Have you ever had a great idea and didn’t know where to start, or what to do with it? A mood board is what you should start with.
What is a mood board?
A mood board is more than just throwing simple images together. It’s the first step in the creation process to organizing thoughts and ideas around a project. Throughout the design project, mood boards help to keep the aesthetic consistent as the design unfolds. Mood boards help to develop the style and work in general low-cost Mockups or prototypes without spending the big bucks. It’s quick and easy to convey a lot about the look and feel of the final design and get your ideas
And why is it so important?
When you come up with an idea, it’s hard to process so much information quickly and refine those ideas on paper. It’s important to define your ideas in a concise and organized manner so that you can start moving forward onto refined information down the road.
Think of mood boards as the stepping stones to a building. You must start with the pillars before adding the walls. Mood boards work in a similar manner. You want the base ideas down for your project before jumping to the finished product, and those pillars help keep the walls from shifting or changing the final design.
What goes into a Mood board?
A mood board can be simple, but the more information you provide into a mood board, the better those pillars will stand.
- Images – Anything from branding, stock photos, personal photos, product images, Photos found on social media or other websites, illustrations and designs, or logos.
- Colors – Color palettes, Color Hex Codes or color swatches, all colors can be incorporated through images or other design elements
- Fonts – Font styles and ideas, Fonts in different sections, for instance a TITLE, PARAGRAPH, TAGLINE
- Textures – Any textures, shapes, patterns that demonstrate a feeling or idea based on your project
- Explanations – In some cases, explanations can be included in a mood board to help drive the creative direction. Short and sweet is the path on this one, try to not to overload a mood board with too much writing, keep to simple one-line sentences.