How to Define Your Brand by Choosing a Season
Defining a Brand – Pick a Season
I didn’t realise it at the time, but my initial mood board for my bridal brand was based on an autumn theme. Everything I had pinned on Pinterest for inspiration was autumnal. The images that launched my Instagram page followed this same tone—I just didn’t realise it.
When the soft fine art photography trend took off, I loved it! So pretty and delicate. But what it didn’t do was match the style of my already-established brand including website, Instagram page and Pinterest boards. It did bring in a different type of clientele—people who weren’t typical customers. I started to notice a small decline in sales. That’s when I began to pay attention. The Instagram feed looked mismatched, out of sync somehow. I even had encouragement from people in the industry who liked the “new turn in style direction”—but it wasn’t intentional, and I started to panic.
So I shifted focus—away from the products and back to the brand itself. I watched videos online, dissected successful brands, and wrote down everything I learned. That’s when I discovered a simple but effective branding trick: choose a season.
This works especially well for fashion and lifestyle brands. By choosing a season, you instantly have a pre-made colour palette, textures, tones, and gradients to build around. What I had unknowingly done was start with an autumn brand… and randomly try to incorporate spring. It didn’t work.
Once I refocused—creating imagery and content with autumn tones, deleting the mismatched spring content, and rebuilding my feed around darker, richer, golden hues—guess what? Sales increased.
People identify with your brand through the tones, textures, and atmosphere you consistently share. When you veer off course, you lose that connection—and, often, their custom. The key is to expand within the realm of your chosen season, not outside it.
This also makes it easier to collaborate with others—photographers, stylists, planners—who share your seasonal vibe. For example, in bridal styled shoots, everyone must work within the same seasonal tone to make the vision cohesive.
I once worked with a photographer who changed their editing style to a light, airy spring feel—and I didn’t share their work. Not because it wasn’t beautiful, but because it didn’t align with my brand anymore.
What does your brand currently portray?
Take a look: your Instagram feed, your website, your packaging, your business cards, leaflets, your studio or shop décor (if you have a physical space). Are they aligned?
Here’s a quick reference for seasonal branding:
SPRING
Bright, beautiful, fresh, sweet, light, delicate, thriving, awakening, buds
Colours: Warm greens, yellows, orangey reds, peachy pinks, light browns, poppy red, daffodil yellow, tangerine orange, ivory, cream.
SUMMER
Sultry, sun-kissed, poolside, hot, heavenly, humid, hazy, dreamy, delightful, happy
Elements: Flowers, grass, gardens
Colours: Coral, turquoise, fuchsia, sunny yellow, sky blue
AUTUMN
Amber, abundant, cozy, crackling, crunchy, earthy, enchanting, golden
Colours: Deep forest green, copper, crimson, chestnut, moody dark hues
WINTER
Crisp, alpine, arctic, frosty, bright, sparkly, clean
Colours: Stark black and white, silver, sapphire, cobalt blue, emerald, hot pink, fuchsia
If your brand assets are mismatched across seasons, it’s time to streamline. Create one cohesive brand voice by aligning everything to a single season.
Action Steps:
1. Choose your brand’s season.
2. Create a mood board (and pin it up where you can see it daily).
3. Align your visual content to that season.
4. Audit your existing content and remove anything that doesn’t fit.
5. Weave this seasonal style into your marketing plan.
Then sit back, stay consistent—and watch your brand realign, reconnect with your ideal audience, and work its magic.
Resources
Guides: A Guide to help you master your branding-coming soon!