The 70’s and contemporary tile don’t often go in the same sentence unless you are Cat (Catherine) Braconnier. Montreal designer and artistic director since 2004 for Ciot, a wholesaler and distributor. Cat has brought back the 70’s in a good way through her newest line, and one of Statement’s newest ceramic tile lines, Tonic. The edgy patterns and colors are reminiscent of the 70’s but still have the smooth lines and contemporary modern feel the design community craves. The official Tonic launch took place at the, world-renowned Cersaie International Exhibition of Ceramic Tile and Bathroom Furnishings in Bologna, Italy in October of ‘07.

Although Cat sees her line in the typical residential applications she would also love to see it be used more architecturally for instance a dining room wall. Commercially she sees it being used in hotels, restaurants, office bathrooms and spas. With her thoughts of commercial use she would one day love to walk into a boutique hotel in Seattle and find her tile in the bathroom. She feels, “….Tonic’s low relief creates both a visual and tactile aesthetic.”

Cat’s inspiration for Tonic was obviously from the 70’s but why? She says the patterns, music, textures and colors really appealed to her. She also noticed the 70’s are a major influence in today’s fashion and it is this blending of fashion and design that she wanted to bring to the MUDtile vision. Another way of blending design and fashion was the assurance that within the warm color scheme all the colors mix and matched together like an outfit. Out of the seven colors in the Tonic line Statements will stock the white, grey and chocolate in a 10×20 plane rectified wall tile, 10×20 raised deco and a ½x10 coprisilo (quarter round) and a poly decoro in white. Tonic will join the ranks of existing Statements lines such as Solid.