The foundation of American Formulating and Manufacturing (AFM) rests solidly on a health first premise. Were aware that the nature of health itself will always be highly complex. We also know that health practices around the world vary. For years weve pioneered the development of exceptionally safe paints and finishes. Now, we invite you to explore another dimension of health with our Ayurveda Essence color system. Embark upon a subtle but profound journey of balance through color use.

Reaching beyond the ordinary to achieve elegant results, simply

We know that our customers reach for things that are beyond the ordinary. In response to this, we created powerful color tools that can assist you in taking an active role in controlling subtle aspects of your environment, and help you in your quest for optimum health.

We worked diligently on your behalf to design a schema of elegant simplicity by presenting 108 colors in three groups of 36. The number 108 surfaces frequently in sacred numerology. To keep our format simple, we created three micro palettes that correspond to the three major constitutional types of East Indian medicine: vata, pitta, and kapha (see below).

Each micro palette contains a range of colors that are skewed energetically. By energetically, we mean whether the colors are hot or cold, warm or cool, calming or stimulating, uplifting or grounding, moist or dry, etc. On a simplistic level, East Indian medicine works by exerting a balancing force in the direction opposite of that which may tend to erode an individuals homeostasis.

We chose to work with East Indian medicine and Ayurveda because they are user-friendly systems that invite participation by the layperson. We put great care into designing color palettes that correspond to key concepts of Ayurvedas framework.

We use a very different approach than one that proceeds from the assumption that colors affect individuals similarly. This is a step forward in carefully combining paint and human health, and is another reason to trust your project with our products.

Additional Info

About the foundation of AFMs Ayurveda Essence system

The East has generated many practices that promote harmony. These practices relieve stress by helping us understand how to create balance from day to day. The ability to increasingly gain control over our lives is a form of alchemy that can lead to an increase in the quality of life as well as to the extension of life itself.

The East Indian systems, particularly Ayurveda and Siddha, place responsibility on the individual and empower us to learn how we might evolve by assisting the nature inside of us. Even a simple grasp of major concepts can be very useful. The masters of these arts and sciences learned how to implement counterintuitive information. The art of attaining such perceptual powers involves clearing mental clutter, so that impressions become fresher, and more vivid and direct without losing the full potential of complex learning.

The core of Indian medicine, like Asian medicine in general, is based on what is known as energetics. This does not mean the sensing of something invisible. One simple way of understanding energetics is that we were created with differences. By learning how to support and balance the physical, mental, and spiritual core of our make up, we nourish our essence. It is not difficult for someone with no prior knowledge to reach the point where it is possible to make use of traditional Indian healing methods. They teach us how the cumulative effects of repeated actions add up to something substantial. They are learning tools that induct you into a system of life-affirming patterns by helping you to recognize the significance of patterns of behavior. It is the comprehension of pattern recognition that is the key.

Design rudiments of the Ayurveda Essence palettes

Ectomorph/Vata/Air and Space (Ether) A palette of muted and subdued earthy tones

Mesomorph/Pitta/Fire Complex colors with a cooling and calming orientation

Endomorph/Kapha/Water and Earth A palette of vibrant and stimulating colors with warm overtones

We have a total of 108 colors in our system, with the palettes arranged into three energetically distinct micro palettes of 36 colors. For each micro palette, the starting place on the color wheel was chosen for the strongest balancing effect: violet for the vata palette, green for the pitta palette, red for the kapha palette. Each palette is skewed accordingly to maximize balance. Vata is balanced by earthy colors that subdue hot and cold, pitta is balanced by cooling, complex colors, and kapha is balanced by stimulating and warming colors.

Each micro palette includes all of the basic hues of the color wheel, as well as all the value levels normally designed into contemporary color systems. As a whole, Ayurveda Essence incorporates colors that range from the deepest and most chromatic brights to the most muted lights and neutrals. The steps in value between colors has been designed with an eye toward a pleasant contrast. This design feature automatically eliminates the kind of clash that can result from colors which are too close to one another in value, and makes the creation of monochromatic schemes easier. The key difference among the palettes is how they handle chromaticism. Each micro palette is constructed to avoid those portions of the color spectrum that would be the most aggravating to the respective constitution, as well as keeping the balancing power of value in mind.

A chief criterion throughout the design process was to create a sequence of complex colors that easily harmonized with one another. This approach was important due to the concise nature of the palettes. Another way to put this is that regardless of the palette, colors were sequenced for their ability to work together as families with relationships. This approach minimizes contrast and maximizes harmony.

All progressions were constructed with three colors laid out, as the fourth color in the progression was chosen. Also, the same hue from the previous value level was referenced against the lighter hue in the succeeding value level. This allowed for five colors to be viewed simultaneously and checked for harmony. For example: color 84 (green) was chosen for its ability to progress harmoniously from colors 83 (green), 82 (gold), and 81 (coral), as well as for its ability to harmonize with 77 (green).

Sign up to our mailing list for exciting updates