Category: Design Delights

Design & Technology, Design Delights

Design to dive into

Transforming the mundane into a joyful playground for the imagination, Brazilian design studio Alva (founded by architect Marcelo Alvarenga and artist/stylist Susana Bastos) forms furniture that offers both fun and function. Producing a mini poolside world, Alva’s Piscinas collection features five designs created for use as tables/seating, each of which are tiled and shaped to mimic swimming pools. Including unusual shapes, such as sunken interiors … Continue reading Design to dive into

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Cersaie, Design & Technology, Design Delights, Exhibitions

Cersaie Curiosities II

We’re back with a fresh new bunch of Cersaie Curiosities. This time we’re talking mosaics, metallics, and textured treats! 1) Tempo Circle A stunning design featuring a perfect pair – natural stone and contrasting mosaics – Tempo Circle from Porcelanosa offers the charm of antiquity with the ease of modernity. 2) Charlotte Copper Like an abstract city map, Pamesa‘s Charlotte Copper is decorated in a … Continue reading Cersaie Curiosities II

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Cersaie, Design & Technology, Design Delights, Exhibitions, New Tile Designs

Cersaie’s Textured Stone

Marked with natural imperfections, decorated with carvings, and shapes in formats both little and large, textured stone offers a deep seam to mine when it comes to tile design. These are the few I collected at Cersaie. Alchemy and Deco Pierre Irregularly ridged with scored lines, Peronda‘s Alchemy and Porcelanosa‘s Deco Pierre take a similar approach to adding texture to stone. Subtle veins can be … Continue reading Cersaie’s Textured Stone

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Cersaie, Design & Technology, Design Delights, Exhibitions, Motifs & Materials, Tile Designers

Le Nid Knockout

After talking about their unusual collection Déjà Vu last year I was particularly looking forward to seeing Le Nid tiles up close and personal at Cersaie. And they really didn’t disappoint. Patterns with a retro vibe and colours that captivate, almost everything on the Le Nid stand was knockout. You’d be hard pressed to find any tiles with the same rich character and enticing style. … Continue reading Le Nid Knockout

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Design & Technology, Design Delights, Iconic Designs

Viúva Lamego: Tiling tradition transmogrified

Founded in Lisbon in 1849, Viúva Lamego remains a proud exponent of traditional Portuguese ceramics. But this landmark company is far more than an artisanal tile producer, although it does manufacture exquisite small format plain and decorative tiles in its unique facility in the Sintra district. The company is better viewed as an ambassador of Portuguese culture, due to its close collaboration with numerous artists, … Continue reading Viúva Lamego: Tiling tradition transmogrified

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Cersaie, Design & Technology, Design Delights, Exhibitions

Wood-looks at Cersaie

The wood-effects at Cersaie went way beyond the slats with lots of inlaid looks and material combinations to enjoy, varying texture for a realistic finish or encouraging illusion with contrast. Codicer95‘s Flower Loire and Stella Maine tiles, both in Silver and Noce offer an delightfully intricate combination of wood and marble in simple yet decorative repeat motifs featuring floral and starry imagery. Colorker‘s Ragnar tiles … Continue reading Wood-looks at Cersaie

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Design & Technology, Design Delights, Tile Designers

Lindsey Lang

Offering up uniquely patterned and textured tiles, textile design expert Lindsey Lang breathes bold modernity into the antique art of producing handmade encaustic cement tiles and historic tradition of terrazzo. Vibrant colours and striking motifs make up the Leaf, Ellipse, Scallop, and Hex collections whilst the innovative London Chevron, London Roundel, and Quarter Roundel demonstrate unusual geometric 3D relief cement tiles inspired by the London … Continue reading Lindsey Lang

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Design & Technology, Design Delights

Six fabric inspired tile designs

Combining the familiar patterns and soft surfaces of fabric with the solid permanence of tile makes for many a marvellous design. Companies have created all sorts of fabric-inspired collections taking inspiration from craft, heritage, and texture, and here are six to show how unusual the end result can be. 1) Quilt from Studio Irvine Designed by Marialaura Rossiello, Quilt references the patchwork nature of quilting, … Continue reading Six fabric inspired tile designs

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Design & Technology, Design Delights, New Tile Designs, Tile Designers

Feature Fringe

We’re suckers for any tile design that incorporates grout into its decor and we’ve got one to share today. Taking its name from the decorative border that frames clothes, furnishings, and faces, Fringe is a tile range that makes the most of parallel lines, offering order and symmetry with flair. Designed by Michael Anastassiades for Mutina, Fringe plays with borders with the two patterns – … Continue reading Feature Fringe

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Design & Technology, Design Delights, Design Trends, Interior Design Trends

