The prevailing mood is; hexagons are out. Although they were big last year, it is thought that 2019 is the time for them to make way for more creative, organic shapes. These range from the elaborate Arabesque to the simple triangle. It has also been thought this will be a big year for fish scale.

Naturally, companies have a lot to offer in terms of interesting shapes. Many of their designs also incorporate a few of this year’s other trends such as a confident use of colour and texture.

Alteret’s handmade Arabesque terracotta tiles not only lend themselves to the shape trend, but also to the rising interest in unique artisanal products. They are available in seven colours, each of which will exhibit slight variations due to production techniques.

One company that is right on the money for both their colour and interesting shapes is Equipe. Their wonderful rainbow collection Sfera provides slip-resistant circular porcelain floor tiles in 16 lively colours.

Made+39’s take on the classic mosaic sees a slight lean towards organic shapes with their Cube collection. Within this collection there is a play on relief to create variation in thicknesses and an alternative to a flat, smooth mosaic. Available colours are white, grey and black.

From Domus‘s New Terracotta range there are organic shapes aplenty. The décors range from classic Subway to the trendier Fish Scale, Pyramid and T-drop. Like Alteret’s Arabesque, the designs go hand-in-hand with an imperfect artisanal finish. The variety of shapes transform areas into unique, textured spaces which can be further personalised through the 49 colours available.

New Terracotta isn’t the only collection from the company to utilise these trendy shapes. Scale is a vibrant gloss-finished solution for unique feature walls. Available in five colours, the shade variation creates a quirky accent for any interior space.

Fan flips Scale on its head and offers a toned down scallop-shaped ceramic tile in eight neutral shades. These gloss tiles come as a mosaic on a 430x300mm sheet, or as single tiles to be placed individually for design variation.

Memorable Riga from Realonda presents its Provençal shape in plain Concrete or Patchwork form. Patchwork adds character to any space due to its multitude of styles, patterns and textures and can be used alongside Riga Concrete to create a standout feature.

Realonda also has a lot to offer in the fish scale department, with no less than six collections. Much like Riga, Scale adds groutable personality with their Boho range and Scale Gloss Patchwork. Or living spaces can be livened up with matt-finish plain coloured fish scales.

However, don’t throw away the hexagons just yet, as they’re the perfect shape to complement the lean towards transitional tiles. The shape makes it easy to mix finishes, be they wood or marble-effect, patterned or colour, and create subtle, stylish divisions between living spaces.

Realonda
Alteret
Equipe
Made+39
Domus
Natucer

A new post by Hanna Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, February 2019.