Getting ready for the Surface Design Show 2013!

With little over four weeks to go before the Surface Design Show, we are busy sorting out our stand and it is coming together nicely!

The Surface Design Show is attended by architects, interior designers and decision makers looking for inspirational and innovative new products and solutions.

This is the first time Tiled Space have exhibited at the show and we are excited to be showcasing our new range of digitally printed enamel panels, alongside our wall and floor tiles. We hope to meet potential new clients with exciting projects to discuss!

The show is at the Business Design Centre in London and will be open from 5^th – 7^th February, see us on stand 286!

Christmas is just around the corner!

Yes it is that time of year again! Everyone is in good spirits here in the office Tiled Space with only a few days left at work before the Christmas break!

We recently had our Christmas office party at the Church Restaurant in Hanley, Stoke-n-Trent. It was great food and a fab night. I thought I would share with you a photo of a few of us before we looked too worse for wear! Hope you are all getting in the spirit of Christmas as well.

We will be closed from Friday 21^st December over Christmas and New Year until the 2nd January.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us, see you next year!!

BUG-ART BRINGS COMMUNITY TOGETHER & IMPROVES AREA

This is one of two Street Design Projects in Scotland, part of the “DIY Street” project in England. The DIY street project has been developed by charity Sustrans who bring together communities to improve their local areas with street art.

The Bug Walk on Katrine Crescent, Kirkcaldy in Scotland was inspired by the wishes to see “more nature, colour and fun in the area.” Artist Nicola Atkinson of NADFLY collaborated with pupils from Torbain & Fair Isle primary schools to create the bug drawings for this stairwell design.

When Nicola came to us to discuss this project we recommended she ordered vitrified tiles which are weatherproof, to keep the children’s art looking as good as it did the day it was installed!

Sustrans worked with Fife Council to improve this area in Kirkcaldy and the project successfully brought together the community to make the area more attractive for all of its residents. If you know of a similar project in your local area give us a call as we would love to get involved!

If you’re interested in other exterior projects we have been involved with, check out our website!

Top tips to make you exterior art last!

Now the weather is getting colder, the last thing you want is your barbeque patio tiles falling off the walls or cracking. So we thought a few quick tips on tiling outside spaces to give your exterior tiled feature art the longest life possible would be useful!

For all exterior projects we select fully vitrified ceramic tiles, which are weatherproof against all the elements, even frost! Vitrified tiles can also be used for swimming pools.

There’s little chance of much sun at the moment however when the sun does show its face there is no chance of fading as the images are UV resistant.

Our top three tips for installing tiles outside:

1. Use weatherproof adhesive
2. Use grout suitable for exterior use
3. Tell us the mural is for outside and we will use vitrified tiles!

If you have a project you would like to discuss, get in touch!

Mugtastic!

Le Bizz is a family run gift shop in the heart of West Kirby owned by Steve and Caroline Ramsay. Steve recently worked with a local artist, Jim Fleming, from Wirral to produce a range of mugs illustrating scenes of West Kirby. Steve then came to us to have the designs reproduced on mugs. Jim’s playful designs look great and they have translated onto ceramic really well, the colours are strong and vibrant, we think they make fab souvenirs for a trip to the seaside town!

More of Jim’s work can be seen on his website www.jimtheartist.co.uk.

Steve and Caroline’s shop on Banks Road in West Kirby regularly work with local artists producing digitally printed mugs, which quickly sell out. The joy of digital ceramics printing is order volumes can be quite small, great for collectable mugs like these!

Eat Like a King!

Look out for designer Alice Naylor and her  ’Eat Like a King’ set of plates. Digitally printed and decorated by hand by Digital Ceramics the parent company of Tiled Space, so we were excited when Alice let us know that her plates are featured in the Gourmet supplement of December’s House & Gardens!

The range of Eat My Hat Plates© were inspired by the quote ‘Eat Breakfast Like A King, Lunch Like a Prince and Dinner Like a Pauper.’ The clever design makes you question your portion sizes in a unique quirky way.

Visit Alice’s website at www.alicenaylor.co.uk for more info.

Goodbyes and Hellos!

Our lovely sales manager Clare Keegan has now left the Tiled Space team. Clare said her goodbyes yesterday and we will all miss her! She was only here 6 months but developed some great relationships with new customers. We wish her the best of luck for the future!

For the hellos, we welcome Mark Wood onto the team! Mark has survived his first week here and has thrown himself into the new position. Any ideas you have or projects you would like to discuss, Mark is more than happy to have a chat with you!

Happy Halloween!

Did you know we don’t just print onto tiles?!

We also print onto a wide range of ceramic products, including mugs, jugs, plates and plaques! In recent weeks we have been working with designers on a diverse range of mugs, from a range decorated with Rock music album covers from the 60’s and 70’s, to beautiful  silk scarf designs translated onto mugs for our own designer, Anna Benham.

You can visit Anna at The Spirit of Christmas Fair next week in Olympia, London. I recommend you pay Anna’s stand (B112) a visit and take a look at her stunning designs

We still print and decorate by hand in house here in Stoke-on-Trent, the heart of the Potteries. We try to keep ahead of the times, so with our patented digital printing technology, we are able to produce high resolution designs for small or large volumes at a low cost. This means designers can try out short runs with new ideas which helps test the market. If you have any ideas you want to chat through, call me.

To find out more and see what you could do, visit our sister brand Digital Ceramics at www.digitalceramics.com!

100%design was 100%exciting!

We had a great time at 100%Design show in London last week! We liked the tunnel of lights to get in to the show, the DJ pumping out the tunes, and the exciting new designs and products. We loved the Solus Ceramics stand with their Image range and were inspired by Objects in Glass, acrylic mosaics and acoustic panels as art. We met a great new designer Emma Britton and took a tour of the “Yo”home with Simon Woodruffe, who was wearing his trademark blue shoes.

All in all, smaller than we thought, some great ideas and the only bad thing was the £8 for the show brochure! See you at Grand Designs?