A mood board, not to be confused with a mood ring, or a mood swing, is a way to collect different creative information in order to prepare for a new project. It is a segue between initial thoughts or meeting and the first draft of your project. The mood board enables your client to see the design direction you are moving towards before you invest hours upon hours of work into designing.
Mood boards can be created generally, in two different ways; physically or digitally. A mood board in the physical sense looks like a collage of images, fonts, color schemes, etc. Let me paint you a picture. You’re flipping through a magazine, you find yourself on a page that has a text layout, color palette, or picture of a bear on a unicycle that you just love. Your next step would be to cut that thing out, and attach it to a large board. Some people use poster board, some use foam core. I’d prefer to use a cork board and push pins for easy rearranging, then clean and file the images once the project is complete. In the digital realm, the mood board is a much more organized library of examples. There are different websites that are created as blogs, but can be used productively as an interactive mood board. Some of these websites include Springpad and Pinterest. Both of these allow the user to create folders that can stand for various projects or clients. The internet allows you to easily share your mood board with clients or collaborators. With the advent of the internet, most content and media has moved online, which makes it easy to copy URL’s and images from one site to another. This interactive form of a mood board works well in being able to see what your client is posting as well as allowing them to see what you are posting in real time. This allows for quicker responses and easier communication. There are pro’s and con’s to both forms of mood board creation. It really comes down to how you plan on sharing your thoughts with others, and your personal preference.
A mood board can contain a variety of different resources depending on the project you are collecting for. This includes anything that can help form a creative decision for any aspect of the project, such as; color, texture, composition, lighting, typography, style, era, video samples, shapes, any images that inspire an idea, and more.
Every designer can attest to the client that just can’t picture what you describe to them when brainstorming, getting deep into the initial designs, and having the client be surprised by the direction of your designs. Creating mood boards up front before getting into designing anything can help prevent this from happening again. The client can see your direction, you can get the clients feedback and input in to what direction they might be thinking, and everyone becomes a little less moody.
FAQs
A moodboard is a visual tool that helps you communicate your design concepts and ideas. It's a curated collection of images, materials, colour palettes, text, and other elements arranged to evoke a particular style or feeling.
What is the purpose of a mood board and mind map? ›
Moods boards are comprised of collected images and objects from outside sources, while mind mapping involves your own free flowing thinking connections. With that said, both methods could be applied and/or combined for some engaging new methods of generating inspiration.
What is the primary purpose of a mood board in the design development process in fashion? ›
The main purpose of a mood board in fashion is to help translate abstract ideas into something visual and tangible. It's a way for designers to organize their thoughts, experiment with different concepts, and see how various elements like colors, textures, and styles can work together.
What is the purpose and benefits of creating a mood board in photography? ›
A mood-board can do so many things... It can tell someone how you feel, explain your ideas without words, divide opinion, influence and inspire... or even just be something beautiful to look at. We can make mood-boards work harder for us, we just need to make sure we use them to our advantage.
What is the purpose of making a mood habitat board? ›
The meaning of a mood board is to convey your feelings and ideas about a particular topic. It is a presentation and collage existing of images, texts, and samples of those ideas. This collage of images shows a collaborative imagination of your goals with that topic and what you want out of it.
What is a mood board and examples? ›
In short, a mood board is a collection of content to translate an idea or thought visually. A mood board sets a specific tone for anything. Whether you're building a new product, a campaign, or a brand, a mood board can communicate ideas using shared design references.
What is the purpose of a mindmap? ›
Mind maps provide a structured way to capture and organize ideas and information. They help users to understand concepts by breaking them down into their component parts. The technique is used to develop new ideas, or to break down and better understand existing information.
What is the purpose of a mind map quizlet? ›
A mind map is a diagram used to visually organize information.
Why is it called a mood board? ›
They call them mood boards because they're based on actual foam boards where you could pin stuff. A physical mood board is a 3-dimensional collage of images, textures, and other design elements that are arranged and displayed on a physical surface such as a board or wall.
Is mood board one word? ›
mood board is formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: mood n. 1, board n.
Try to choose a mix of things- textures, colours, images, typography, fashion, nature, landscape and interiors. These are my mood boards, I am working on refining my brand and personal style, and I think these boards (featured board at the top and board below) really encapsulate the feel I am working toward.
What is the purpose of a moodboard? ›
A mood board is a type of visual presentation or 'collage' consisting of images, text, and samples of objects in a composition. It can be based on a set topic or can be any material chosen at random. A mood board can be used to convey a general idea or feeling about a particular topic.
What are the reasons for mood board? ›
Purpose of a Mood Board
Mood boards can serve many purposes, starting with organizing the inspiration around a project. They can be a valuable resource throughout the design project, to help keep the style and aesthetic consistent and on track with a client's goals and expectations.
What does a mood board help you to gather ideas and inspiration? ›
Starting the design process with a mood board is a good idea for two reasons: 1) Mood boards help you. Gathering some ideas and inspiration before you actually start designing can streamline the design process and cut down the time you spend staring at a blank screen.
What is a mood board for goals? ›
Mood or vision boards are visual tools that aim to inspire and motivate people by picturing their goals, dreams, and desired feelings. They can be physical, created with magazine cutouts, photographs, and other materials, or digital (think drafting pics onto a word doc, or using Canva).
What are the disadvantages of moodboards? ›
Moodboards lack realism. By piecing together static images from different sources, the interior designer is unable to bring all of the elements together to make the space feel realistic. Continuity can be a problem and cause the customer's imagination to run wild.
What are the two types of mood board? ›
There are two types of ad mood boards: digital or physical. It's completely up to you and your working style to choose the one that best fits your marketing campaigns.
What's the difference between a mood board and a vision board? ›
Though similar, vision boards and mood boards are not one and the same. A vision board relates to your life direction, says Larry. A mood board, on the other hand, is more of a planning tool used for aesthetics—decorating a room or planning a party scheme, for example.
