Liquid Metal Signs | Metalier Coatings
Liquid Metal Signs tick all the Metalier Boxes
Liquid Metal signs are one of the best ways to use all the design possibilities of Metalier Coatings. Also using Metalier Coatings for signage means you reap all the benefits that Metalier offers – not just for signwriters but for all Metalier specifiers.
Look at this list:
First: there is the huge number of metals and metal colour combinations that allow talented sign-writers’ design muses to run wild. You can match a metal to a customer’s brand colours or think up a whole new metal colour by mixing and playing with the basic metal range.
Second: you can texture, patina and rust signs for a unique and different look.
Third: Metalier liquid metal signs can be a fraction of the weight of the same sign in sheet or solid metal. Suitable substrates include acrylic and plastic. A light-weight sign means less stress on a building, less bracing and it’s a whole heap easier to install too.
Fourth: Metalier liquid metal goes round curves – think rounded lettering and graphic designs. There is just no limit to what you can do.
Fifth: Metalier liquid metal follows the indentations of the substrate. This means that you can router a logo in a reception desk, for example. The face of your business is this subtly reflected and reinforced. Create a wall of logos in a reception area. You can cut a design into the substrate or have it standing proud.
Sixth: Metalier liquid metal signs are cost-effective. It is much quicker, easier and cheaper to cut a sign from plastic or acrylic than it is to cut one from sheet metal.
It’s not only sign-writers who can benefit from the signage possibilities offered by Metalier Coatings. Architects and designers can incorporate the design features of this flexible form of signage into the very heart of their designs. We can help you win awards too. This rust sign won a Signage award in New Zealand.
We’d love to help you create beautiful signs. Contact us:
Or complete the form below
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Kitchen Design Ideas
Kitchen Design ideas from Shane George, along with many of our other favourite designers, really float our boat. And when the designer says he loves working with our product we’re in Metalier heaven.
Shane from Kitchens by Design specializes in kitchens and bathrooms. These are areas where Metalier can add that extra little something that lifts the design from the special to the spectacular. It was so spectacular in the kitchen pictured that Shane won first prize in the 2017 TIDA awards in NZ. In this kitchen Metalier Smoky Bronze has been used in the upper-level cupboards above the scullery/pantry area. It’s also been used on a range-hood installed above the hobs. We like the way the metal really finishes off the area and compliments the colour-ways of the smoky glass doors.
One of the advantages of working with a bespoke product like Metalier is that every finish will be unique. There is no danger of seeing your kitchen design ideas copied – your kitchen or bathroom will be unique to you. The individuality you will achieve is partly because there are so many metals and so many other options – patinas, waxes and textures.
At Metalier we work with designers and architects to fill their visions. It’s great fun to be able to show-off how much we can do. We also have some pretty handy ideas ourselves which we love sharing so if you want to know what’s possible in kitchen design ideas or anything else for that matter, contact one of our international distribution partners:
at HQ in Auckland NZ or our South Island distributor here.
Unique decorative ideas with liquid metal
Unique decorative ideas are the life-blood of Metalier Coatings.
Unique decorative ideas can being with the substrate. And it is certainly true that we apply cold-spray metal coatings to a vast array of substrates. But it’s how we do it that makes us unique. And we can make your home, office, shop or hotel unique too.
The unique decorative idea featured in the picture on this blog page was created by one of our senior technicians in New Zealand, Michael. Michael doesn’t just apply Metalier metals – he can’t stop himself designing and creating with them. It’s almost irresistible as the options are so many and varied.
We love the red and the aluminium together. The sunburst pattern could be developed with any of our 20 metal colours or a new one. The underlying colour can be any dye colour or another metal. And the pattern can be any size. One great big sunburst on the front door of a home or store, board room or hotel doors would be stunning. It could also be an amazing bed headboard or a splashback. Or a work of art.
Michael is one of many talented creators around the world. Our teams in the UK, in the USA and India all bring their own unique decorative ideas for colour mixes, textures and patterns to the table. What this means is that you, the customer, can have a finish that’s special and unique to you. While we are very good dreaming up our own ideas, we’re also very good at making your ideas a reality too.
