What are the four colour seasons?

Spring, summer, autumn and winter. Each is a family of colours that share a temperature, a value and a chroma. Within each family there are three seasons, giving the twelve used here.

Why twelve seasons and not four?

Four seasons are too coarse to shop with — two people in 'summer' can need very different colours. The twelve-season system splits each family into three, which is the granularity a professional colour analyst actually works in.

The twelve seasons

Twelve seasons, one continuum. Each is a position in temperature, value and chroma — and each has a palette of twelve named, hex-accurate colours.

The twelve seasons 12 SEASONS

Bright Spring #FF6B4A

Bright Winter #ED4796

Drapes are judged folded and flat, one against the next, never held up to a window.

The fan stays closed until a decision is made. Twelve cards, one at a time.

The four families

Spring

Warm and clear — bright, fresh colour that wakes the skin up.
Summer

Cool and soft — muted, dusty colour that sits quietly on the skin.
Autumn

Warm and rich — earthy, golden colour that grounds the face.
Winter

Cool and clear — deep, icy colour that carries strong contrast.

The twelve, as the bench records them

Four bars per season: its position on the value and chroma axes, read left to right. A light, low-chroma season is a low flat wedge; a deep, high-contrast one is tall and stepped.

The comparison rail

Two colours held edge to edge, no gutter. A neutral gutter between two colours destroys the simultaneous-contrast judgement the whole ritual depends on. Here are two seasons that are nearly the same luminance — Soft Summer and Soft Autumn — separated by number and label, not by how light they are.

Soft Summer #9AA7AC

Soft Autumn #BFA277

How to read the continuum

The twelve seasons run in a circle from Bright Spring around to Bright Winter and back. Adjacent seasons are genuine neighbours in temperature, value and chroma — so the chart separates them by number and label, not by luminance. The numbering 01–12 is a position on that continuum.

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Common questions

What are the four colour seasons?: Spring, summer, autumn and winter. Each is a family of colours that share a temperature, a value and a chroma. Within each family there are three seasons, giving the twelve used here.
Why twelve seasons and not four?: Four seasons are too coarse to shop with — two people in 'summer' can need very different colours. The twelve-season system splits each family into three, which is the granularity a professional colour analyst actually works in.
How do I read the continuum?: The twelve seasons run in a circle from Bright Spring around to Bright Winter and back. Adjacent seasons are genuine neighbours in temperature, value and chroma, so the chart separates them by number and label, not by how light or dark they are.