Seasonal colour palette

Your colour season palette

There is one palette per season, so once you know yours, one card is all you need. Every palette contains 60 named colors sorted into 3 groups: neutrals, main colors and accents. Colors you should skip get listed too.

Each color carries a HEX code. It is a short mix of letters and numbers that tells any screen or program the exact shade to display.

How the 12 seasons palette is arranged

Four families make up the 12 seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Three seasons belong to each family, and each one takes its name from its most defining trait: think light or deep, warm or cool, bright or soft.

Shades for spring

• Light spring brings you butter yellow, bright peach, light aqua, light coral and soft apple green.
• Warm spring works with coral, bright marigold, apple green, bright turquoise and poppy.
• Bright spring leans on bright coral, poppy, turquoise, bright lime and bright royal blue.

Shades for summer

• Light summer offers powder blue, soft mint, light lavender, light rose pink and pale watermelon.
• Cool summer favors dusty rose, cornflower, soft jade, raspberry and orchid.
• Soft summer runs on dusty rose, sage, soft mauve, dusty teal and soft wine.

Shades for autumn (fall)

• Soft autumn pairs sage with dusty terracotta, rose brown, soft mustard and soft teal.
• Warm autumn is built around rust, mustard, olive, terracotta and teal.
• Deep autumn goes for deep rust, forest green, burgundy, dark mustard and deep teal.

Shades for winter

• Deep winter centers on dark violet, deep burgundy, deep cherry, deep emerald and sapphire.
• Cool winter features true red, emerald, bright cobalt, fuchsia and icy lilac.
• Bright winter carries bright true red, bright magenta, bright cobalt, bright emerald and icy aqua.

Trying the palettes as color analysis swatches

You can hold these palettes up as swatches and test them near your face. Stand close to a window during the day, put your phone screen or a printed card beside your face, and check a few seasons against each other. Daylight wins over indoor bulbs, since bulbs change the way skin tones read.

Is there a color palette test and finder that's free?

Yes, and it costs nothing. A quiz sits on the home page with 3 questions, shown one at a time. It asks if gold or silver flatters you more, whether your features run light, medium or deep, and if bright or soft colors work better near your face.

Depth describes how dark or light the set of your hair, eyes and skin is. Clarity describes whether crisp, vivid colors or gentler, muted ones suit you more. Your answers pick out one of the 12 seasons and send you to the matching card.

Getting and working with the files

Every season has free files, and there is a zip with all 12 bundled together.

• PNG palette card: set it as the wallpaper on your phone and your colors will be on hand for every shopping trip.
• CSV HEX list: a simple list of all the HEX codes, handy for spreadsheets or design projects.
• Adobe ASE swatches: for bringing the colors into Adobe programs.
• Procreate files: a pair of swatch sets made for iPad drawing.

To load a palette into Procreate on your iPad:

1. Move the swatches file into the Files app.
2. Open the downloaded file with one tap and it will load in Procreate.
3. Look inside the Procreate color panel's palettes tab and your new palette should be waiting there.