Getting Back to Nature – What Are the Colour Personalities and Where Do They Come From?

Back at the beginning of November you may recall that I wrote a blog post about my new-found knowledge of colour psychology and how it has changed the way that I approach my design work.  Over the course of the next week or so I would like to share with you some more about the colour personalities and how these relate to the design world and I hope that you find it as fascinating as I do!

So, what are the colour personalities and why are they referred to as Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter?  For the answer to this question, we need to look at nature.  If we observe what happens through the seasons we see clearly that the colours at any one given time harmonise with each other.  I have tried to illustrate what I mean below…

Spring time is warm and light, nature is busy and there is a real sense of happiness and fun in the air.  The birds are noisy, everything is full of water, sparkling, coming back to life after the long dark winter months.  Leaves, new shoots and flowers are vibrant and bright, everything around us is energetic and lively.

As the year progresses, the earth begins to dry out and the colours around us become cooler and softer.  The leaves lose their brightness as they tone down to harmonise with the cool pastels of the summer flowers.  Elegance, scent, romance, relaxation and calm sophistication.

When Autumn comes there is a completely different atmosphere and although it marks the period between summer and winter, there is real sense of rich warmth in the air.  Flamboyance and drama come to the fore as leaves turn gold, orange, red and purple.

Then suddenly the drama is over and we see the breath-taking splendour of the winter landscape.  In winter most things retreat under the surface to hibernate and gather strength.  The mood is cool and quiet, unless a storm ensues when we run for cover.  The landscape provides a minimalistic, contrasting and innately dramatic scene.