tombstone at all. How about an engraved QR-code? Which then of course would direct to “404. Person not found.”