Guest Commentary. . . Spotlight on Monocibec's Mono Tile

Robert Grillo of Robert Grillo Creative (and Strange Closets friend and logo designer), will be doing occasional guest commentary on the world of design. Today, he writes about one of his favorite tile lines, a heavy-duty commercial grade porcelain floor tile from Italian manufacturer, Monocibec's Mono collection (you can find it at Tileworks in Chicago). Instead of using the tile on the floor, Robert used it as his kitchen back splash (you may recognize it from the recent Strange Closets Open House photo tour of his West Andersonville gut rehab.) So, without further adieu, it's over to Robert Grillo:



"For me the Mono tile line is a fascinating play on a primitive-modern dynamic. On the one hand the dot pattern mimics ancient forms of calligraphy, more specifically accounting practices that used a similar dot pattern inscribed in stone tablets. On the other hand, it makes me think of data streams, streams of light or Pacman. I know the last one is a stretch but I do have a vivid imagination. The other cool feature of this tile is that the dots are actually inlaid with some kind of metallic ink or substance, while the surface of the tile itself is matte. What's kind of amazing about this tile is that it looks so different in different light and different settings.

From a distance and when the light shines on it from an angle, the tile in my kitchen looks like corrugated metal. Up close, you can actually see a crackle pattern with brown behind the bluethat is never seen just a few feet away. It resembles the fine crackle you see in Chinese porcelain. These photos were taken directly from Monocibec 's catalog, and I love the 'film noir' style."

Thanks Robert. And if you have ideas about design, please contact me. I'm always looking for contributors to Strange Closets.