So for something different and stunning, contact us:
UK here
USA here
India & MENA here
NZ Head quarters and other applicators here
Or contact us we’ll direct your inquiry to the correct person.
Bronze liquid metal paint – on latex
Bronze liquid metal paint finish created on latex.
Bronze liquid metal paint was used to create this sumptuous finish on a piece of latex. To make sure that the latex was properly coated our Water-based Flexible Binder was used.
Flexible binder
Metalier’s Flexible Binder was designed mainly for the film, theatre and larp industries. This piece of latex was given to us so that the binder could be put through its paces. Even though we say it ourselves, we think the bronze liquid metal paint looks spectacular. The pattern underlying the metal is in the substrate. It is not, on this occasion, created using our textured techniques. In fact, it is not possible to create textures using the Flexible Binder – they must always be in the substrate. Metalier’s polishing techniques, however, allow the full beauty of the metal to be exposed.
Bronze
Bronze is one of the favourite alloys – and Metalier has bronze in many varieties. We have bronze, smoky bronze, chocolate bronze, dusky bronze and gunmetal bronze. Bronze is, in fact, so versatile that it doesn’t always even have the brown look associated with the metal. Dusky bronze is a greenish grey and gunmetal bronze, as you would expect, is a deep grey – well gunmetal – colour.
To find out more about Metalier bronzes or our flexible binder or our bronze contact us.
Or complete the form below;
General Contact Form
Nebula Liquid Metal Finish
Nebula Liquid Metal is a new finish combining metal, artistry and exclusive patinas.
Nebula Liquid Metal Finish was created in the workshop at HQ in Auckland, New Zealand, for a very lucky client’s front door.
If it’s not mixing our metaphors we are over the moon about the finish. It truly is very beautiful and conjures up images of the heavens and interstellar dust clouds. A nebular in the sky, just like this Metalier finish, is a truly wondrous thing to behold. They are named after the Latin word for cloud. For humanity nebulae are objects of endless intrigue and discovery.
We’re fond of a bit of actual star-gazing ourselves. When this door finish was created, we were looking down at it – but we felt like we were looking upwards. The designer and the client are thrilled.
We’ve shared the formula for this magic finish with our international hubs so that, no matter where you are, you can have this finish for your door or cupboards or reception desk – whatever. And the beauty of this finish is that it is organic. Although we’ll use the same metals and processes again and again, each iteration of the finish will look slightly different and will be unique. This is because there will be different humidity and temperatures and no two people will apply the patina in the same way each time.
Nebula Liquid Metal finish is a fantastic example of the artistic creations possible using Metalier metals and our fabulous range of patinas.
If you are in the UK and fancy nebula for yourself then contact our UK hub and distribution centre,
Granlyn Specialist Coatings. All their contact details are here.
If you are in North America then there contact details are here – or you could go to their own Metalier website ……
For India and the Middle East our representatives’ contact details are here
And for anyone else contact HQ here.
Or complete the form below.
General Contact Form
Metalier University – become an expert
Metalier University - an idea from North America.
Metalier University is a term coined by the Metalier Team at our North American Hub. M2, our exclusive distributor in North America has a vast area to service. So they’re doing it by holding 3 day training courses in Elkhart, Indiana and they have produced a comprehensive video course as an alternative.
While not actually a university – really – Metalier training courses are comprehensive and every one leaves saying they’ve learned heaps.
One of the attendees at the first session at Elkhart, Ron Opatril of Phoenix Arizona, had this to say:
"The days spent with all of you was well worth it! We are working on a couple of ideas that should prove to be positive for all of us. I have shown the images to several high end designers in the Arizona market and heads are spinning."
Not only do you learn heaps, you also come out with a great certificate for your office wall which confirms that you are an authorised Metalier Applicator. Sort of like getting a degree, don’t you think? “I’ve got an MA from Metalier University” sounds pretty good to me.
