Are you ready to move on from traditional holiday color schemes? Add hints of festive flair to your designs with these 20 free seasonal color palettes.
As the holiday season approaches, the arrival of traditional color combinations ensues. The seas of red and green or orange and brown we’re all aware of become dull and unoriginal over time. Instead of sticking to those overused color combinations, you can break the traditional mold but still convey the beauty of the holidays with color.
Each palette is inspired by Shutterstock images and comes with universal hex codes that can be applied to web designs, invitation cards, social media ads, direct mailers, and more. While these palettes are inspired by the autumn and winter seasons, you can incorporate these hues into any design or environment regardless of the time of year.
Love one these color combinations? Be sure to Pin it to your Pinterest mood board so you can save your color inspiration for later. Also remember to scroll to the bottom to get your free swatch download so you can easily access all of these color palettes in Adobe design programs. If you’re using an image editing program, such as Shutterstock Editor, you can type out the six-digit hex codes on each palette.
1. Winter Wanderlust
Image via Mooshny.
2. Pumpkin Spice
Image via Julia Sudnitskaya.
Pair complementary hues, such as a rusty orange and a deep blue, for a vivid contrast that is sure to set your design apart.
3. Cozy Mornings
Image via Flaffy.
4. Sweater Weather
Image via GreenArt.
5. Dainty Decor
Image via Daria Minaeva.
Contrast dainty, pastel hues with muted tones for a luxe palette that never disappoints.
6. Rural Roads
Image via Denis Belitsky.
7. Cherry Crumble
Image via Anna_Pustynnikova.
8. Gorgeous Gourds
Image via On SET.
Symbolize the onset of autumn with these iconic hues sampled from pumpkins and gourds.
9. Forest Flora
Image via Digital Botany.
10. Rustic Harvest
Image via Elena Veselova.
11. Warm Wardrobes
Image via Roxana Jifcovici.
You can never go wrong with a neutral theme. Add an eye-catching pop of color for a compelling composition.
12. Colorful Cuisine
Image via Evgeny Karandaev.
13. Mystic Snow
Image via Proshkin Aleksandr.
14. Autumn Cider
Image via Ekaterina Kondratova.
Add a hint of sugar, spice, and everything nice with this cider-inspired color palette.
15. Rustic Rooms
Image via Digital Storm.
16. Watercolor Blooms
Image via Tanya Syrytsyna.
17. Creamy Cocoa
Image via Soloviova Liudmyla.
This calming combination of blues and browns leaves you wishing for those warm and fuzzy feelings of winter.
18. Seasonal Sights
Image via Baigozin.
19. Modern Marble
Image via CARACOLLA.
20. Bold Blossoms
Image via kobimanop.
While red and green hues always make an appearance in holiday designs, tone down the vibrancy by incorporating cooler variants of this classic color scheme.
Download Swatch Files
Download these twenty free seasonal color palettes by clicking the button below. All of these swatches are available in the RGB color profile, so they’re ideal for any digital design.
Swatch files allow you to quickly apply color to any design element in your document with ease. These swatch files can be opened in any Adobe design programs. In other design applications, such as Shutterstock Editor, you can simply type out the unique six-digit hex codes labeled for each color swatch above.
How to Use Your Free Swatches in Adobe
In Adobe Illustrator, click the hamburger dropdown found in the Swatches panel and select Open Swatch Library > Other Library, then import one of the swatch files. The color palettes will appear in a new window, ready to be used in your design.
In both Adobe InDesign and Photoshop, open up the Swatches panel and click on the hamburger dropdown menu. Select Load Swatches and import an individual swatch file to see it pop up within the panel.
These unique color palettes can be applied to any vector shape, text object, gradient, or background layer.
How to Use Your Free Swatches in Shutterstock Editor
With a shape or text object selected, head over to the Fill Color or Stroke Color menus. Then, click on the circle shape to bring up the Presets and Custom tabs. Select the Custom tab and enter the six-digit hex code in the Web Color box.
Editor‘s new gradient feature allows you to easily apply these color palettes to a linear gradient. Simply select Gradient from the Fill Color dropdown, click the gradient stop, then enter the hex codes in the Web Color panel.
Cover image via ju_see.
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