At Crossville, we work daily with architects, designers, installers, and professionals throughout the design community. Through these professional partnerships, we are able to collaborate and gain firsthand insights that help us develop creative solutions, leading edge products, and targeted messaging and inspiration that truly connect with key audiences.
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Case in point: Our connection with Gina Vanarelli, a Garden State Tile architectural and commercial sales representative, recently inspired a tile design and room scene for our new Swatches Wall Tile Collection. Gina shared her vision and idea that resulted in us producing a hotel lobby room scene that features a very inventive pattern using contrasting colors from Swatches. The photo is already drawing lots of attention thanks to Gina’s great eye and knowledge of what the commercial design market wants.
Let’s learn a little more about Gina and her love of tile.
Tell us about your career path. How did you end up in the tile industry?
I started out studying interior design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. I loved it! I lived, ate, and breathed design. Life then gave me a small surprise and blessing where I took some time off from school to raise my daughter. I still wanted to be part of the design industry at that time even if it was on the other side of it and I never looked back!
What do you love most about tile for design and technical performance?
While working in a showroom where multiple surfaces were sold, I fell in love with tile! I was actually known as the “tile queen!” Tile has been the most fashionable surface to date. As styles have continued to evolve through the years, tile has continued to not only keep up with but also be ahead of today’s trends becoming an inspiration to other finishes. These are the reasons as to why tile has become one of the most sought out surfaces when clients are looking for durability all while shaping innovative, fun and inspirational experiences that are part of our environments today.
Let’s talk tile trends! What are current and upcoming colors, looks, and applications?
Upcoming trends I have been seeing in our field are bright bold colors and geometric shapes for walls. For floors, I have seen a popularity of using more neutral color palettes with subtle movements inspired by nature known as biomimicry. All these trends tend to have a beautiful balance of nature inspired colors while adding pops of bold fun colors and, of course, shapes!
What are the top three things clients should prioritize when specifying tile?
My top three things for clients to prioritize are quality, visual style, and format to suit your space (think proportion and ratio).
Tell us about one of your favorite projects that incorporated Crossville tile.
One of my favorite projects that incorporated Crossville was one educational project that Crossville did a case study on using Filo porcelain tile panels. This project represented to me the type of relationship I have been able to build with my firm and just demonstrated how we not only have become resources to them but also how much trust they put in myself, Garden State Tile, and Crossville to be able to execute their creative ideas into real life.
What is your take on working with Crossville?
Working with Crossville has been a true honor as they always ensure that I have all the tools and resources necessary to be able to go out there and not only educate the A&D community but also inspire them with Crossville’s latest products and design ideas. I am also very proud to work alongside a company that prioritizes sustainability alongside with creative solutions, so together we can design for life!
