Understanding the International Image Institute 16- 23 Palette System

The International Image Institute colour analysis system goes beyond the traditional four seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. It uses the dimensions of colour to identify where your natural colouring sits within a much broader spectrum.

We assess three main colour dimensions:

Temperature — Warm ↔ Cool

Value — Light ↔ Deep

Intensity — Muted ↔ Bright

These dimensions help us determine your Home Season, whether you flow towards another season, or in rarer cases, whether your colouring sits directly between seasonal families with no single Home Season.

The Cool Seasons

If your colouring belongs to the cool family, your Home Season will be Summer or Winter, with four potential possibilities within each.

SUMMER

• True Summer — cool undertone- the classic Summer colour range

• Cool Summer — cool undertone- flows between Summer and Winter in its colour range

• Light Summer — neutral cool undertone- flows towards Spring through the Light dimension in its colour range

• Muted Summer —

  neutral cool undertone- flows towards Autumn through the Muted dimension in its colour range

  
  

WINTER

• True Winter — cool undertone- the classic Winter in its colour range

• Cool Winter — cool undertone- flows between Winter and Summer in its colour range

• Deep Winter — neutral cool undertone- flows towards Autumn through the Deep dimension in its colour range

• Bright Winter — neutral cool undertone- flows towards Spring through the Bright dimension in its colour range

  
  

The Warm Seasons

If your colouring belongs to the warm family, your Home Season will be Spring or Autumn, again with four potential possibilities within each.

SPRING

• True Spring — warm undertone- the classic Spring in its colour range

• Warm Spring — warm undertone- flows between Spring and Autumn in its colour range

• Light Spring — neutral warm undertone- flows towards Summer through the Light dimension in its colour range

• Bright Spring — neutral warm undertone- flows towards Winter through the Bright dimension in its colour range

  
  

AUTUMN

• True Autumn — warm undertone- the classic Autumn in its colour range

• Warm Autumn — warm undertone- flows between Autumn and Spring in its colour range

• Muted Autumn — neutral warm undertone- flows towards Summer through the Muted dimension in its colour range

• Deep Autumn — neutral warm undertone- flows towards Winter through the Deep dimension in its colour range

Why Do Some Seasons “Flow”?

Colour exists on a continuum rather than in completely separate boxes.

The True Seasons — True Spring, True Summer, True Autumn and True Winter — represent the classic characteristics of their individual seasonal families.

The subseasons begin to move towards a neighbouring season because they share an important colour dimension.

Light Spring ↔ Light Summer Lightness becomes particularly important. These palettes are more neutral in temperature than their True Season palettes.

Muted Summer ↔ Muted Autumn Softness and muted intensity connect these palettes again the palettes are more neutral in colour dimensions

Deep Autumn ↔ Deep Winter Depth and darker value connect these palettes with its neutral colour dimensions

Bright Winter ↔ Bright Spring Brightness and high colour intensity connect these palettes with its neutral colour dimensions

As these palettes approach one another, temperature becomes more neutral. For example, Light Spring is still on the neutral warm side and Light Summer on the neutral cool side, but neither is as strongly warm or cool as its corresponding True Season.

The Warm and Cool Flows

There are also subseasons that sit between the two seasons belonging to the same temperature family.

Cool Summer ↔ Cool Winter sit between Summer and Winter. Both remain distinctly cool, but combine characteristics of the two cool seasons.

Warm Spring ↔ Warm Autumn sit between Spring and Autumn. Both remain distinctly warm, but combine characteristics of the two warm seasons.

These are different from Light, Deep, Bright and Muted flows because temperature remains the dominant shared characteristic.

Beyond the 16 Seasons: The True Flows

The International Image Institute system can be expanded beyond the 16 seasonal categories to recognise people who sit directly between two neighbouring seasons.

These are the True Flows.

Unlike a subseason such as Light Spring or Light Summer, a person who is a True Light sits directly between the two. Neither Spring nor Summer is their Home Season.

There are six True Flow palettes:

True Light — midway between Spring and Summer

True Muted — midway between Summer and Autumn

True Deep — midway between Autumn and Winter

True Bright — midway between Winter and Spring

True Cool — midway between Summer and Winter

True Warm — midway between Spring and Autumn

These results are less common because most people will still show enough seasonal direction to have a Home Season.

For example, two people may both need predominantly light colours. One may still harmonise slightly better with Spring, making them a Light Spring, while another may favour Summer, making them a Light Summer.

A True Light, however, sits right in the middle. Neither Spring nor Summer provides the stronger home. Their best palette is built around the shared Light colour dimension rather than one particular season.

The same principle applies to True Deep, True Bright, True Muted, True Warm and True Cool.

Universal — The Rarest Balance

The final possibility is Universal.

Universal colouring is exceptionally balanced across the colour dimensions and does not show a strong enough pull towards one particular season or dominant flow characteristic.

Rather than being primarily Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter — or being defined predominantly by Light, Deep, Bright, Muted, Warm or Cool — the individual sits within a highly balanced area of the colour spectrum in neutral undertone, medium value and medium intensity ranges. This is a very rare result.

Summary: From 16 Seasons to 23 Palettes

The complete overview therefore contains:

16 Seasonal Palettes

4 Springs + 4 Summers + 4 Autumns + 4 Winters

6 True Flow Palettes

True Light + True Muted + True Deep + True Bright + True Warm + True Cool

1 Universal Palette

= 23 possible colour palettes

This expanded approach allows us to recognise that human colouring doesn’t always fit perfectly into one of the four home seasons. By assessing temperature, value and intensity, we can identify not only your season, but precisely where you sit within the wider spectrum of colour. The 16–23 Palette System allows us to recognise the nuances in individual colouring and find the palette that creates the most natural harmony.

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