Did you know that… before tackling a new design project, it’s wise to ask yourself a few basic questions?

• What for? — USE
• For whom? — CLIENT
• Where? — LOCATION
• By when? — DELIVERY TIMEFRAME
• How much? — BUDGET
• The answers will lead you — to the what and the how

Thoughtful answers to these questions help ensure projects are carried out sensibly, aiming to be a coherent solution to market needs and to guarantee acceptance by the target audience. As a logical consequence, this should improve our chances of commercial success.

This is how we at VIVES Cerámica approach most of our new projects. Yet the world of design and aesthetics never ceases to surprise us, and outcomes are not always “by the numbers.”

On some occasions—knowingly—we at VIVES break those premises, taking on projects that, for one reason or another, seem risky and outside the market.

The most common arguments that should have made us give up on these more “original” projects are their complexity—which drives up costs—or an aesthetic that is, let’s say, “unusual,” not aligned with the dominant design trend at that moment.

We would like to showcase some works that, logically, should not have seen the light of day at the time because they were deemed excessively risky.

We are aware that those of you who are not veterans of the tile sector might look at these collections and think there is no reason to label them “eccentric”; for that reason we have included the year each design was launched.

Modern when decoration was traditional; traditional and vintage during the peak years of minimalism; patchworks when technology wasn’t yet up to par and it seemed downright crazy to combine different graphics into a single project; ceramic hydraulics when natural encaustic tiles had fallen out of use; porcelain terrazzo at a time when the general public did not value the product…

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Although perhaps not in every case, many of these designs—against all odds—were a great success: ahead of the curve and accepted naturally by many.

We certainly enjoyed creating them, and we are pleased to think they have been useful to creatives who needed distinctive aesthetics—and, of course, when we find these products featured in such attractive interior design projects.