Surfaces on Aluminum

Inspired by the interaction between illusion and reality, faux finishes on aluminum play with color, pattern and texture to create captivating experiences for your customer.  This collection of faux surfaces - ranging from distressed metal to stone - is a great illustration of how a brand can use decorative processes on aluminum to integrate custom finishes into metal trim or nameplates.

Replicate natural surfaces, fusing the finishes with inlaid accents and embossed details to support your brand image.  Woodgrain, carbon fiber, marble, patinaed metal and leather finishes rely on standard printing processes to imitate the surfaces on metal while harnessing the power of touch with printed textures and graining.  Highlights of the naturally reflective surface add to the depth.

Whether integrated into automotive interior trim, cosmetic appliqués or nameplates, our library of aluminum finishes includes a large selection of faux finishes to be customized to meet your needs. 

How would you integrate a one of these finishes into a decorative trim piece?  What type of finish would you use?  Are there other faux finishes you would like to see developed on aluminum?  Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

Request a disc collection to begin exploring the variety of finishes available for panels, overlays and decorative trim.

Pattern Development on Aluminum

Constantly working to explore the possibilities of aluminum as a decorative surface, we develop new surfaces to be integrated into decorative trim for automotive and appliance applications.  The finishes can also be applied to consumer electronics or nameplates.  They are the seed, the starting point for your creative exploration of the substrate. 

New Aluminum Finishes

Our latest venture on aluminum explored white-on-white accented with subtle metal details.  Careful layering of crisp whites, creams and ivories add depth to this clean palette.  Waves in water, ripples in sand and patterns of grasses are all inspiration for this airy white theme.  Structures are printed in translucent layers on aluminum contrasting the serene with the authentic metal surface.

White Out Mood Boards

The white finishes are brought together here in two new mood boards.  The mood boards combine aluminum finishes, text and photos to tell a story of soft organic structures.   

Find additional exploration of white finishes on aluminum on the following mood boards.

Pure | Aluminum Finishes
Beautifully sublime patterns and abstract designs with influences from nature.

Modern | Aluminum Finishes
Enamel white finishes layered with texture and aluminum details are cool and calm.

Request a disc collection to begin exploring the variety of finishes available for panels, overlays and decorative trim.

Carbon Fiber Patterns on Aluminum Trim

Carbon fiber finishes on aluminum are considered by designers of everything from automobiles and televisions to golf clubs and exercise equipment.  Over the years, we have developed a large palette of interpretations of carbon fiber on to aluminum.  One trait every one of the carbon fiber finishes has in common is movement.  Carbon fiber veneers are beautiful surfaces with movement and depth.  Carbon fiber finishes printed on aluminum capture movement in several ways.  Three options for adding depth to a carbon fiber finish are explored here.

1. Selective Brushing: a resist or mask is used to apply a brush selectively
2. Engine Turn: small overlapping spins catch light and your attention
3. Printed Texture: tightly spaced lines create movement with highlights

Selective Brushing

The number of possibilities are endless when you begin to consider variations in structure and color available to you in the design of a carbon fiber finish.  Layering of transparent inks combines with selective brushing to create an interactive surface with movement.

Engine Turn

Layering a printed carbon fiber finish over an engine turn finish disguises the engine turn.  The result is a surface with movement that is not recognizable as an engine turn.  The flash of the small overlapping spins is added to the carbon fiber finish.

Printed Texture

Texture adds another layer of dimension to carbon fiber finishes.  It can be combined with selective brushing or engine turn or used only with printing.

The choices in carbon fiber finishes are many.  How would you incorporate one of these surfaces into trim or a nameplate.  Would movement and depth be an important component of the finish?

Request samples of carbon fiber finishes on aluminum to see the movement available in these surfaces on aluminum.

The Lampshade Pattern

Ask anyone in our Design department about the lampshade pattern and this is the finish they will point you to.  The finish is featured on the Colored Darks mood board in our trend presentation.  It is another example of creative inspiration coming from just about anywhere.  The theme of this board is to play with shadow and light.  The finishes rely on layering and rich shadowy darks.  The aluminum patterns are dramatic, mysterious and veiled. 

How does this finish have anything to do with a lampshade?  It does in two ways.  First and foremost is the overall translucent effect.  The pattern takes advantage of the reflective metal surface with a layering of transparent tints of color.  The near black finish shifts in appearance from translucent blue to shadowy black.  Think of how light glows softly through a lamp shade.  This finish mimics this quality taking on an appearance of almost being lit from behind.

The structure itself is also inspired from an actual lamp shade.  The lamp shade served as a seed of inspiration, a starting point to launch into exploration.  Here is is interpreted into a midnight blue finish.  What if were printed in translucent off white or bronze?  This finish then becomes the starting point for additional exploration.  What further exploration would you do with this finish?

Request a sample of this finish to begin exploring the possibilities available to you in incorporating aluminum patterns into decorative trim.

Stainless Steel Alternative

The rich depth of traditional bronze sculptor is explored in this Whirlpool ice and water concept.  This bronze finish is an example of the chameleon-like quality of aluminum to be decorated in a variety of metal finishes.  Patinaed, antiqued and distressed surfaces on copper, bronze, titanium or brass are some of the possibilities.

Metal Clad Appliance Trim

Aluminum is decorated in the flat sheet using a combination of mechanical finishes, lithography, screen printing and roll coating.  The inks and topcoats are formulated to be flexible enough for the complex forms common in appliances, consumer products and automotive trim yet durable enough to meet the requirements of the environment.

This appliance trim concept incorporates two complementary bronze finishes into the design.  The outer frame of the ice and water dispenser incorporates layers of transparent inks on selective brushing to create an interactive surface with depth and movement.  The finish uses the aluminum in-mold process to create a robust trim piece.  The back wall of this design features a brushed aluminum with a transparent bronze tint of color.  The generous radius highlights the reflective quality of the metal.  This portion of the concept is mocked up in our prototype shop illustrating the potential for incorporating metal into the back wall.  This idea can be used to create a uniform aesthetic across the refrigerator or, as in this case, to incorporate complementary finishes for a refined look.

What type of product would you incorporate a bronze finish into?  How would you use the wide variety of finishes available on aluminum to upgrade the look of large appliance trim?  Request a disc collection to begin exploring the variety of finishes available for panels, overlays and decorative trim.