“How do you come up with your cement tile designs?” is a question we hear a lot around here. So, in order to satisfy your curiosity, we’ve decided to share a little bit about the creation stories behind some of our concrete tile patterns. How did you come up with this design? Had you seen it somewhere? The story behind the warm geometric of our Tunis cement tile is typical of how we work with our clients to create tile designs that then become part of our cement tile line. One of our hotel clients came to us. They showed us a photo of a mass of stars, the way you’d see it if you were looking at it from above, like a carpet view, and asked us, ‘Do you think you can you do a cement tile like this?” What’s the process? The first question we have when we look at a design is how do you break it up to create a concrete tile? Because you’re creating a whole that has to be divided into parts. Here you get almost the whole star — but not quite — and that has to carry over into the next one. You have to be clever and careful when you’re putting it together a tile pattern. We managed to come up with what they wanted; it’s a very funky design mold! What about the name? We have a tradition here at Granada Tile of naming our cement tiles after a place. It’s not the that the cement tile design was found in those places; it’s less literal and more evocative than that. We often go through the atlas asking ourselves ‘What kind of concrete tile would be found there? What are the things you think of when you consider that place?”. In Tunis it’s very common to see bronze fretwork that feels similar to the encaustic tile pattern here. The midnight blue color was selected by the client, possibly because of the idea of a starry sky that had been the original inspiration for the tile, though that’s also a color that you see a lot in that country. We also did it for the client in yellow, which almost looks like a bunch of suns. So you kind of have this tile that is both day and night. Like this cement tile for your home? Check out what we have in-stock.
The same qualities that make our cement tiles perfect for a hardworking coffee shop or restaurant space — in addition to their beautiful designs and vivid colors, our concrete tiles are long lasting, easy care and low maintenance — make it perfect for your home, whether used as floor tile or wall tile. Call us today at 213-482-8070 to discuss which of our encaustic tile designs would be perfect for your home or restaurant project.
