The making of the Unitile ceramic tile pattern

Meeting with the client to discuss the task, writing a brief statement of work.

We need to develop a pattern for decorative wall tiles. The client wants it to be a geometric ornament that would look good next to a wooden texture like this one:

Tile dimensions are 25 × 60 cm (10″ × 23″).

The designer starts to make sketches.

There are two trends in tile pattern design: tiles that produce the same pattern no matter how they are laid.

And tiles that can be used to create different ornaments depending on how they are positioned.

The second approach is much more interesting.

Art director: I think so too. Let’s suggest it to the client.

Preparing a presentation with four concepts.

The client likes a couple of the variants, but he doesn’t see how the tiles would look next to the chosen wood texture. The thing to consider here is that our tiles will be used on a small segment, not to cover the entire wall. Making the sketches to see what it would look like.

The client likes two ornaments, Malachite and Moon, but still has his doubts and asks to produce pictures showing the tiles arranged differently.

Due to production limitations, we have to find a suitable texture for the pattern instead of going with a simple two-colored drawing. The designer chooses the marble texture which will be used both on the background and the foreground of the drawing, imitating incrustation.

Art director: OK.

The client chooses the Malachite concept but asks to make a less contrasting variant of the texture due to the negative reviews of our sketch he received from regional sales managers.

Maybe, we keep the marble texture but replace black with gray?

Or use an agate texture instead?

Showing the gray marble to the client.

The client sends the sketches over to the partners in different cities to get feedback.

After reading the reviews, the designer comes to a conclusion:

“The reviews are bad, of course, from the point that these tiles will probably not sell well. But then again, they can be seen as positive in terms of the task we were given. A couple of people commented that the design is bold, extravagant and looks expensive. And that’s what we were asked to do, to create a design that will bring the company up to the next level. This is why I think we have met the challenge, and the client is simply having doubts about a daring solution, which is normal.”

To convince the client to accept the design, the designer uses foam board to create life-sized mock-ups of the tiles and assemble a small panel.

Creating convincing sketches of the tiles used in real life.

The client truly likes how the design looks in real life, but is still doubtful. He decides to hold a survey, for which we need to prepare pictures based on a template.

And the designer can’t wait to get the marble texture in high resolution, apply it to the design and send it to production.