Impervious to water and stains, frost proof, resistant to fading, discolouration and chemical damage, and highly durable, Trend custom glass mosaics are ideal for building facades, reception areas, upscale restaurants, decorative panels in public rooms and for swimming pool surrounds, with scope for reproducing symbols, logos and crests adding to their design potential. In the home, glass tiled kitchen splashbacks, alcove features, showers, wetrooms and outdoor water features spring to mind.

Glass mosaic artworks date back as far as 2500BC and were first popularised for interior décor in the late 19th century, Trend contributing directly to this new design direction through its historic Orsoni furnace. Now the Italian tilemaker is marrying modern technology with an age-old decorative form, creating limitless opportunities for customised mosaics, from feature panels to complete interior and exterior installations. It is also extending this customised theme to its distinctive Shading Blends and exclusive Wallpaper Collection, enabling original studio designs to be recoloured to match client requirements.

To create what Trend terms 'an artistic elaboration', the studio needs a jpeg, tiff, bitmap, painting or fabric sample, together with an AutoCad or DWG file or scale drawing providing the height, width and layout of the area to be covered. Trend's CAD software then arranges 1cm, 1.5cm or 2cm full-size tiles to replicate the original art source, calibrating for the scale and proportions of the installation. Where the design necessitates both geometric and organic forms, a combination of CAD and tessellatum hand-cutting techniques are used to recreate flowing lines and curves.

Trend has also created a series of customisable Shading Blends, featuring a progressive gradation of tile colours from light to dark, in both 1.5cm and 2cm square formats. Combining specific percentages of harmonious colours creates the different blends and these effects can be customised by varying the different tile percentages or even changing the basic colour choice.

There is similar scope for tailoring Trend's exclusive Wallpaper Collection, which combines the repeat pattern structure of classic wallcoverings with the tactile texture of hand-cut mosaic tiles. It comprises a choice of 64 patterns in four distinct design themes, each of which has three different colour interpretations, including a graphic monochrome rendition. The customising option allows any or all tile colours to be changed, creating an exclusive Wallpaper pattern, based around the original studio design.

Depending on size and format, Trend custom glass mosaics are supplied in film-faced or polyurethane web-based modules, with the tiles ready positioned for fixing direct to vertical or horizontal surfaces like a giant jigsaw. Delivery from initial receipt of artwork is typically around six weeks and prices are quoted per job.