Brands as seasons I hear you ask? What does that even mean?

The idea associates different types of brands with the four seasons of the year - Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Each season has distinctive characteristics that dictate the general direction of each brand element including colour palette, font, photography, and even the texture of marketing materials used. It’s a great way to narrow the focus on building a brand, providing inspiration and clarity both before and during the design process.

So what are the 4 different personalities and which one are you?

Wait, I know my brand personality and want to get in touch for branding help!

THE SPRING PERSONALITY

Creative, inspirational and expressive.

If you are a spring brand, you’ll be inspired to use light, bright, clear and soft colours, for example, bright warm tones or pastels. ‘Fuss-free’ fonts are what speaks to a spring brand. Think sans serif, lighthearted hand-drawn display, and quirky, fun scripts. Touches of sparkle are always good, with whimsical, ditsy, and clear shapes and patterns. This could include circles, polka dots, and busy patterns on clear backgrounds. Your photography will generally have a light touch, and your brand tone of voice will be simple, warm and clear. You will have an approachable and friendly feel, and will speak from the heart.

THE SUMMER PERSONALITY

Refined, aspirational and elegant.

The summer personality is often romantic, organised and focused on the detail. Cool, delicate, and muted tones are what make up the summer colour palette, a touch of grey in them creates a graceful and romantic feel. Quality is obvious, with the use of beautiful natural paper stocks and packaging materials is used throughout. Think silk ribbons or a natural grosgain and absolutely no shiny-ness. Traditional serif style fonts kept contemporary with plenty of leading and kerning, combined with flowing, romantic scripts and handwriting fonts are what you will see with a summer brand. Your brand’s tone of voice will be more measured, refined and formal with correct grammar throughout!

THE AUTUMN PERSONALITY

Passionate, ethical and authentic.

The autumnal personality has an affiliation towards nostalgia and a clear connection to nature. This encourages warm, intense, and muted colour tones, for example; burnt umber to pale straw. Natural or recycled textures such as bark, well-worn wood, craft paper, or heavy linens work best with slightly informal but with substance patterns and shapes. Think squares with rounded corners or lines that are solid or hand drawn. The photography used is intense and organic with a real warming feel to it. And lastly your tone of voice will be substantial, well-read, and full of character. Slab serifs, and chunky, textured handwriting will be your fonts of choice.

THE WINTER PERSONALITY

Luxurious, opulent and dramatic.

With a wide range of qualities, from practical to glamorous, the winter personality is the season of extremes. The colours used for a Winter brand are cool, strong and intense and the only season to include pure black. A use of a very understated sans serif with added drama by using condensed, very light, or very bold versions is what you are likely to see. This combined with a strong tone of voice makes a clear winter personality. This season doesn’t overflow with emotion, it doesn’t like to overcomplicate, it has very understated confidence. It makes use of dramatic geometric shapes with bold lines and crisp, clean, bright, intense photography. This is the season of high-end experts with no frills or fuss.

And they’re the four seasons. All are perceived by consumers in a very different way, and it’s important that the season you choose is suited to both you and your consumer. Do you know which one is you? Or maybe you’re a mixture of 2? More information on each season and how to apply them can be found in “How to Style Your Brand” by Fiona Humberstone.

Need help with your branding or are you wanting to bring your dream brand to life? Then get in touch, we would love to help!