Specialty Tile

When something is given the label “speciality”, there should be good reason. At Tile Artisans, we have faith that our speciality tiles are more than deserving of their name. From religious tile murals to custom wall murals, to pool murals, our tiles are something special.

What Makes Our Speciality Tiles so Special?

We manufacture a very high quality product. We produce images on tile using a custom-built, computerized, kiln fired process. The base tile is a quality tile that must be able to withstand being fire to temperatures of 1650 °F, 900 °C. This temperature ensures the fired tile is durable and long lasting but is also integral to the image transfer process. Unlike the methods used by other custom tile manufacturers such as dye sublimation, we use digital transfer to make our tile art. The kiln-fired transfer produces an image that is fused onto the tile and gives it qualities and conditions that make it superior to other manufacturing methods. Our process produces tiles that:

• Are resistant to extremes of weather conditions; both hot and cold
• Bear an image that is fade-proof – forever
• Will not peel or crack
• Are scratch resistant
• Can be wiped clean of any graffiti

Although durability and longevity are an important factor, it is really the image quality that stands out which makes our murals on tile an excellent choice for any corporate, public, or residential installation.

What Images Can Be Used?

Essentially, we can transfer any image from original art work onto our tiles. Obviously, the better the original image, the better the result will be, but we can transfer anything including:

• Company names
• Company logos
• Quotes
• Photographs
• Digitally produced designs
• Copies of original paintings

We want our artwork on tile to abide by US copyright laws, so we place the responsibility on our customer to ensure they do the same, and that they ensure that they own the copyright of the image provided to us, have the owner’s permission to use the image, or it is an image free of copyright.

The refinement of our process means that any size original artwork can be provided to us and we can blow it up to any size without loss of color or integrity. Our ceramic tile murals can be any size from individually patterned Talavera tiles to large wall murals and floor tile murals.

What Are the Uses of Specialty Tiles?

The beauty and longevity of our tile art has already been demonstrated, but all their special features also enable the tiles to be installed in exterior and interior applications. The range and depth of types of custom tile murals is far from limited and they can be used in public places, federal buildings, public buildings, corporate premises, and residential homes. Tile murals can be personal to the company, organization or homeowner, or something that “speaks” to the public.

Their qualities also make them a value for money work of art. After the initial installation costs, there is very little maintenance and they do not depreciate through age, fading, or deterioration. As a business decision, the ROI is excellent and for a homeowner, ceramic tile murals may not add monetary value to your property, but most certainly will add to its aesthetic appeal.

Tile art is an interesting way of signposting a building, bringing a brand or logo into architecture in a more permanent way than a neon sign or a fascia, or simply adding decoration and interest to a building. You can choose a design that fits with any type of architecture – antique, modern, historic and that fits with any home decoration theme. Hotel lobbies, municipal pools, corporate headquarters, government offices, and shopping malls are all ideal for ceramic tile murals or tile floor murals. The latter offer a hard-wearing solution to areas of heavy footfall, and as well as our assurances as a reputable custom tile manufacturer, we also offer guarantees and warranties.

One of the major considerations of public installations – particularly those that are designed to be works of art, memorials, preserved historical installations, or commemorative pieces – is the issue of vandalism. Our specialty tiles are hard to damage, and graffiti can be removed with a fair degree of ease without any detriment or loss of quality to the images on the attacked tiles.

How Does the Process Work?

We operate a streamlined process as follows:

• You provide an idea of the image and advise of size required along with individual tile size.

• We provide a quote and proposal

• Upon acceptance of the quote, we produce a digital proof that you can revise for tile size, for example, if grout lines are distorting the image

• Once the proof is approved, we manufacture your tiles.

• Each tile is marked with a column and row number to enable installation.

After installation, maintenance is minimal, but rest assured that your tile art will retain the same immaculate appearance for many years to come.