The blank canvases, if you want to call them that, all start out looking the same way:

Smooth, round and black — the most basic of tires, with no tread pattern and nothing on the sidewall.

But that all changes when Paul Maxwell and his team of tire designers at Goodyear start working.

That is, if you think of designing unique concept tires as work.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. ''one-offs,'' prototypes and related eye candy are displayed at the tire maker's technical center off Martha Avenue to celebrate 25 years of the company making concept tires.

Over those years, Goodyear's designers have come up with 511 of what they call ''concept programs.''

The tires range from what looks like normal production treads and sidewalls to wild hand-carved patterns.

The 25th anniversary display includes the precursor to the popular Aquatred launched in 1992, as well as a 22-inch-diameter tire Goodyear made for Batman & Robin, the Batman movie that starred George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman.

''We do one-offs, like the Batmobile,'' Maxwell said. ''We provided them a lot of tires. I always tell people it's the best tire we ever made. If you saw the movie, they were driving upside down in a tunnel.''

The designs of these one-of-a-kind tires sometimes take their cues from one-of-a-kind vehicles, such as the 1997-era Batmobile and million-dollar concept vehicles that automakers might or might not put into production.

In part because of that, many concept tires are typically all about show, not go. Pretty much the only place where the public can get an in-person look at the designers' work is on the national auto show circuit.

''We're not so concerned about the engineering of (the concept tires), just because these are not supposed to be driven on roads or highways. They are to be driven from the truck to the show floor. Maybe somebody will take it around the test track, but we require no more than 35 miles per hour,'' said Maxwell, Goodyear's principal designer
who started with the company in the 1980s. The Aquatred, with its distinctive center groove, was one of the first design programs he worked on that made it into production.

Others never do.

Take the Batmobile tire, for example. Set aside Maxwell's joke that it's the best tire Goodyear ever made, the made-for-movie tires were not real-life high-performance Eagles — the tread pattern is the iconic Batman symbol and not conducive to driving in rain and snow.

Then again, it's no surprise that Goodyear designed a tire for the Batmobile — the deliberately low-lit area in the technical center where the company's designers work is nicknamed the Bat Cave.

Making connections

While designers think visually and like to unleash their creativity, they also have to envision the real world, too, Maxwell said.

He pointed to one of the tires in the lobby display.

''Now this one, we were thinking engineering. We thought this was going to be a Fortera,'' he said. ''We were talking large diameter. . . . The catch term we thought was, the art of the street.''

That's what the designers think of their work, as art of the street, he said.

''Really, that is what we are doing here. The whole goal is making emotional connections with consumers,'' Maxwell said.

And real life tire sales, too. A tire designed for a Toyota concept vehicle evolved into the new Eagle GT, which will be released this summer.

''One of the reasons we do concept tire programs is so that we have a chance to try new things outside of the production box,'' Maxwell said. ''These are good examples of the technology leaps we get. . . . We're always trying new things. For us, it's an opportunity for us to try new things without constraints.''

Likewise, what Maxwell described as ''traction teeth'' in the Wrangler SilentArmor came out of concepts.

Features in the popularTripleTred tires were developed in concept programs also, Maxwell said. ''For example, the aquachutes were developed in concept programs. And so, when we did a Fortera TripleTred, we just carried that theme.''

Finding inspiration

Auto industry shows provide Goodyear's tire designers with feedback from the public as well as industry, Maxwell said.

Designers have found inspiration from tattoos, as well, Maxwell said, as he pointed to patterns drawn on a sidewall.

''We went to that look,'' Maxwell said. ''In a lot of ways, it's not what you would expect from Goodyear. We got to go a little bit in a different direction, which was a lot of fun for us.''

When Goodyear designs tires for an automaker's concept vehicle, it tends to provide five or six concepts for the manufacturer to look at.

''They'll say, 'We like this direction, we like that direction,' '' he said. ''We'll refine from there.''

Maxwell said he and the other designers also look forward to feedback from the vehicle manufacturers providing what he calls ''word pictures'' to help guide the tire design.

''When I was doing the Ford Super Chief (2006 concept truck), they said, 'Think Viking stoves,' '' he said. ''So I started perusing the Viking stoves Web site before I started designing the tread pattern.

''If we're lucky, sometimes they will show us the vehicle, the sketching for the vehicle. Sometimes they show us the vehicles before they come out. Sometimes we get to ride in vehicles before they come out.''

But a lot of times what the automakers say they want in the way of tires for a concept vehicle is really vague, Maxwell said.

While inspiration can come from almost anything, including suggestions from automakers, the designs themselves pretty much start out on a computer, Maxwell said.

''I can sketch right on my computer. My screen is a sketch tablet, so I can draw on there,'' Maxwell said. ''The system is so flexible, it really is a nice place to work.''

While most of the design team's time is devoted to production tires, working on concept tires provides ''a little journey into stylistic adventure,'' Maxwell said.

Concept tires are a service Goodyear offers to vehicle manufacturers, Maxwell said. It helps build good relationships with the companies and their design studios, he said.

The concept tire design work also fits into the so-called seven strategic drivers of Goodyear — product leadership and innovation, Maxwell said.

Maxwell began putting the exhibit together in February, combing through file cabinets for photographs and then warehouses to find the actual concept tires.

''It took quite a while to find all this stuff,'' he said. ''We want to showcase our designability and our technology. . . . I think it's a milestone we hit 25 years. It's something Goodyear can be proud of.''