It’s always fun to find the unsual amongst the standard, be it strange materials, imaginative layouts, or trials in texture. But there’s one thing that comes up at random, delighting the Tile Addicts and consumers alike – cartoon creations. We’ve collected some of the best over the years, and here are five of the prime examples.
1. Valentina by Del Conca
Focusing on Italian comic book character Valentina, this Del Conca range is a marvel of retro chic. Monochrome designs with pops of red display the 60s classic with a modern twist. These wonderfully unique designs offer a real punch of personality to interiors.
2. Richard Woods’ swimming pool at Albion Barn
As part of the Living With Art exhibition at Albion Barn, British artist and designer Richard Woods created a fantastical swimming pool using his iconic ‘wood’ pattern on ceramic tiles. The vibrant cartoonish wooden panels pop unnaturally out of the ground, juxtaposing jovially with their surroundings.
3. Indigo by Novoceram
This wonderfully strange range by Novoceram is full of playfulness. Using traditional Azulejo tiles, Indigo offers a mix of 63 subjects, each one seemingly having no apparent connection to another in terms of style, other than their indigo tones. Classical art, cartoonish characters, comic book actions bubbles, and Pointillist Pop Art all have a home here, making them fantastically fun features.
4. Maddalena Sisto’s designs for Ceramica Bardelli
This crafty collection of full of fun and whimsy, featuring Fatine Sexy (nude and prancing), Fatine Buffe (curious dancing faries), and Mad (an array of characterful individuals). A strangely delightful mix of crudely drawn individuals and effortless style, Sisto’s sketches are something to remember.
5. Mash-up from Imola Ceramica
From this peculiar range comes some cartoonish creatures. Amongst the decors in an otherwise standard collection lives Chick Yellow 2 and Chick Red 2, adorably unusual bug-eyed chicks in a 300 by 600mm format. An odd find, but a happy one nonetheless.
A new post by Hanna Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, September 2020.