Summer Color Palette Guide | Seasonal Color Analysis
The summer season is characterized by cool and soft tones, resembling the delicate pastels of blooming flowers or the calming shades of the ocean.
The summer season has three sub-seasons: cool summer, light summer, and soft summer, which we'll explore in more detail.
Cool summer: calm and elegant
The cool summer color palette is marked by colors that are primarily cool, but also have low to moderate saturation - colors such as icy blues, lavenders, and soft grays. The cool summer palette is reminiscent of tranquil blue waters, or soft clouds on a clear summer day.
Cool summer is bordered by cool winter, its sister season. While cool winter tones are brighter and more intense than those in the cool summer palette, cool summer individuals will also wear cool winter colors well - for example, sapphire blues or royal purples.
Cool summer color palette
Light summer: delicate and timeless
Light summer colors are characterized by their lightness, along with their cool tone and a touch of softness - think of muted pinks, soft peach, and sky blue.
The light summer season lies between cool summer (cool and soft) and light spring (light and warm), blending the cool, serene hues of cool summer and the floral, pastel shades of light spring. Overall, light summer colors are reminiscent of sunlit mornings and breezy summer days.
Light summer color palette
Soft summer: dreamy and elegant
The soft summer color palette contains colors that are primarily muted, cool toned, and low contrast, such as dusky pinks, gentle mauves, and seagreen. The palette evokes the dreaminess of dusky sunsets or the tranquility of a meadow after rain.
The soft summer season falls between cool summer (cool and soft) and soft autumn (soft and warm). More than other summer seasons, soft summers can borrow warm-toned colors from the soft autumn season, such as daffodil yellow, sage green, or sand beige.
Soft summer color palette
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- Spring Color Palette Guide
- Autumn Color Palette Guide
- Winter Color Palette Guide
- The Complete Guide to Finding Your Season