Dezeen promotion: the latest porcelain tile collection from Italian manufacturer Ceramiche Refin features patterns based on textured cement finishes.
Launching this month, tiles in the Craft range display the types of marks, strokes and shadows found on architectural surfaces rendered by hand.
"Inspired by hand-applied cement surfaces, the tiles have a non-uniform appearance, suggestive of an artisanal origin, rather than an industrial process," said the brand, which has been producing tiles in northern Italy since 1962.

To inform the surface patterns, Refin's in-house team studied the craft techniques and the nature of the cement material from a variety of sources.
Using this research, the designers created prints that evoke the same effects. "The surfaces of the ceramic tiles feature a variety of tonal differences from light to dark, as well as sweeping brush strokes and tool marks characteristic of hand-applied materials," said Refin.

The tiles are available in a variety of sizes. Larger formats for public spaces and facades measure 120 by 240 centimetres and 120 and 120 centimetres, while versions at 60 by 120 centimetres, 60 by 60 centimetres and 30 and 60 centimetres are designed for smaller areas and residential projects.
Four colour options ranging from light to dark include Rice, Tan, Cloud and Fog.
Refin's grés porcelain tiles are vitrified ? compacted with a hydraulic press and fired in a kiln so they have a low porosity. This makes them re...