When is a brick more than a brick?

Hanson Brick is trying to find out. A company founded in 1999 by the joining of 7 brick companies all over the world, Hanson Brick is trying to break the commodity status that brick obviously occupies. By grouping their products into a series of five "collections," they are attempting to focus on the aesthetic appeal of the product rather than it's utilitarian purpose.

Will they be successful? Who knows. But they've recognized that it doesn't hurt to try. In a marketplace that is rapidly changing, perhaps even the century-old brick industry needs to start taking some risks.