Journey’s End. Coming to the end of a week-long visit to the Japan exploring the factories, traditions and uses of tiles in Japanese architecture and design, the Artedomus team is invigorated and excited to bring what they’ve seen and discovered back home to Australia.
“We’ve come to the end of our trip here in Japan, we’ve visited lots of factories, we’ve seen some really interesting buildings custom tiles that were made by INAX, extruded tiles, pressed tiles and glazing, we’ve looked at the history of INAX and the history of ceramics and how they’re intwined in Japanese culture,” reflects Yassaman Bahar, Artedomus Melbourne senior sales.
“Japan has become a big part of our lives professionally and personally,” says Phil Brenton, Artedomus managing director. “It’s been fascinating to take people who haven’t seen this type of operation before to see these ceramic factories and see the things that we have found fascinating for a very long time.” For Matthew Croll, Artedomus Sydney sales manager, who always considered himself more focused on stone, the experience of travelling to Japan and witnessing the vast array of ceramics reinforced the unique benefits of tiles. “The ceramic world that is Japan and INAX, it’s effectively like making stone – a product that’s in fact even harder than a lot of stone, more durable, more refined.”
Above all, the visit to Japan exemplifies Artedomus’ driving belief in to not simply selling customers a product, but to educate them in the stories, traditions and practices that make the tile unique and high quality. as well as bringing back knowledge about some of the applications of tiles and ceramics in Japan that are not yet widespread in Australia. “To be able to do that for architects and designers, it builds that ongoing trust,” says Yassaman.
“Every visit we end up finding something that we didn’t know that we needed and that we didn’t know that designers in Australia needed and we end up taking it into our range and bringing it home with us to start using in projects in Australia,” says Phil. With the journey now complete, the next phase will be of enjoying introducing these new products into the Australian design industry.