Project: Tile By Design

Dal-Tile, North America's largest ceramic tile manufacturer, main focus was directed to commercial design professionals and builders. They lacked a consumer orientated product catalog and needed one to help promote their product line directly to residential customers.

Our research showed that residential consumers wanted a simple way to select ceramic tiles without help from design professionals. They also complained that commercial catalogs were too confusing for making tile selections.

Tile manufacturers have always grouped product lines by series in their sales literature. Our researched revealed that consumers found it difficult to make color selections by going back and forth through catalogs while trying to select the "color" they wanted. We came up with a system of grouping tiles by color tones and not by product series. By grouping colors by tones consumers could see the entire palette of a color in one place making their selection process easier.

We designed the catalog to feature four new room sets and six vignettes to illustrate how the color tone system works. The catalog uses a "consumer home magazine" design with featured articles on how to decorate a room using the new system. Helpful designer tips and suggestions were also provided through out the book. The catalog was a great success and was well received by customers in the marketplace.