A waterborne basecoat includes a rheology package having two or more rheology modifiers selected from the group of an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer wax emulsion, an alkali swellable acrylic copolymer emulsion, a silicate layered clay, and a hydrophobically modified ethylene oxide urethane; a resin system comprising two or more waterborne dispersion resins selected from the group of a urethane-acrylic hybrid resin dispersion having a medium Tg of about 15 to about 35° C., a urethane modified Aldehyde/ketone emulsion having a high Tg of more than about 100° C., and a polyurethane dispersion having a low Tg of less than about −20° C., and a pigment. The pigment may be metallic or non-metallic and may be selected from organic or inorganic pigments. The rheology package and the resin package may be optimized to accommodate properties commonly associated with different types of known pigments.