Botanical: While floral designs have been around since decorative tile was invented, botanical is a new trend that reflects two movements in the design industry.  The first is a focus on health and wellness and the incorporation of the natural world into interiors. Meanwhile, the influence of tropical modernism has seeped into interiors and product design, which can be seen the  abundance of palm, cacti and other flora-inspired patterns.

Collections include Wide & Style by ABK, Verde Verticale by Ceramica Francesco de Maio, Abitare la Terra by Cerasarda, Dream by Fondovalle, Pulse by Keope, Botanical Tale by Mosaico+, Overlay by Refin, Natural by Roberto Cavalli Home Luxury Tiles, Incipit by Valentino by Ceramiche Piemme and Decorandum by Vallelunga.

Deconstructed: Tile companies are constantly seeking new ways to add movement and volume to the flat surface, whether by texture, pattern, or tromp l’oiel effect. Deconstructed is the most recent example, featuring a breakdown and reconstruction of shapes that transcend the traditional rectilinear format of a tile. Many of these collections are created by designers known for their eclectic approach like Studiopepe and Paola Navone; and range from kaleidoscopic patterns and floating geometric shapes to fragments of seemingly broken tile.

Collections include Studios of Casamood by Casa Dolce Casa, Shades by Casalgrande Padana, Corrispondenza and Palladiana by Ceramica Bardelli, Fragments by Ceramiche Piemme, Bonbon by Decoratori Bassanesi, I Cocci by Fioranese, Metafisico by Ornamenta and Vanguard by Pastorelli.

Earth Tones: Drawing their main inspiration from natural elements, a wide range of Italian tiles fall into this theme.  Colour palettes range from dirt, clay and sand inspired browns; forest, moss and grass-like greens; red and golden tones reminiscent of the sun; and shades of blue to evoke an oceanic feel.  This trend has become popular partially due to a revival of 1970s style, along with a greater focus on mother nature and its ability to create a sense of natural serenity.

Collections include Wide & Style by ABK, Corrispondenza by Ceramica Bardelli, Frammenti by Ceramica Rondine, Terre Vietrese by Ceramica Vietri Antico, Graph by Ceramica Vogue, Omni-Touch by Edilcuoghi, Cozy by Flaviker, Res Art by Fondovalle, Bleecker by Marca Corona, Lamelle by Ornamenta, and Geomat by Tonalite.

Globalism: Designers and brands frequently look to other cultures for inspiration, which are exemplified in some 2018 tile introductions.  For Marazzi’s Grand Carpet collection, Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel turned to the orient to create large ceramic slabs enhanced with the tactility of oriental carpets, Indian temporary ritual tattoos and the Kolam tradition of ephemeral rice floor decorations. Meanwhile, LaFaenza was inspired by a specific cave in Slovenia to create the Radika collection and Imola’s Koala is a doppelganger for eucalyptus wood, typically native to Australia.

Additional collections include Frenchmood by Ceramiche Supergres, Brooklyn by Fap, Greek by Gardenia Orchidea, Sicily by Imola, 65 parallelo and W.Zone by Leonardo, Vienna by Unica and Seamless by Unicom Starker.

New Typologies: While some companies recreate the look of wood or stone to an impressive degree of realism, others mix different materials or handpick certain characteristics to form a whole new typology.  This fusion of material-looks and themes result in a surreal, imaginative interpretation of tile and a potential new language for interior design.  For Nextone, Lea Ceramiche combined stones from four different quarries; while Sicis’ new iteration of Vetrite infuses marble designs with metallic veins to create unique materials that can’t be found in nature.

Additional collections include Marmo Mix by 14oraitaliana, Essential by Astor, Horizon by Ceramica Panaria, Gems by Isla, Conkreta by LaFaenza, and Square by Settecento.

Nostalgia: People often look to design for an escape and in this current political climate it is unsurprising that companies are turning to the past to bring people a euphoric boost.  For their third comic-inspired collection, Del Conca recreates the feminist world of Guido Crepax on ceramic tile with his 1960s comic-strip heroine, Valentina.

Meanwhile, other companies were inspired by simpler times, using square formats, candy colours and retro patterns reminiscent of the 1950s, like Happy Days by Cevi, and Confetti designed by Marcante-Testa for Ceramica Vogue. Additional collections include Wide & Style by ABK, Metrica by Appiani, Blu Ponti by Ceramica Francesco da Maio, Cementine Boho by Fioranese, Swing by Petracer, Aquarel by Tonalite and Vienna by Unica.

Painterly: Everywhere you look there is an overarching softness and romanticism in the design world with gentle curves, washes of colour and the unmistakable touch of an artist’s hand. Tile is no exception with 2018 collections featuring hand painted patterns, sketches and illustrations, marbled effects and watercolor designs. Standout ranges include Pad by Patrick Norguet for Lea Ceramiche whose irregular lines and delicate shades create a soft, sensual effect, and Corrispondenza by Dimore Studio for Ceramica Bardelli whose hand-painted decors create a polychromatic kaleidoscope of soft tones.

