Tile exhibitions always provide an opportunity to discover emerging trends, whether new formats, surface reliefs, 3D forms, novel textures or fresh colours. At Cevisama 2018 one particular type of tile really caught my attention and this was the interlocking fish-scale tile.
They were not a ubiquitous shape, and most factories had no fish-scale designs on show at all. Neither were they new, as the main protagonists also featured many of these designs at Cersaie 2017
But what was impressive was their sheer prominence on certain stands. Natucer springs to mind, but no other manufacturer worked this quirky, but surprisingly versatile, form better than Realonda.
Not only were large sections of the Realonda stand’s interior given over to contrasting fish-scale displays, but diminishing panels of this iconic shape also clad large areas of the stand’s exterior.
Realonda had many different fish-scale designs on show. Scale Shell offered neutral faces with fans of raised ridges. Scale Slate added a new twist to slate-effect tiles, while Scale Concrete worked the industrial look in an entirely new direction, with a soft palette of different greys. Pale greens and blues, with some darker highlight tones, were to the fore in Scale Garden.
Metallics got a look in in Scale Shell Gold; while dramatic dark hues featured in Scale Shell Anthracite and stone-effects in the three options in Scale Stone. Other mainstream design trends in square and rectangular tiles were also referenced in Scale Cotto, Scale Mud, Scale Statuario and Scale White. There were even plain and patterned combinations in Scale Boho, Scale Gloss and Scale Zellige.
The format is, nominally, 307 by 307mm: with each tile featuring nine scales in three bands of three. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but it is certainly a format that can may and powerful and distinctive statement in a crowded exhibition.
A new post by Joe Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, February 2018.