DEERFIELD BEACH, FL -- Mapei has used color technology bundled with artistic knowledge to develop a new 40-color palette spread across five color collections, each infused with a distinct personality. The company is the first tile and stone installation systems manufacturer to use groups of organized grout colors to help customers make the best choice for the final look of their flooring installations.

The creative new color shades were selected based on a number of criteria. The shade selection process was constructed from both a scientific as well as a creative foundation. Mapei employed 3-D modeling to visualize the full palette and locate gaps in color space. The most popular porcelain wood-plank designs were studied, and complementary color matches were formulated. Not only does Mapei's new color palette capture the essence of wood-plank design trends, it increases the gamut of gray-tone colors significantly.

"The new palette of 40 shades offers our customers a more saturated color theme while maintaining the traditional designs that remain timeless," said David Mowery, Mapei's Business Manager for Color Products and UltraCare^™.

After the color palette selection process was completed, Mapei's creative design team assembled the new color palette into color collections, a concept commonplace in the architectural paint industry where large color palettes abound. During the process, five categories of color collections were finalized and given the names Serene, Traditional, Natural, Romance and Glamour.

Each color collection consists of eight shades, arranged by increasing value (from light to dark) and chroma (color saturation). "The primary objective of the color collections is to facilitate the grout selection process and appeal to the customer’s personality and feelings," said Mowery.