Tile of the Year 2020 – Behind the scenes!

Our Tile of the Year Journey

When we first launched our Tile of the Year campaign back in 2017, we were stepping into uncharted territory. Taking influence from the likes of Pantone, we were the first company in the tile industry to nominate a ‘Tile of the Year’ based on upcoming interior trend predictions and oh boy! nobody could have prepared us for the overwhelming response that we’ve had from this campaign. From the press coverage right through to feedback from our customers, everyone has jumped on the Tile of the Year wagon, so this time around it was a natural progression to take the campaign to the next level.

Experts in their field, Jordan and Russell from 2LG Studio are a fountain of knowledge when it comes to interior design and with their own original, audacious, colourful style – a collaboration between Original Style and 2LG Studio was a natural pairing. Furthermore, when we first saw ‘Deco Tayberry’ fresh out of our kilns, the berry pink and arch formations screamed ‘2LG!’ and so our campaign for ‘Tile of the Year 2020’ was born.

The preceding months saw a plethora of activity from set designs to video shoots and working with Jordan and Russell has been so much fun! Being involved in the duo’s creative process has been wonderfully inspiring and by pushing the design boundaries with our Deco Tayberry they were able to showcase the beautiful, artisanal elements of this handcrafted tile in conjunction with contemporary influences.

Designing the hero shot for the campaign, Jordan and Russell worked closely with our photography studio to create the below set. Through embedding the tiles into an arch formation, the bathroom décor mimicked the art-deco inspired curves in Deco Tayberry’s design and by incorporating accessories with matt finishes, such as with the sink from Kast Concrete Basins, the planter bench from MADE.com and the striking wall lights from Spark & Bell, the tiles glossy glaze was accentuated. The finished article was truly stunning and it’s energising to see a peripheral interpretation when it comes to styling Deco Tayberry.

Handcrafted in Devon

Part of our Winchester tile collection, Deco Tayberry is traditional in terms of how it’s manufactured but its sophisticated colourway and art-deco design brings the tile into a more contemporary realm – the epitome of the ‘New Heritage’ trend (more on this later…). If you’re wondering who the brain behind our gorgeous Deco Tayberry is, meet Jane Addis - our New Products & Design Manager. It’s because of Jane and her talented design and production team that we’re able to bring you exclusive products that are ahead of the trend curve and provide a tile choice that’s out of the ordinary.

Alongside all other products in our Winchester collection, creating Deco Tayberry from concept to production is a timely process. First and foremost, a significant amount of trend research is undertaken to understand design movements before moving onto pattern design which typically involves hand-drawing or painting alongside digital illustration. What follows after this is dependent on the tile design and format, but in the case of Deco Tayberry, these tiles are created using an age-old screen printing method where inks are transferred onto the tile in the desired templated pattern before being glazed and transferred to the kiln. The inks in the pattern are reactive and so each kiln produces a different kind of effect, so each tile is truly a miniature work of art with its own character – no two tiles are the same – how wonderful is that?!

Shooting our Tile of the Year 2020 Launch Video

A beautiful summer’s day in August saw the Original Style marketing team take the trip up to London from their offices in Exeter, Devon to shoot the Tile of the Year 2020 announcement with 2LG Studio. Taking over our tile showroom in Clerkenwell, over 100 Deco Tayberry tiles were in situ alongside various props from MADE.com as well as a film and photography crew – the showroom was bustling with enthusiasm and creativity.

Jordan and Russell, as anticipated, were a joy to work with and their love for Deco Tayberry shone through. Discussing its design, upcoming trends and various ways to use Deco Tayberry within a home, the video provided the tile with the attention that it deserves and 2LG were the perfect duo to endorse this gorgeous product.

So, there we go! We hope you enjoyed seeing a snippet of the action ‘behind the scenes’ of our Tile of the Year 2020 campaign. We had such a great time working with 2LG Studio and we’re absolutely thrilled with the response to Deco Tayberry to date. Here’s to Tile of the Year 2021! We wonder what it will be…