Wide&Style is the new on-demand collection from ABK Ceramiche that brings together large panels and high-resolution digital decoration. Its unique blend of innovative technologies and creativity lends a distinctive, personal look to any project.
To emphasise the decorative potential and practicality of ceramic surfaces, ABK’s Style Department has created a series of graphic designs to be coloured on the tiles inspired by the viral phenomenon of Colouring Books.
The Wide&Style collection features a kaleidoscope of stylish and inspirational graphic effects. Based on the creativity of young graphic artists, illustrators and product designers, these surfaces are capable of transforming spaces with an artistic and original touch.
ABK design partners on this project include Officinarkitettura, Margherita Leonardi, Riccardo Palazzi and Marco Taietta.
The designers from Officinarkitettura drew inspiration from the history of Italian architecture and reinterpreted the details in a contemporary style. Using a range of techniques and materials, from ceramics to wallpaper, Officinarkitettura designs the surfaces with a diverse range of inspirations. For instance, the Officina Italia Decori line is rooted in the history of Italian architecture, reinterpreting its details in a contemporary vein.
Margherita Leonardi is inspired by a passion for art and a culture of travel. Skilfully blending different designs and styles, her work evokes a world made up of geographically distant and very different artisanal traditions. Classic hand-made expertise is brought back to life in an utterly contemporary mood and a fresh, relaxed and romantic style. For Wide&Style, Margherita Leonardi recreates the traditions of far-off locations in an utterly contemporary mood.
Riccardo Palazzi’s graphic neo-minimalism stands out for its strong two-dimensional feel. He focuses his gaze on essential dreamlike landscapes that recall illustrations from children’s books, while at the same time being fascinated by typically urban scenarios. His ‘flat design’ melds textures and metropolitan elements that become gradually more abstract and decorative thanks to free, creative use of colour.
An original reinterpretation of the patterns of classical architecture underpins the work of Marco Taietta. The Studio operates in a number of different fields, from product and spatial design through to communication, graphics and brand identity services, and in many different Italian and international industrial product sectors including bathroom furniture, lighting, fashion and nautical. Well known for his versatile creativity, Marco Taietta reinterprets the materials and patterns of classical architecture in a meticulous process of formal simplification that always leads to something new while maintaining a sense of understated, contemporary elegance.
Wide&Style is part of the large-format tile collection produced by ABK using Continua+ technology in sizes up to 1,600 by 3,200mm. This continuous pressing system produces soft-touch porcelain surfaces with exceptional technical performance. Just 7mm thick, Wide&Style panels can be produced in either a cold-pressed Digit version or in a Digit+ version which includes a firing process to make them resistant to chemicals and UV radiation. The latter are thus ideal for use in any kind of residential or commercial space, from bathrooms through to exterior façades.
Customers intending to personalise their interior design projects using ABK’s new on-demand service will receive a computer rendering based on the submitted dimensions along with the instructions for cutting and correctly installing the ceramic panels.
A new post by Joe Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, October 2017.