Mood Boards
A mood board is a visual tool for conveying thoughts and concepts.
It can be used to convey the project's vision and emotional tone through a grouping of pictures, objects, texts, etc. Visual thoughts can be incredibly difficult to communicate at times, so mood boards organise and concentrate the ideas, setting the mood for a project.
Mood boards can be made physically or digitally.
A physical mood board consists of a collage of photos, fonts, colour schemes, etc. that have been adhered to a piece of card or board.
A digital mood board can be created in Photoshop or InDesign and saved as jpegs, or it can be found on a website like Pinterest.
Both approaches to creating mood boards have advantages and disadvantages. It actually depends on how you intend to communicate your ideas to others and on your personal preferences.
Below there is a mood board I created utilizing Canva, where you can find multiple templates to get you started on your on creation.
Below is a video tutorial by Audrey Noakes, where she quickly explains how you can make your own mood board using Adobe InDesign.
Mood boards can organise the inspiration for a project, which is just one use for them. They can be a useful tool for the duration of the design process to assist maintain the style and aesthetic and keep it in line with the objectives and expectations of a client (creating mood boards might help your client understand your approach and way of thinking). Before beginning the actual design phase of a project, mood boards can say a lot about the final design's appearance and feel.
What to include in a Mood Board?
Images: These can include logos, graphics, photos from photo-sharing websites like Instagram, stock photography, product images, and brand images.
Colours: Most mood boards include the design's colour palette, which can be presented as swatches or incorporated into photos and other design elements.
Visual Metaphors: If suitable, visual metaphors can be used. They are a crucial component of contemporary branding and advertising.
Words: words that relate to the brand or message that should be communicated.
Typefaces: For any design where the text will be prominent, designers should incorporate specific fonts (or at least generic font styles) in their mood boards.
Textures: Textures or patterns that will be used in the design.
Explanations: Providing context and making it simpler to comprehend how all of the many components will come together to create the final design are two benefits of providing explanations for the mood board's sections when needed.
Below there is an example of a mood board I created this week for a photoshoot I was doing with a rapper artist that goes by Slicko. The idea of the shoot was to capture an edgy/grunge, street style, 'rapper aesthetic' and influencer-like (uniquely basic) image. Therefore, this is the mood board created to give ideas of places to shoot, lighting, colour grading and poses that convey the aesthetic of the artist.
A fresh design solution can be difficult and challenging to create. It becomes considerably more challenging when needs from clients and unexpected choices are included. Adding mood boards to the design process will make life much easier since there are no actual "rules" that specify what should be on a mood board or how it should look, which is one of its major benefits and gives a lot of creative freedom for creatives.
Given the benefits of mood boards and the absence of disadvantages (aside from the time commitment), whether a project is a straightforward website update or a comprehensive branding strategy, mood boards help the project to proceed more smoothly if the mood board phase is given enough time.
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