Kristin, Chris, Melissa, Diana and the Novita team, who represent Ceramics of Italy in the USA, have included an intriguing portmanteau theme – Globalism – among the Top 10 tile design trends for 2018.
Designers and brands frequently look to other cultures for inspiration, which are exemplified in this year’s tile introductions.
For Marazzi’s Grand Carpet collection, Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel turned to the orient to create large ceramic slabs enhanced with the tactility of oriental carpets, Indian temporary ritual tattoos and the Kolam tradition of ephemeral rice floor decorations.
Meanwhile, LaFaenza was inspired by a specific cave in Slovenia to create the Radika collection; while Imola’s Koala is a doppelganger for eucalyptus wood, native to Australia.
Thanks to advances in digital printing, these rare materials and hand-crafted techniques are available in high performance hard surfacing. Additional collections include Frenchmood by Ceramiche Supergres, Brooklyn by Fap, Greek by Gardenia Orchidea, Sicily by Imola (above left), 65 parallelo and W.Zone by Leonardo (above right), Vienna by Unica and Seamless by Unicom Starker.
A new post by Joe Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, January 2018.