INDUSTRY · DESIGN & SPECIALTY FINISHES
Specialty finish sourcing for design and fabrication
Design enquiries usually arrive as an effect rather than a product: a surface that disappears, a colour that moves as you walk past it, a metal that is not metal. The work is translating that into a material that exists, can be applied to the actual substrate, and can be bought in the quantity the project needs.
What designers and fabricators ask for
The requests repeat, and so do the things that derail them.
01 · THE BLACKEST POSSIBLE SURFACE
Light-absorbing and ultra-black finishes
A widely asked-for effect, and the one most surrounded by misinformation about what is obtainable and by whom. The ultra-black category sets out what these coatings do, how durable they are and what can realistically be sourced.
02 · COLOUR THAT MOVES
Interference, colour-shift and iridescent finishes
Specified by the travel — the two hues it moves between — rather than by a single colour, and heavily dependent on the base coat beneath. A specification naming one colour cannot describe them.
03 · THE SUBSTRATE IS NOT STEEL
Timber, plaster, polymer, textile, composite
Most effect materials are developed for one family of substrates. Telling us what the object is made of prevents a specification that cannot be applied to it.
04 · AN INSTALL DATE
Exhibition, launch or handover
Specialty materials are frequently made in campaigns. For a fixed opening date, lead time deserves to be in the first message rather than the last.
What to send with a design finish enquiry
1 · The effect you are after, described or shown
Images, a sample, or the two hues a shift should travel between. If the reference is a well-known finish, name it and we will say whether it is obtainable.
2 · The object and its substrate
What is being finished and what it is made of, including whether it is a prototype or a production run.
3 · Where it lives and who touches it
Indoor or outdoor, handled or not, cleaned how often. Several striking finishes are display materials and will not survive a public surface, and it is better to learn that now.
4 · Area or unit count, and who applies it
Square metres or number of pieces, and whether you have a coater or need something a fabricator can apply.
5 · The date and the destination
Install or handover date and delivery country, so lead time and shipping constraints are on the table from the start.
Frequent questions
Can you get the blackest paint available?
There are several distinct products in that space with very different availability, durability and licensing positions, and some of what circulates online about them is wrong. Tell us the object and where it lives and we will set out what is actually obtainable for it.
Will an effect finish survive outdoors?
Some will, many will not, and the data sheet rather than the photograph is the guide. We will tell you which category a material falls into before you specify it.
Can we get a sample to show a client?
Where the manufacturer offers a trial quantity we quote it separately. For effect finishes especially, a coated piece of the real substrate is worth more than any swatch.
Do you supply small quantities for a prototype?
Sometimes, depending on the material and the pack sizes that exist. Below a commercial quantity a specialist retailer is often faster, and we will say so rather than quote badly.
Can you recommend an applicator?
We source material rather than apply it. What we can do is tell you what the application demands, so you can judge whether your fabricator or coater is equipped for it.
Is there regulatory documentation for finishes used in interiors?
Yes, and for interior and public-space work it often decides the specification. Coatings placed on the EU market carry a CLP classification and a manufacturer safety data sheet, and many interior projects additionally require a reaction-to-fire or emissions declaration for the substrate and system. Tell us at the enquiry which declarations the project has to satisfy, so we investigate against them rather than around them.
DESIGN FINISH SOURCING
Describe the effect and the object
We translate it into a material that exists, works on your substrate and can be bought in the quantity the project needs.