The bonds a subway tile is laid in
Running bond offsets every course by half a tile and is what most people picture. A third offset shifts each course by a third instead, so the joints step across the wall in a diagonal instead of lining up every second row.
Stack bond lines the tiles up in a strict grid with every joint continuous. Vertical stack turns the tile on end and runs the courses upward. Herringbone and basket weave take the same rectangle into a pattern. Six walls, one tile.
Why a longer tile is offset less
The half offset that suits a 3x6 is used more carefully on a 4x12 or a 3x9, and that is the shape of the tile, not the look of the pattern.
A pressed or fired piece is never perfectly flat along its length, and the longer the piece the more that shows. At a half offset the middle of one tile, which is where any bow is greatest, meets the end of the tile below it, which is where it is least. A third offset puts those two points further apart, which is why elongated subway tile is so often laid that way.
Vertical stack in a kitchen
Turning a subway tile on end and stacking the courses is the layout that has changed most kitchens in the last few years, and it does something specific: it turns a wide shallow strip into a series of vertical lines.
In a kitchen that matters because the strip between counter and cabinets is much wider than it is tall. Horizontal courses reinforce that proportion; vertical ones argue with it and make an 18 inch band read taller than it is.
White is not the color here
Gray leads this range, then black, green and brown in close company, with white behind them and blues and yellows further back.
That is a real change from what the format is associated with. A subway tile is a proportion rather than a color, and a kitchen choosing one now is as likely to be choosing a deep green or a warm brown as the white the shape is named for. White subway tile backsplash covers the classic version.
Beyond glossy
Glossy carries this range, as it always has, with satin, honed, matte, metallic, textured and leather faces behind it.
Those minority finishes are where a subway backsplash stops looking like every other one. A satin face gives a soft sheen with none of the mirror; a leather or textured face puts relief into a wall that is usually flat; a metallic piece reflects differently from every angle. The shape stays familiar and the surface does the work.
The elongated proportions lead
3x9 and 4x12 are the two largest groups here, ahead of the classic 3x6, with 2x6, 2 3/4x5 1/2 and a set of odd fractional sizes behind them.
The longer proportions run one to three and one to four against the original one to two, and they read as calmer, since a wall of them has fewer vertical joints in it. The small 2x6 goes the other way and gives a busier, more handmade wall.
Where the tiling stops
Three lines are common: under the wall cabinets, up to the ceiling on the run behind the range, or full height across a wall with no cabinets on it.
The decision is worth making before ordering, because it changes the quantity and it changes where a finished edge is needed. Kitchen backsplash tile holds the other formats for the same wall, and backsplash tile the other materials.
