Amethyst, for example, gets its moniker from the Greek words meaning "not intoxicated." The ancient Greeks believed that amulets and drinking vessels made from the gemstone would protect them from becoming tipsy. While ancient mosaics tended to be architectural, modern mosaics are found covering everything from park benches and flowerpots to guitars and bicycles. Mosaics have developed into a popular craft and art, and are not limited to professionals. Some modern mosaics are the work of modernisme style architects Antoni Gaudí and Josep Maria Jujol, for example the mosaics in the Park Güell in Barcelona. Mosaic murals, benches and tabletops are some of the items usually made using the indirect method, as it results in a smoother and more even surface. The direct method of mosaic construction involves directly placing (gluing) the individual tesserae onto the supporting surface. The disadvantage of the direct method is that the artist must work directly at the chosen surface, which is often not practical for long periods of time, especially for large-scale projects. The most prominent artist working with mosaics in street art is the French Invader.

The artist M. C. Escher was influenced by Moorish mosaics to begin his investigations into tessellation. Recent developments in digital image processing have led to the ability to design physical tile mosaics using computer aided design (CAD) software. This Robotic Pool Cleaner can climb most stairs and can work perfectly on all surfaces except tile. Almost any form can be used as a base, and any combination of pieces can be applied, aquatic play restricted only by the individual creator's imagination. Trencadís or pique assiette (a French term - "stolen from plate") is a mosaic made from pieces of broken pottery, china, glass, buttons, figurines, or jewelry which are cemented onto a base to create a new surface. Also, it is difficult to control the evenness of the finished surface. This is of particular importance when creating a functional surface such as a floor or a table top. Alternatively, the top 1,000 or so Web sites, working in unison, could do it. Tesserae are applied face-down to a backing paper using a water-soluble adhesive. Once fixed the paper is dampened and removed. The indirect method of applying tesserae is often used for very large projects, projects with repetitive elements or for areas needing site specific shapes.

Another example of mosaics in ordinary surroundings is the use of locally themed mosaics in some restrooms in the rest areas along some Texas interstate highways. The house had several secret areas, too, most notably a tiny and cramped cubbyhole off a bedroom where slaves stayed for as long as two weeks, hiding from harm and resting before embarking on the rest of their journeys. This method is most useful for extremely large projects as it gives the maker time to rework areas, allows the cementing of the tesserae to the backing panel to be carried out quickly in one operation and helps ensure that the front surfaces of the mosaic tiles and mosaic pieces are flat and in the same plane on the front, even when using tiles and pieces of differing thicknesses. The direct method suits small projects that are transportable. Another advantage of the direct method is that the resulting mosaic is progressively visible, allowing for any adjustments to tile color or placement. There are three main methods: the direct method, the indirect method and the double indirect method.

The 'opus', the Latin for 'work', is the way in which the pieces are cut and placed. Large work can be done in this way, with the mosaic being cut up for shipping and then reassembled for installation. Decorators have long known that the trigger to a whole room can often be something as simple as a summer flower. A tile mosaic is a digital image made up of individual tiles, arranged in a non-overlapping fashion, e.g. to make a static image on a shower room or bathing pool floor, by breaking the image down into square pixels formed from ceramic tiles (a typical size is 1 in × 1 in (25 mm × 25 mm), as for example, on the floor of the University of Toronto pool, though sometimes larger tiles such as 2 in × 2 in (51 mm × 51 mm) are used). He has done almost all his work in two very distinct mosaic styles, the first of which are small "traditional" tile mosaics of 8 bit video game character, installed in cities across the globe, and the second of which are a style he refers to as "Rubikcubism", which uses a kind of dual layer mosaic via grids of scrambled Rubik's Cubes.