Innovative technology and creative spirit are in the new Frame collection, developed by Ceramiche Refin in partnership with STUDIO FM Milano

Following years of important projects with the protagonists in design and architecture, DesignTaleStudio, Refin’s creative ceramic laboratory, has chosen to hand this new project to a team of professionals experienced in visual communication and graphics, a skill that, finally, is receiving the recognition it deserves in product design.

Hence, the collaboration on the Frame collection with STUDIO FM Milano, a Milan-based agency specialising in graphic design, corporate design and publishing, an agency that loves to experiment by combining architecture, design and art.

“Studio FM accepted Refin’s suggestion to re-interpret decorative ceramic using traditional techniques and the true worth of decoration,” Barbara Forni said. “Sassuolo has been the heart of a tradition in ceramic design for centuries and we thought it only normal that Refin’s idea was to re-evaluate the tradition of design. Having applied a two-dimensional design – the prerogative of the graphic designer – to a three-dimensional object, to a “product”, that allowed us to work on projects and technologies that we were unfamiliar with, which was, therefore extremely interesting for us.“

In Frame, the graphic takes advantage of the most up-to-date ceramic technology to communicate via intricately decorated surfaces that take their inspiration from the material, objects and suggestions from the past, evolving into a new concept of ceramic paving.

It’s certainly not a return to the past, but a decisive surge forward towards the future that can continue to develop thanks to the deep-rooted merger between innovation, culture and creativity that has always feed the work of DesignTaleStudio.

“According to a classification of types as the project theme – Majolica / Geometric / Carpet / Weave, our FM Studio team has investigated various subjects, and, in relation to these 4 families, focussed the preliminary research towards traditional decors of majolica tiles of the nineteenth/twentieth century – then towards a historical decorative tradition ranging from modern decorations typical of the Bauhaus and Giò Ponti to the ancient Azulejos and the Shibori textile tradition. In planning the FRAME collection we took inspiration from traditional decorations that didn’t have much in common with each other, looking for new interpretations and introducing some new elements. In the case of Majolica, for example, we took a classic example apart and reinterpreted it in a contemporary way, introducing colour and size variations (from big to small). Moreover, REFIN’s innovative technology allowed us to print different versions of the same subject and combine them together to create an original and sophisticated “patchwork” effect with a strong decorative and commercial impact.”

Ceramic that is destined to be used as flooring in residential and public areas is enriched with a new language, that of graphics and visual communication, made by marks and shapes that give rhythm to the space. Graphic motifs mixed with avant-garde perspectives that become the elements of a dynamic pattern creating brand-new, countless combinations.

Ancient inspiration brought up-to-date to have a contemporary feel and to transmit the dynamism of shapes, light and material that establishes creativity as if it were a fusion of culture and technique to dress space with a never-before-seen creative flair.

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