The idea of mood boards might make you think of influencers and blog moms who live on Pinterest and kale smoothies, or bridezillas planning their big day before they’re engaged… but can mood boards add much value to the design and illustration process?

You betcha!

In fact, projects often start with one.

But first, what is a mood board?

A mood board (aka inspiration board, vision board, concept board, creative direction board etc), is a rather nice-looking, inspiring curated collection of pictures, colours, textures, text, and other design elements to help define the particular mood, style and conceptual direction of a project before work begins.

Whether the project’s art direction is to feel retro and nostalgic, organic and earthy, formal and corporate, or bold and edgy. The images selected for the mood board should work together to convey and inspire that theme.

Does Pinterest come into play?

Yes, I love Pinterest, it’s great because it suggests images of the same mood really well. (Although sometimes it can take a while to nail the keywords for the vibe or style of what you’re looking for, but once you find that one thing—boom! Save image as!)

But also nope, because I don’t collaborate directly in Pinterest with clients (which is one way to do it), but I do ask my branding clients to curate their own dream board of about 10-20 images as part of their initial ‘homework’ (along with filling in an in-depth Brand Discovery Workbook).

I also suggest not just pinning other designs and logos, but also any pop culture references, packaging examples, home interiors etc that align with their vision in some way or other.

This process gives me a good sense of a client’s tastes and their thinking, and opens up a dialogue about what they like and don’t like about the selected examples. It’s also a great way to start off a project.

Asking, 'What do you like about this logo, or wine label? Is it the colour, the rounded corners, or the handwritten feel?' helps to clarify their preferences and align our vision.

I then go off and work on combining the strategy, goals, brand personalities and client mood board examples into my own mood board document, sourcing complementary photos, colours, fonts, and more to fit the direction best suited for the project.

For branding projects, this often involves multiple mood boards (see the example below): an overall board to capture the brand’s general vibe, followed by more specific boards for key areas like logo, typography, photography, or illustration, depending on what’s most relevant to the project.

This helps to start building the vision for the brand beyond just a logo. It has the client (and me!) considering the project as a whole, down to the proposed styling of brand photos.

From experience, clients finish viewing this presentation with great excitement!

And because I’m such a fan of the “no bad surprises, only good surprises” sentiment, using mood boards like this helps set those clear expectations to get the client fully on board with the direction first - allowing me to wow them with the final designs even more.

To finish off on a tasty note, imagine being shown a collection of photos by your chosen baker of the most amazing-looking chocolate cakes (your favourite kind!) in anticipation of your custom birthday cake. And when it arrives, it has extra thoughtful details and customisations just to your liking. You were expecting amazing chocolate cake, but 'WOW!' you say, shedding a tear (and wiping icing off your face because you have no self-control), 'It’s perfect!'. 🥲

I got distracted, but that’s why I swear by mood boards as part of my creative process.

And chocolate cake.

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Q. What are your thoughts on mood boards?

As a client or designer, do you find that mood boards help to communicate your ideas to each other better?

Let me know below

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