Nostalgia Nuanced
People often look to design for an escape and in this current political climate it’s unsurprising that tile manufacturers are turning to the past to bring people a euphoric boost. Continue reading Nostalgia Nuanced
Tag: Porcelain Tiles
New Typologies
While some tile manufacturers recreate the look of wood or stone to an impressive degree of realism, others mix different materials or handpick certain characteristics to form a whole new typology. Continue reading New Typologies
Going Global
Designers and brands frequently look to other cultures for inspiration, which are exemplified in this year’s tile introductions. Continue reading Going Global
Earthy Energy
Earth Tones continue to engage and enthuse tile designers. Drawing their main inspiration from natural elements, a wide range of Italian tiles fall into this theme. Colour palettes range from dirt, clay and sand inspired browns; forest, moss and grass-like greens; red and golden tones reminiscent of the sun; and shades of blue to evoke an oceanic feel. This trend has become popular partially due to a revival of 1970s style along with a greater focus on mother nature and its ability to create a sense of natural serenity. Continue reading Earthy Energy
Decoration Deconstructed
Tile companies are constantly seeking new ways to add movement and volume to the flat surface, whether by texture, pattern, or trompe l’oeil effects. Continue reading Decoration Deconstructed
Bountiful Botanicals
While floral designs have been around since decorative tile was invented, botanical is a new trend that reflects two movements in the design industry. The first is a focus on health and wellness and the incorporation of the natural world into interiors. Meanwhile, the influence of tropical modernism has seeped into interiors and product design, shown by the abundance of palm, cacti and other flora-inspired patterns. Continue reading Bountiful Botanicals
Graphic Gramercy
Available in an extensive variety of solids, reliefs, and graphic patterns, Nemo Tile’s new hexagonal porcelain range Gramercy delivers a sense of upscale affluence commonly associated with the brownstones and apartment buildings of this New York neighborhood. Continue reading Graphic Gramercy
Uniquely Urquiola
Mutina’s new Cover collection marks one of Patrica Urquiola’s first ventures with large ceramic slabs made using Continua Plus technology. Here, the clay is blended with a mixture of micro-grit, which is then used as a base for the coloured patterns applied using silk-screens. Continue reading Uniquely Urquiola
Cartoon Collaboration
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 ‘wooden’ swimming pool is made up of large format porcelain tiles, each custom-printed with a woodgrain effect in a block print style. The heavily stylized cartoon-like wooden plank design is a signature of this London-based artist. Continue reading Cartoon Collaboration
Translucent Tile Sensation
Ceramica Portinari’s Backstage range, comes in three colours and two formats and brings to mind the subtle surface sculpting and deliberate imperfections of Mutina’s ground-breaking Déchirer range. But the real wow factor is the translucent option. Continue reading Translucent Tile Sensation
Deconstructing Decoration
The key to the impact of Decortiles’ 2017 portfolio lies in the duality between the brutal and the delicate. This, together with a multiplicity of surfaces, formats, and finishes, including on-trend sober tones of grey, black, and white, results in a range that both excites and offers clear commercial potential. Continue reading Deconstructing Decoration
Apposite Aparici
Right now very few companies on the planet can match Aparici’s 2017/18 portfolio for sheer inventiveness, humour, tone, texture and graphic joie de vivre. Continue reading Apposite Aparici
Zaha Hadid’s Organic Oyster
Standing near the quay dedicated to Manfred, Salerno’s new, highly sculptural concrete, glass and tiled terminal building was conceived by Zaha Hadid, as “an oyster with a hard outer shell containing soft, fluid elements, with a ‘tempered’ roof to shield it from the harsh Mediterranean sun.” Continue reading Zaha Hadid’s Organic Oyster
Walking In A Wooden Wonderworld
Rondine’s Inwood range features ceramic surfaces with a charmingly rugged feel to both sight and touch. The six colour options, with their attractive warm tones, have been selected to bring out the natural essence of wood in all its beauty and imperfection. The tiles’ shade variations are capable of creating different moods depending on how they are laid. Continue reading Walking In A Wooden Wonderworld
Darkly Mysterious
Lea Ceramiche’s Waterfall range has a surface that reproduces the iridescent effects typical of sedimentary rocks, with irregularities and variations of colour that mark the passage of time amplified on the large slabs 5.5mm thick. Continue reading Darkly Mysterious
Metallic Tile Morphism
Cersaie 2016 saw everything from the neo-industrial chic of large format corten and burnished steel slabs, through to bright cold, copper and platinum tesserae; and this design thread had some fresh impetus at Cersaie 2018 through the widespread adoption of continuous pressing technology giving rise to the simulated sheet-metal ultra-large tile ranges. Metallic tiles are also featuring in cutting-edge interiors as decorative inlays, either framing tiles or creating geometric motifs. Continue reading Metallic Tile Morphism
Tempting Tactile Textures
Ceramica Sant’Agostino is one of the leading pioneers in the area of textile-effect tiles. The ground-breaking Digitalart and Tailorart ranges have now been joined by Fineart. This new fabric-effect porcelain collection features high-end digital printing techniques and a light 3D structure. It offers a fine texture, soft tones, delicate melanges, and small formats. Continue reading Tempting Tactile Textures
Sustainable Surface Solutions
Ceramic tile is, without a shadow of a doubt, essential to sustainable architecture and construction, not just because it is a natural material but also because of the range of construction systems in which it can be used. Continue reading Sustainable Surface Solutions
February Fashion Feature
For more than ten years Surface Design Show has been the place where industry people immerse themselves in the latest materials for the built environment, gain new insights and network with like-minded designers and suppliers. From 6th to 8th February 2018, the show will return to London’s Business Design Centre, presenting the newest and best surfaces that the design industry has to offer. Continue reading February Fashion Feature
Sacré Bleu: Novoceram’s Mood Indigo
When they first order Indigo, Novoceram’s customers will find that fate selects the contents of the collection’s boxes. Some will have a few more Little Red Riding Hoods and a fewer bespectacled dogs, but the final effect will always be perfect. And it is precisely this random distribution that makes each and every Indigo composition unique. Continue reading Sacré Bleu: Novoceram’s Mood Indigo