The foundation of American Formulating and Manufacturing (AFM) rests
solidly on a health first premise. We’re aware that the nature
of health itself will always be highly complex. We also know that
health practices around the world vary.
For years we’ve 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.
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 individual’s 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 Ayurveda’s 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.
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.
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).
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