The short version
- A strong fall color palette has a deep warm dark, two or three warm mid tones such as rust and amber, a pale cream, and often one cool note like moss or slate.
- Autumn palettes look muddy when orange is blended straight into green or blue, so route those blends through a warm brown or keep them apart.
- The darkest colour in an autumn palette should carry the headline area, because pale type on a deep brown or plum reads clearly on a phone.
- Early autumn campaigns suit lighter harvest colours, while late October and November suit darker plum, oxblood and candlelight tones.
- Every autumn palette in this article includes hex codes you can paste into any design tool or CSS file.
On this page
A fall color palette that works has four parts: a deep warm dark such as espresso or plum, two or three warm mid tones like rust, pumpkin and amber, a pale cream to rest the eye, and often one cool note, moss or slate, so the warmth has something to glow against. Below are six autumn palettes with hex codes, gradients built from each, and how to lay them out so a seasonal post still reads at a glance.
What makes an autumn palette feel like autumn
Autumn is less about orange than about value: the colours sit lower and warmer than summer's. Leaves, bark, cider and candlelight are all slightly greyed, slightly brown. If you lift every colour to full saturation you get Halloween, which is a different brief with its own guide in Halloween graphics.
- A dark anchor. Espresso, bark, plum or forest night. It holds the type and stops the palette looking like a sweet shop.
- Warm mid tones, slightly dusty. Rust, cinnamon, ochre and copper rather than traffic cone orange.
- A soft light. Cream, oat or parchment instead of pure white, which looks cold next to rust.
- One cool counterweight. Moss, sage or slate, used in a small area. Warmth reads warmer beside it.
The warm and cool balance is covered properly in warm and cool colours. For a related family that works all year, see earth tone colours.
Six fall color palettes with hex codes
1. Bonfire
2. Orchard
3. Fog and fern
Three more, for quick reference. Each follows the same structure of dark, mid tones, light and accent.
Dark
#3e2a20Mid tones
#8a5a3c #c89f7aLight
#efe4d6Accent
#a33b2bDark
#2a1630Mid tones
#5e2a4f #b8733dLight
#f3e9dcAccent
#e3b27aDark
#141016Mid tones
#3b1f2b #7a2e1fLight
#f1e4cfAccent
#e9c46aAutumn gradients you can copy
A palette becomes a background when you let its colours blend. The trick with autumn is to keep the light source warm and the edges dark, the way low sun and early dusk actually look. Each gradient below uses colours from the palettes above.
Muddy
- Orange blended straight into teal or green
- Every colour at full saturation
- Pure white type and backgrounds beside rust
- Brightest colour sitting behind the headline
Clean
- Orange to green routed through a warm brown
- Dusty mid tones with one bright accent
- Cream or oat as the light colour
- Brightest colour in a corner, dark behind words
Orange and teal meet in grey if you blend them directly. That grey band is one reason so many autumn graphics look tired, and muddy gradients explains the fix in detail.
How to use a fall palette on a real post
Most autumn content is a seasonal offer, a new menu or an event, so the words matter more than the leaves. Put the darkest colour where the headline goes and set the type in Cream. Use the bright accent once. If you want a pattern or photo, tint it in two palette colours so it sits back.
A café's portrait post for the feed, with the warm light kept away from the headline.
The same season as a story, using the darker, later palette for an evening event.
A gradient background is livelier than flat brown, but it can fight your text. In Gradiently, the background is a Mark that knows where the words are: it settles its calmest, best contrasting colour behind the headline and picks light or dark type line by line, so a rich autumn look stays readable without a box or shadow behind the words. Text on a gradient covers the manual way.
Sizes for an autumn campaign
A seasonal campaign usually needs a feed post, a story, a Pinterest pin for recipes or gift ideas, and an email header. Design the main post first, then make the others from it so the colour lands in the right place on each shape.
Instagram post 1080×1350
1080 × 1350
Story 1080×1920
1080 × 1920
Pinterest pin 1000×1500
1000 × 1500
Email header 1200×600
1200 × 600
Matching the palette to the month
Autumn is three months long, and the light changes a great deal across it. Shifting your palette gently keeps a long campaign from going stale without breaking your look.
- September: Orchard or Spiced latte. Lighter, still a little green, good for back to routine and harvest offers.
- October: Bonfire or Fog and fern. The peak of the leaves. Save the darker Late October for the last week and for Halloween events.
- November: Plum and copper or Candlelit. Short days and warm interiors; this palette leads naturally into Thanksgiving posts and the gift season.
Questions people ask
What colours are in a fall color palette?
Typically a deep warm dark such as espresso or plum, warm mid tones like rust, pumpkin, ochre and copper, a soft cream, and sometimes a cool moss or slate accent.
What are good autumn hex codes?
Try #2b1a12 for a dark, #8c2f1b rust, #d9622b pumpkin, #f2a541 marigold and #f6e3c5 cream. That is the Bonfire palette in this article.
How do I stop autumn gradients looking muddy?
Avoid blending orange directly into green or blue, which creates a grey band. Route the blend through a warm brown or keep the colours in separate areas.
Can I use autumn colours without orange?
Yes. Fog and fern uses moss, lichen and fog with a single copper accent, and Plum and copper leans on deep purple. Both still read as autumn.
What text colour works on an autumn background?
Cream or oat type on the darkest colour in the palette reads best. Pure white can look cold beside rust and brown.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
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