25 Mar 7. Colour harmonies and Brand You

Adding Seasons to Your Colour Mix

Next in this series of blogs, the focus turns to the colour harmonies and patterns as a visual strategy. Colours grouped into the seasons of winter, summer, spring and autumn produce collections that are appealing to the eye because they are found in nature. Our eyes and brains have evolved through our exposure to these colour harmonies that naturally exist in nature, so that they feel more alluring and natural. Therefore, nature provides the basis for colour harmonies and Brand You.

Learning the Colours of the Season

Autumn tends to feature rich yellow-based colours that exude warmth and depth of character with a dash of the eccentric (in the most positive sense). Spring prefers pure, clear yellow-based tones that give a feeling of airiness, fun and joy. Winter is usually blue-based, pairing exceptionally light shades with more intense colours to create a season of contrasting focus and intense character. Lastly, summer colours are blue-based mid-tones, giving this season a very relaxed and soothing feeling.

Seasonal harmonies help with an overall feel or character and also work to draw in an audience. We have explored the immediate effect colour has on our brain and body through the hypothalamus. This explains the importance of the instant impression you create through your customer’s visual touch points. They should be harmonious and consistent with your values, mission and inner drivers. Good visuals put your audience at ease, while stimulating their interest to engage. There is no better stimulus than colour groups that freely occur in nature, after all our brain and visual cortex have evolved within this context!.

Colour harmonies and your purpose brand

The next extension of visual strategy moves into the concept of seasonal colour harmonies and their association with patterns and design. This accentuates communication and displays your personality to your audience and also can be incorporated within a visual strategy.

So, the warm clear colours of spring promote a feeling of joy, light and air. Patterns should accentuate this kind of nuance, with soft, light lines or simple repeating patterns. This all adds to a sense of fun.

Summer colours are muted, cooler and have a softer and rounded feel to them. Think of a summer haze muting the vibrancy of the natural colours. This is exactly how the human eye would see them: very subtle, subdued, slightly cool colours which give off a reassuring calmness. Patterns that are conducive to a summer palate are long curves of elegance and smoothness.

Autumn colours are rich and warm. Adding an element of black into a warm yellow base colour forms the foundation for this richness. In addition, patterns that lend themselves to autumn are solid and substantial lines that are complex in nature and multi-dimensional.

Winter is a combination of extremes. Winter contrasts the cool, light blue tones and with extremely rich and dark blue tones. It is is a very dramatic, bold, and is very innovative and cutting-edge, with a sense of drama. Finally, winter is cool, precise and considered. Therefore, angular and sharp corners, bold stripes and geometric patterns complements the winter colour palette. So, now we have brief description of foundations for designs based on seasonally complementary colour groups.

Patterns and strategy

Patterns can combine into strategy, using shapes and lines to convey a sense of purpose and the core of you or your business. For example, you may be working in an overly complex industry, but the key skill is being able to communicate in simple and compelling manner.

Using a complex pattern on the left-hand side and a simple following pattern on right-hand side of a logo conveys “complexity made simple” communication. Pattern conveys to your target audience the concept of turning complex ideas into something simple. It is a simple but very effective subliminal message.

This concludes a brief introduction of how we can use shapes and patterns as part of a visual strategy.  Colour harmonies and Brand You transmit the soul of you and your business to the audience you most want to work with.

– Nick Horton, The Fourth Space founder
The Fourth Space : Understand,  Own and Launch Brand You

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