Trend Alert: Bold Hand-Painted Tiles by Designers and Artists

Just as indie movies made by auteurs are often more intriguing than standard Hollywood fare, handmade tiles designed by artists are often bolder and more interesting than their mass-market counterparts. Here are eight standout collections—handmade, design-forward—that have captured our attention.

Commune x Exquisite Surfaces

Above: We are longtime admirers of LA-based Commune and marvel at the breadth of their work—architecture, interior, graphic, and product design. Their latest launch is the Abstrakt tile collection, based on paintings by Commune Design principal Steven Johanknecht and made by Exquisite Surfaces. You can find their whole range of tiles here.

Elisa Passino Studio

Above: Italian-born Elisa Passino has a background in both textiles and graphic design—and it shows in her collection of ceramic, terracotta, and cement tiles featuring geometric patterns and inspired color combinations. Every design is available in multiple colorways.

Wayne Pate x Balineum

Above: We are big fans of Brooklyn artist Wayne Pate (we’ve featured on our site his office, his ceramics, as well as his collection of textiles inspired by his year living in Paris), so we were excited when Balineum tapped him to design painterly tiles. Go here to learn more about his tiles.

Block Shop x Fireclay

Above: Block Shop and Remodelista, we go way back—back to 2014, when sisters and cofounders sisters Hopie and Lily Stockman participated in a Remodelista Market. We love the textile design studio’s modern take on block printing, and now they’ve translated it to the world of tiles, partnering with Fireclay for a line of hand-painted designs. See  Variations on a Theme: A New Tile Collection from Fireclay x Block Shop (with Endless Possibilities).

Smink Studio

Above: Former fashion designer Marianne Smink’s tiles are individually screen-printed and have a painterly, wabi-sabi wash. See Subtle Imperfections: Screen-Printed Ceramic Tiles from a Small-Batch London Company.

Neisha Crosland x De Ferranti

Above: Neisha Crosland is a British textiles designer-turned-surface pattern designer. We recently discovered her incredible collection of tiles (she designs them; luxury floor and wall coverings company De Ferranti makes them), which range from whimsical to sophisticated. You can find them all on her website.

Martin Bergstrom x Marrakech Design

Above: Martin Bergström is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer who collaborated with Marrakech Design for a series of tiles that are at once poetic and elegant. We especially like the “Track” pattern. To see the whole collection, go here.

Dusen Dusen x Concrete Collaborative

Above: Ellen Van Dusen, the founder of cult home goods line Dusen Dusen, designed the fun “Flower” tile for Concrete Collaborative.

For more tiles we love, see:

• New Year, Clean Slate: Cheeky Delft Tiles with a Twist by Petra Palumbo
• Kitchen of the Week: A Waste-Conscious Remodel for a Ceramic Tile Designer
• Whimsical Hand-Painted Tiles from UK Artist Lisa Hardy + Edit58

N.B.: Featured image from Wayne Pate’s New Painterly Tile Collection for Balineum.

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