And above all – the courses are “hands-on” and they’re heaps of fun. The guys in the picture all look like they’ve had a good time, don’t they. And our team has a great time too. We love the initial looks of wonder as they start to “get” what Metalier is all about. We love too the look of pride on the faces of the attendees as they start to create their own finishes and try out their ideas.
Metalier North America is spreading its wings across the USA. We have trained people from 8 states now.
1 in Arizona, 3 from California, 1 from Colorado, 1 from Texas, 1 from Georgia, 2 from Wisconsin, 2 from Michigan, 1 from Indiana and 1 from New York.
To join the next course at Metalier University or complete their on-line training please contact Tim. Metalier University has branches too, you know: in the UK contact Alison; and at HQ contact Mary.
Or complete the form below:
General Contact Form
Copper veneer | a design element
Copper veneer | How to be on trend
Copper veneer as a design element is a way of adding a warm glow and elegance to any home, office, restaurant or commercial fit-out. Copper, along with brass and rose gold are much less harsh than the greys and are soft and reflective. It is “on trend” in 2017 as designers move away from grey and into the light comforting tones of the “brown” metals.
Metalier NZ coated aluminium louvres with copper so that the louvres would match the roof, spouting and downpipes. Not only did this solve the external aesthetics of the building, it created a warm copper glow in the interior.
Antiqued Copper from India
In this post we are showcasing a copper pattern created by our talented team in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India who are all set up ready to train applicators on the Indian sub-continent and also the Middle East. This particular antiqued finish is created using Metalier’s own patinas.
It’s a design the Indian team have created. It looks somewhat like the antiqued copper we produce at Head Quarters but it has its own unique stamp. This is because Metalier is a hand-crafted bespoke finish. Every person who creates a finish will put their own stamp on it. This means that the number of finishes is truly immense. It also means that if a sample is to be created for a job, the the person who is going to do the job should create the sample. What it means for our delighted Metalier customers is that they can be confident that no one will have a metal effect that looks exactly like anyone else’s.
There are now Metalier applicators in the UK, in the USA, Brunei, Belgium, Russia, Iran, Vietnam, the Philippines as well as India. We haven’t kept up with how many applicators there are in many of the countries – however, you can contact them through us
Or complete the form below:
General Contact Form
Paper Airplanes | Flexible Binder
Paper Airplanes – Metalier Flexible Binder
Paper Airplanes made with Metalier iron in our flexible binder have been used as a marketing teaser by our UK distributors, Granlyn Specialist Coatings since they first joined the team. That was 5 years ago now so that’s a lot of architects and designers who have a paper airplane on their desks!
Paper Airplanes made with Metalier iron are magnetic
A really clever part of the teaser is that if you add a little magnet to the surface you’ve told the person who opens the envelope that they’re holding something made or real metal. And you’ve told them that it is metal that will bend and can be folded.
Metal Monkey Design has made a video
Metal Monkey Design are a certified Metalier applicator in the UK. They’ve made this cute little video about how to make a paper airplane. Watch it here. It demonstrates beautifully how we have fun with Metalier and it also demonstrates the unique qualities of our flexible liquid metal coating.
You can apply metal to paper.
The coating bends and folds.
It’s light so it can fly.
Metalier flexible liquid metal was formulated primarily for the film and larp industries at the behest of world-renown studios, Weta Workshop. It was designed particularly to be a durable coating to adhere to latex armour. Weta needed the coating to be especially durable so that it wouldn’t get damaged when actors fall off horses. Finally it needed to be a “clean” coating too. There’s nothing worse than the hero snuggling up to a heroine for a wee kiss and getting dirt all over her white robes, negligee or whatever. It’s been used by the Royal Shakespeare Company too – we’re very proud of these feathers in the Metalier cap.
To outfit your army or create your very own fleet of planes contact HQ here, USA here, and Granlyn here.
Creative metal coating | Natalie Guy
Creative metal coating by Metalier – Zen reading on the Rocks
Creative metal by Metalier has been used on a number of occasions by Auckland artist, Natalie Guy. She used Metalier’s Flexible Brass on a lamp-fitting shown by the Wallace Collection at Pah Homestead. She has also used it on a wide variety of substrates including bamboo, polystyrene and wood.
