I have spent the past couple of weeks going back over my notes and photographs from Cersaie, and wading through reams and reams of press material and PR photography to discover the hidden gems among a plethora of – admittedly wonderful – white marbles, distressed woods, cement-effects, encaustic stylings, et al. This essential but highly time-consuming R&D will form the basis of my Cersaie reports for Tile & Stone Journal in the UK, Tile Today in Australia, and Diary of a Tile Addict itself in the coming months.
I keep finding myself coming back to just two tiles; both of which I will share with my fellow tile addicts: one today and one in near future. The first tile is a prototype, typical of the “kites” flown at the major tiling exhibitions. These are generally avant garde designs that only move forward into commercial production if they receive positive feedback from attendees. Now I am somewhat sceptical of this process. Firstly, I think manufacturers should trust their product design teams. After all, they tend to be very experienced professionals who spend their entire working lives reading colour forecasts, scouring the architectural and design press, visiting interiors and fashion shows, and then synthesising all the market data, and their own subjective impressions, into new tile designs.
However, at trade shows, the sales teams are looking to generate the maximum volume of sales; so I would expect them to lead their customers towards the tried and tested: safe designs that tap into established tile trends. And this is hardly conducive to garnering a positive response to an out-there design at the cutting-edge of today’s tile styles.
But, anyway, here is one such “kite”. It is called Fresco and was displayed by Fincibec Group brand Naxos. Several things really work for me in this design. I enjoy the tonal balance of the contrasting colours, and the deepness of the hues. I like the geometric elements that break up the surface of this XXL tile. And I love the subtle use of gold detailing. This adds glamour and richness without falling over into bling.
Now it just so happens that the UK agent for this brand, and the whole Fincibec Group, is one of the nicest, most genuine, and hardest-working individuals in the tiling fraternity: Daniele Camoni. He also, if you are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, cooks a mean pasta! Daniele was grafting as usual in Cersaie, mainly concentrating on showing customers the new commercial lines on the Monocibec stand. I really hope, for Daniele’s sake, that I was not the only visitor to take a shine to Fresco. If this great design does go into production I am certain that it will open up some new doors for Daniele and the rest of Naxos’s international sales team. If you like what you see, why not let the company know by e-mail at: info@naxos-ceramica.it
A new post by Joe Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, October 2018.