Other collections include Wide & Style by ABK, Verde Verticale by Ceramica Francesco de Maio, To Be by Cercom, Paintwash by Elios, SpazioChiaroScuro by Litokol, Manifesto by Ornamenta, Sketches by Settecento and Kora by Unica.

Pastels: Moving beyond the celebrity of millennial pink, shades of blush, lavender, sea green and pale yellow can be found in dozens of floor and wall tiles.  Less saturated than primary colours, pastels create a light, soft and calming effect, which dovetails with a few other trends from this year from Painterly to Nostalgia.

Collections include Mek by Atlas Concorde, Palladiana by Ceramica Bardelli, Confetti by Ceramica Vogue, I Filati by Ceramiche Brennero, Colorline by Fap, Slash by Imola, Chalk by Marca Corona, FineArt by Sant’Agostino and Nurburgring by Tonino

Concrete-effect tiles:  Concrete-effect floor and walls tiles cemented their position as one of the dominant trends in ceramic tiles around five years ago.  Although minimalist, masculine, urban-edged, cement-coloured floor tiles have been a feature for some years, 2013 was when manufacturers truly started to explore the softer side of concrete tiles, aiming more towards the residential market with what had been, up until then, a product strand that for commercial and retail applications. 

These more feminine concrete-effect tiles offered greater variety, both in tone and texture.  The outcome was a plethora of distressed-faced tiles, chalky-look stucco effects, aged care-worn decors, fresh neutral greys of different intensity, greys with hints of blue and green, polished and semi-polished surface treatments (often combined); and narrow plank formats with surfaces moulded to look like shuttered in-situ concrete, recalling 20th century Brutalist architecture.

Today manufacturers offer concrete-effect tiles of every shade, tone and texture imaginable: dark and light greys; grey with beige, blue and green hues; textured and smooth; plain and patterned.

There is no doubt that one of the drivers has been the growing popularity of the industrial/urban look in domestic settings.  Here, concrete is the obvious choice; but concrete-effect porcelain tiles provide a versatile, durable and lightweight alternative that can faithfully mimic this aesthetic.  Today, concrete-effect porcelain is favoured by many designers, due to its easy application and low running-maintenance costs.

And, with the growing availability of modular formats from 3,200 by 1,600mm down to 300 by 300mm, and everywhere in between, this modularity offers even more design flexibility.

As grey has overtaken beige as the go-to colour palette for tiles, this plays well for the cement-effect look, which is now offered in everything from an off white through to dramatic anthracite.

It should be noted, however, that with texture and overlaid tones adding surface sophistication to these now concrete-effect tiles, colour no longer the overriding factor when it comes to making a declaration of design intent.

And concrete-effect tiles have broadened to encapsulate spatulated plaster finishes, distressed stucco looks, aged hydraulic tile decors, concrete/timber and concrete/metal composites, and a whole host more concrete-inspired designs that take industrial chic in a variety of fresh directions.

Metro: The metro tile is a long-established tiling classic, and remains one tile format that continues to reinvent itself.  Now available in a wide variety of designs, colours and finishes, the metro tile is chameleon-like, adapting to its surroundings to create a multitude of different looks from rustic chic, through to industrial minimalism.  Plus, with the current trend for coloured grouts showing no signs of fading, the plain metro tile can be easily given a contemporary makeover.

Often called the ‘subway’ tile, the look and feel of the metro tile was inspired by the iconic walls of the London and New York underground in the early 20th century.  Today’s modern day metro is well suited to kitchen walls, delivering design impact while offering walls a durable, practical surface covering solution.

Classic white metro tiles with a handmade look and feel offer a timeless elegance, whilst monochrome shades of grey and black are still holding strong as some of the best sellers within metro collections. Bolder colours are being incorporated into design schemes, including vibrant jewel shades of blue and green.

Metallic metro tiles are also gaining momentum, featuring lustrous shades of silver, gold and pewter for a feminine take on the industrial look.

20mm porcelain pavers: On the external tiling front, most major manufacturers now offer 20mm exterior grade tiles in a range of slip-resistance finishes; suitable for both domestic and high traffic commercial applications.  The design options have increased, with wood-, concrete-, and stone-effect tiles, rubbing shoulders with some more decorative and unexpected options.  Overall, exterior tiling has truly come of age.

Once available almost exclusively 600 by 600mm formats, now there is a cornucopia of 400 by 800mm and 600 by 1,200mm pavers on offer, with some being cut to 300mm or 200mm planks. 