Because Metalier is “metal as art”, we were pleased to be able to support Natalie’s creative metal work when she was chosen as an artist for the recent sculpture trail at Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland, New Zealand. It is an honour to be chosen to exhibit at Sculpture on the Gulf. 34 artists were chosen from over 250 initial proposals. Natalie also sold the work so that’s fantastic too.
Reading Zen in the Rocks – About the work
Natalie entitled the work Reading Zen in the Rocks. It merges the myth of the Zen Garden and mid-century modernism. The work references the modernist sculptor Isamu Noguchi and combines two of his works. One is the 1962 Lessons of Musokokushi a bronze garden of flat-bottomed rocks. The second is the iconic Akari paper lampshades which has been replicated widely and is available very cheaply.
The rocks in Reading Zen in the Rocks have been inverted – the flat bottom skyward and the top nestling into the earth. The rocks appear to be solid bronze, but only the top element, the replica Akari are. Their shaping alludes to the concentric circles around rocks placed in a traditional raked sand garden. The lower element is created using a lightweight concrete/plastered hollow mould coated with Metalier Smoky Bronze. The materials are inverted with the lower part lightweight and humble with a creative metal coating and the top is weighty and expensive. The flattening of the Akari form which negates its practical role and adopts new possibilities would seem, the artist says, to be counter-intuitive to modernists principles. Natalie concludes that her work might, however, invite a fresh consideration of modernism’s natural lineage.
The setting for the sculpture trail is beautiful Waiheke Island – along a magical headland – in the sun, after a walk of an hour or two round the headland you can relax with a beautiful glass of Waiheke wine. What’s not to like?
Metalier is science, practice and creativity
Metalier coatings are a mixture of science, practice and creativity. You have to “feel” it as well as know practically what to do and of course without the Metalier science you don’t have a coating at all. The most creative Metalier applicators are those who have “got” the feeling and can let their art run wild. That’s one of the reasons we so like working with artists.
To find out how you can get the “feeling” or to ask questions about other things you can email us or telephone us (Mary on 021 732746 or 09376 7099).
Metalier Metal Powders | Exclusively protected
Metalier Metal Powders are specially preserved in an exclusive protective coating.
Metal powders are the main topic of this piece. It is also a bit of an unashamed brag about the quality of Metalier coatings. If that doesn’t interest you we suggest you read our blog about the Harrods escalator job. We’re still amazed at the size of that job and the sheer logistics of it.
To the point - metal powders are one of the two most important ingredients in Metalier liquid metal coatings. The other vital component is our specially formulated range of binders. Our solvent binder is only available in Aotearoa New Zealand, from us at HQ and from our authorised distributors throughout the world. This is because at the heart of its formulation is a recipe only manufactured right here in the Antipodes.
But, I digressed again, and this is a story about metal powders. The source of our powders is a highly-guarded secret, as you might imagine. They are such an important part of our process.
What actually makes our powders so special is threefold:
first is the skill with which they are produced,
second is the care with which they are packed in vacuum-sealed bags,
third is that each tiny grain of metal powder is encapsulated in a protective coating. This protective coating means that oxidization is almost totally prevented. It’s an enormous bonus for applicators and the end enjoyers of Metalier. Metal gets to be applied to a surface in almost the same colour as when it was mined from the earth. Metalier is the only company to utilize this exclusive process.
At Metalier we’re keen to retain our position at the top of the league table of decorative liquid metal coating companies. You know the saying – if you can’t be first, be the best. Well we weren’t the first and we didn’t invent the concept as so many decorative metals companies now claim (“Yawn”). But we reckon we’re right up there on the league table for a number of reasons. And one of the most important ones is simply the quality of our metal powders.
If you would like to know who invented the liquid metal concept email me and I’ll tell you. If you would like to know the source of our metal powders you could also email me and I won’t tell you. Sorry.
If you would like Metalier metal powders (along with the other ingredients) to transform something ordinary into magnificent metal then email HQ or UK or USA or India or Russia or Australia or Vietnam or fill out the form below.