Last semester, students in Professor Kathryn Albright’s first-year lab were tasked with the creation of clay tiles. We spoke with a group of students to understand their design inspiration and their favorite part of the process.

“My design was inspired by the challenge of intersections and interruptions in roads that can produce traffic. The outside of Newman Library inspired my tile at the beginning, but everything else moving forward was based on the principles used to design the city of Brasilia, by famous architect Oscar Niemeyer.

My favorite part of the design process was getting feedback from my classmates when we reviewed each other's progress. Because everyone was following different principles to design their tiles, it is hard to tell that some tiles came from the same studio.”
- Eduardo Lopez Ramirez (Image 1)

“When choosing which image to tile, I was drawn towards round and organic shapes instead of angular rigid ones. I wanted to challenge myself to connect the flowing lines into a complex circulation system. My original photograph for the tile was an image of the handle from my Owala bottle.

My favorite part of the process was choosing the glaze. There were just so many options to choose from, and each would have brought out a different quality in my tiles. Ultimately, I ended up glazing with a blue and then a Caribbean color on top before wiping the edges away to bring out the relief design.”
- Kate Rotolo (Image 2)

“The inspiration for my design was actually the corner of the vent in my dorm room, I thought the lines could be used for a strong tile pattern.

My favorite part of the design process was getting to experiment with a material I probably wouldn't work with otherwise and have something really polished come out by the end of it.”
- Kayla Jackson (Image 3)

“My design was inspired by the challenge of intersections and interruptions in roads that can produce traffic. The outside of Newman Library inspired my tile at the beginning, but everything else moving forward was based on the principles used to design the city of Brasilia, by famous architect Oscar Niemeyer. My favorite part of the design process was getting feedback from my classmates when we reviewed each other's progress. Because everyone was following different principles to design their tiles, it is hard to tell that some tiles came from the same studio.” - Eduardo Lopez Ramirez (Image 1)

“My design was inspired by the challenge of intersections and interruptions in roads that can produce traffic. The outside of Newman Library inspired my tile at the beginning, but everything else moving forward was based on the principles used to design the city of Brasilia, by famous architect Oscar Niemeyer. My favorite part of the design process was getting feedback from my classmates when we reviewed each other's progress. Because everyone was following different principles to design their tiles, it is hard to tell that some tiles came from the same studio.” - Eduardo Lopez Ramirez (Image 1)
Loading player for https://video.vt.edu/media/Eduardo+Lopez+Ramirez+Tile/1_314vdnkt...

“When choosing which image to tile, I was drawn towards round and organic shapes instead of angular rigid ones. I wanted to challenge myself to connect the flowing lines into a complex circulation system. My original photograph for the tile was an image of the handle from my Owala bottle. My favorite part of the process was choosing the glaze. There were just so many options to choose from, and each would have brought out a different quality in my tiles. Ultimately, I ended up glazing with a blue and then a Caribbean color on top before wiping the edges away to bring out the relief design.” - Kate Rotolo (Image 3)

“When choosing which image to tile, I was drawn towards round and organic shapes instead of angular rigid ones. I wanted to challenge myself to connect the flowing lines into a complex circulation system. My original photograph for the tile was an image of the handle from my Owala bottle. My favorite part of the process was choosing the glaze. There were just so many options to choose from, and each would have brought out a different quality in my tiles. Ultimately, I ended up glazing with a blue and then a Caribbean color on top before wiping the edges away to bring out the relief design.” - Kate Rotolo (Image 3)
Loading player for https://video.vt.edu/media/Kate+Rotolo+Tile/1_iopo7b7v...

“The inspiration for my design was actually the corner of the vent in my dorm room, I thought the lines could be used for a strong tile pattern. My favorite part of the design process was getting to experiment with a material I probably wouldn't work with otherwise and have something really polished come out by the end of it.” - Kayla Jackson (Image 5)

“The inspiration for my design was actually the corner of the vent in my dorm room, I thought the lines could be used for a strong tile pattern. My favorite part of the design process was getting to experiment with a material I probably wouldn't work with otherwise and have something really polished come out by the end of it.” - Kayla Jackson (Image 5)
Loading player for https://video.vt.edu/media/Kayla+Jackson+Tile/1_knd6wf84...