With spring coming up around the corner, it’s almost time for a design refresh and we’ve got just what you need to get started. We’ve talked before about the importance of choosing the right colors in order to set a tone and mood for your newsletter design. Because every season is so different, it makes sense for your brand to adapt slightly to fit in with the seasonal trends. After all, there’s a reason why everything is red at Christmastime – being relevant and on trend makes your design stand out more and get noticed by customers. We’ve put together four color palettes which you can use as a basis for any design whatever the weather! While we wouldn’t suggest going overboard and using every color we include, adding just one or two new colors to your designs adds a nice seasonal touch to liven up your designs.
It’s the next season on the calendar so it seems only fair to kick things off with spring! In the springtime try to make your designs a little more lively. The cold winter has come to an end and we’re seeing the first signs of sun and slowly starting to look forward to warm weather and vacations. Pastel colors work great here because they aren’t super vibrant and create a nice transition between cold winter shades and warm summer shades. Of course, yellow is a must-have in any Easter design, but try out lilac or soft pink for your fashion brand, or perhaps a pastel green to give your spring menu a fresh feeling. This GIF from Forever 21 does a great job of incorporating pastel colors to advertise their springtime sale.
The heat of summer gives you the perfect excuse to incorporate warm and vibrant colors into your designs. Include deep blues and fresh turquoise shades to your holiday brochure and transport your customers to a Greek island. Hot pinks and oranges are another great way of turning up the heat on an otherwise plain transactional mail. We’ve added a summery feel to this generic sales confirmation to show that even the simplest of emails can stay on trend.
Think pumpkin pie and falling leaves. The transition into Fall leaves us lusting after warm and cozy colors (whether we know it or not!) Include rustic red and burnt orange tones in your Autumn sale promotion and get your customers enthusiastic about starting their shopping for a new season. A minimal gray background also provides a sense of calm and neutrality following the excitement of summer. Although simple, Ann Taylor are bang on trend with this Fall email design.
And now time for Winter! It’s the most wonderful time of the year (at least for some) and the perfect opportunity to start getting festive in your designs. Deep red tones evoke images of mulled wine and berries – perfect for your latest winter recipe on your blog! The icy blue and creamy white are both symbolic of snow and frosty mornings and both would work well as an alternative background for your design. For a more lighthearted design, the bright green and red work great for standout CTAs and also have a super christmassy vibe! ModCloth have included some seriously festive reds and greens in this email design!
And there you have it! Those were our four color palettes which you can use as a guide for your email designs all year round. We hope this is enough to provide you with inspiration on how to update your designs for each season and stay on trend. Even if you don’t want to go overboard, staying on brand is easy. You can take just one or two colors to subtly incorporate into your design. Simply copy the color code into the color tool in Mail Designer 365 and make sure the settings are set to “Generic RGB.”