Five tile trends that bring the outside in

Everybody is looking to add a little nature to their homes; to bring a little of the outside in. Potted plants, tropical wallpapers, green paint, and rattan furniture have all been trending but if you want to add a touch of the organic in a more permanent way, here are five tile trends that’ll help. 1) Marble Classic, elegant, and completely timeless, marble offers fresh … Continue reading Five tile trends that bring the outside in

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Design & Technology, Design Delights, New Tile Designs, Tile Designers

Yinka Ilori x Domus

Launched at this year’s Clerkenwell and spreading joy wherever they land, the joyful debut tile collection by British artist Yinka Ilori is one for the books. Made in collaboration with Domus, the handmade Glaze range features 16 joyful colours and five modular shapes designed to be used alone or to create dopamine-boosting kaleidoscopic designs full of vibrancy and vim. The glossy ceramic surface lightly varies … Continue reading Yinka Ilori x Domus

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Design & Technology, Design Delights, Motifs & Materials, Tile Designers

Kimono-like Kanoko

Inspired by a Japanese traditional Kimono pattern, this delightfully simple collection from Inax does a lot of what we love when it comes to tile. The small repeat mosaic pattern of curved-edge hollow squares of Kanoko comes in two colours – Black and White – with each sheet featuring the sporadic inclusion of gloss tessera that contrast against the blanket of matt tone. The name … Continue reading Kimono-like Kanoko

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Design & Technology, Design Delights, New Tile Designs, Tile Designers

Slithering Salomè

Delighted by last years release of a tile collection by the great colour master Adam Nathaniel Furman, I was even more excited to learn that a new collection was on its way. And finally it’s here! Paying homage to Italian painting style La Figura Serpentinata painting, Furman’s new Salomè ceramic tiles twist and turn like the curving of a snake or the shape of a … Continue reading Slithering Salomè

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Design & Technology, Design Delights, Motifs & Materials, Tile Companies, Tile Designers

DoodlePippin

Folding, rippling, and forming into a cane is what millefiori is all about. Literally ‘a thousand flowers’, millefiori is an ancient process used to manipulate clay or glass, with each bend and twist creating a uniquely kaleidoscopic pattern hidden within a long, unassuming pole. And it’s millefiori that forms the basis of the many marvellous designs found on DoodlePippin. Artist and DoodlePippin owner Ruth uses … Continue reading DoodlePippin

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Design & Technology, Design Delights, Tile Designers

Variegati Visuals

Unusual swirls, streaks, and specks bespatter the surface of Ceramica Fioranese‘s I Variegati collection. Inspired by Italian variegated terracotta, I Variegati translates the skilful work of Lombardia craftsmen with the precise hand of technology. The resulting surface brings the best of both industry and the artisanal hand, offering up a delightfully rippled design as delicious as freshly churned ice cream. Six neutrals and earth tones … Continue reading Variegati Visuals

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Design & Technology, Design Delights, Motifs & Materials, Tile Designers

Baked Africa

Earthy shades and organic textures play together with sharp geometric lines for this intriguing collection from The Baked Tile Co. Dark slate, burnt orange terracotta, and a delicate off white create the trio of shades, each mixing and matching amongst each other to create the angular hexagonal patchwork of patterns that forms Africa. A hand-crafted, raw earth look is created with details that imitate scores … Continue reading Baked Africa

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Design & Technology, Design Delights, Motifs & Materials

Five perfectly pastel tiles

Searching for picture perfect pastel tiles? Right this way. 1) Confetti Designed by Oh Joy! for Clé Tiles, Confetti combines the soft tones of mocha, crema, ice, stone, powder, and white for a delicate polka dot display of pastels. 2) New Town Baby blues and pastel pinks decorate the textured curves and ridges of New Town by Adam Nathanial Furman for Botteganove. 3) Lozenge and … Continue reading Five perfectly pastel tiles

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Design & Technology, Design Delights, Motifs & Materials, New Tile Designs, Tile Designers

Craggy Chamotte

Chamotte, otherwise known as grog or firesand, is the name given to crushed ceramics used to strengthen clay mixtures and create a rugged, gritty texture. And thats exactly what Chamotte gives us. Designed by tile visionary Patricia Urquiola for Mutina, Chamotte places hand-made rustica front and centre with pits and ripples texturing the surface and catching the glossy glaze in irregular patterns. Three variants add … Continue reading Craggy Chamotte

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Design & Technology, Design Delights, Motifs & Materials, Sustainable Design, Tile Designers

Shellazzo?

We’ve spoken a lot about shells here, from mussel glass to eggshell surfaces, and from mother of pearl mosaics to scallop shell desks, and today we add another magnificent material to the mix – Istrenn. Developed by French company Malàkio, Istrenn is composed of 60% recycled shells (collected locally) and a 40% mineral matrix resulting in a stunningly unusual shell based terrazzo effect that features the many … Continue reading Shellazzo?

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