Terrazzo:  Terrazzo-effect tiles are the really hot ticket today. Some of the better versions used printed gloss glaze to pick out the chips (inclusions), just as happens in the original material.  If your preference is for uniform chips or multi-sized inclusions, there is a version offering the look you require.  Some of the most effective terrazzo designs feature some variation, with a mix of larger and smaller chips and an imperfect spacing or chip coverage across the tile’s face.

This reinvention of terrazzo, or the stracciatella look, has been gathering a head of steam for the past two years.  The early pacesetter was Peronda’s FS Ofelia collection, but there is now a plethora of strong terrazzo-effect ranges out there.  With digital decoration, tile designers can interpret terrazzo in many different ways.  As well as the classic look much favoured in UK supermarkets and Italian colonnades, today’s fragmented tile designs span the trencadis style through to surfaces peppered with miniscule particles, often referred to as ‘salt and pepper’.

The latest collections of ceramic tiles feature many variations of the stracciatella or conglomerate stone look; with any colour used as the base or for the inclusions themselves.  Digital decoration also allows the tile designer total freedom to play with different sizes of inserts, so a single range can include two or more different sizes of fragment, so designers can play with, and combine, different finishes in the same colour.

Cotto: Larger formats (600 by 600mm and up) are moving to a cleaner and more contemporary look and often have connotations of cement, especially when composed in grey or white tones.  For the more traditional looks, true to form with the macro trends, cotto-effect producers seem to be going to a more vintage, rather than weathered, look.  Broad variation in the more traditional cotto aesthetic proved effective, mainly due to the smaller formats adopted for this classic look, with the prevailing sizes being 200 by 200mm and 150 by 300mm.

Marble and other natural stone-effects: The addition of printed effects, metallic or mica flecks has really enhanced the realism of stone-effect tiles. Marble, quartzite and limestone, in that order, are the prevailing trends in this well-established design space.

Glossy marble-looks continue to be strong in subtle, classic stones like the ubiquitous white marble varietals.  In the whites, there seems to be a shift from the stark/dark veined Statuario in favour of softer and more diffused Calacatta or Macael options. The use of digitally and mechanically printed ‘effects’ overlays are deepening the marble looks and creating varying stratas of interest within these new collections. 

The use of sinking inks is especially effective in marbles.  With the addition of a separate channel to the design file, manufacturers can now print a texture onto the surface where this ink with sink down through the glaze and create a depression.  Often used to create depth and subtle shadow in the vein structure of the stone, this effect creates some of the most realistic, vintage marble looks ever seen.

There is also a small but striking trend toward rare or endangered stones in the high end collections.  Most of these are finding their way to the larger panel formats, often in book-match options.

Limestone & Quartzite: There has been a return to the classic French limestone look typical of the Basque region. These French limestones seem split between clean looks with a square edge and softly rusticated versions.  In a matt finish they tend to crowd the cotto/cement space but do very well when employing a granilla (dry frit); often with a lapatto finish.

Regarding slate and quartzite, today’s collections range from elegant and subtly varied Brazilian slates to a similar take on quartzite.  The looks are refined, with digitally applied gloss glaze in the clefts for the slates and mica flecks, subtle metallics and sugar glazes for the quartzites create layers of interest in these new ranges.

Wood:  In line with the softening in other design spaces, the same seems to be true of wood-effect planks.  This year saw a departure from heavily distressed timber towards a more subtle take on aging in the form of sand-blasted and hand-scraped looks.  One of the biggest trends in the wood planks space seems to be an ultra clean and minimal Scandinavian take on woods in soft, light tones.

Digitally printed effects, such as the application of gloss glazes to portions of the plank to mimic a natural aged patina or simply picking out the raised grains in the more structured sandblasted looks, have rasied the wood-effect design bar.

3D forms:  Architectural and decorative wall cladding collections continue to boom in the space of heavily structured ceramics.  With multiple directions being followed, there is a suitable dimensional cladding option for any design language; the most prevalent being small format geometrics in white, black and metallic.  These ranges are a perfect accent for the plank format in traditional ceramic, wood, stone or metal.

Dynamic design:  Pop Job, a striking collection created for Mirage by Studio Job, has almost no imitations in the ceramic sector, and explores an alternative graphic, coloured and provocative style.

The colour range includes six colours characterised by neutral and pastel tones.  The shiny, smooth surface is obtained through the innovative ‘twin-surface’ technique, which involves the use of thick glass applied on porcelain stoneware surfaces through an absolutely innovative technology for an industrial material, ensuring unparalleled colour intensity.

There are seven shades available, ranging from more neutral tones such as white, beige, grey and black, to more vibrant colours such as green, pink and blue. The Pop Job floor tile formats are 144 by 579 and 144 by 297, 200 by 1,200mm; with 144 by 297mm wall tiles.  Additional detailing is provided by frame, angolo, listello and inserto pieces in the base colours.