Erin’s Picks September 2020 | To Cut or Not to Cut

…That is the Question

Happy Fall Everyone!

I’m excited for Fall and Halloween. I may or may not have started decorating my apartment two weeks ago! I’m carving pumpkins with my 2 yo niece and 5 yo nephew in a couple weeks and I’m gathering some inspiration on Pinterest. I’m considering painting this year vs. carving. When carving I usually pick complex designs that take me hours to carve and lead to a very sore hand, plus young children and mini saws aren’t the best combo. I think they would enjoy painting too!

PUMPKINS | TO CARVE OR PAINT? 

This got me to thinking about a Design Services project I was working on the other day that was using Cotto Medley hexagons, do I cut or not cut the hexagons? 

HEXAGONS | TO CUT OR NOT TO CUT 

Let me give you a little background… our designer was inspired by this image of Cotto Medley Mix surrounded by a solid border. At first glance, you would think, yeah this looks great, but what happens when you start adding other design elements, like soffits and ceiling elements that relate to this border and inset. What do you do then?

And that got me thinking…

1. Do we cut a straight edge on the hexagon and create a crisp line between the border and the mix, that mirrors the same straight line in the ceiling?
2. Or, do we leave the geometry and angular edge of the hexagon as is and let that contrast against the ceiling line?
3. Here’s another monkey wrench, what if the ceiling lines are diagonal and not perpendicular, what do you do then? The geometry of hexagons does not play well with 45 degree angles, so how do you address that?
4. We haven’t even touched cutting these hexagons. Cutting the solid color hexagons and the patterned hexagons would definitely incur more cost as far as labor is concerned…
5. Or maybe you just cut the pattern hexagons at the inset and transition to a solid color 8×8 from Cotto Medley.

It is surprising how many different things there are to take into consideration when designing with unique tile geometries. And what is crazier, is that this is just one material in a space that can have 50+ other materials and design elements. It’s impressive and daunting what goes into designing a space, and we understand that at Creative Materials. This is the reason we have services, like Quality Assurance and Design Services, to think through the options and challenges that can arise with your designs.

So ‘Who you gonna call?’ Ghostbusters Creative Materials! We can take a look at your design idea and help you make it a reality.

(Sorry!! I had to with the Ghostbusters line, it’s my favorite movie 😉 )  

PATTERNS |  SMALL OR LARGE SCALE DESIGNS 

Another idea that came into play with this project is pattern scale in proportion to the space. The space we’re working on is quite large and the pattern mix is quite busy in the large area. Another great option with Cotto Medley are the 8×8 patterns. You can select whatever design you like and create these enlarged patterns by simply clustering (4) or more tiles together. This is a simple and easy way to enlarge the scale of your patterns.

Now, this doesn’t work with every collection because some patterns only come in mixes, but if you like this idea and want to explore it with another collection, please check out our Catalonia or Distinction collections… or the Product Sourcing department at Creative Materials can help find an option.

If you would like to explore some pattern ideas or pattern scale, our Design Services department is here to help! We can create rendered tile pattern layouts based on your inspiration. Please contact your Architectural Sales Consultant to get started.

Have a Happy Halloween!

Until next time…

E