If it’s the first time you heard about it – we’ll explain what it is and we’re sure you’ll enjoy creating one by yourself. A mood board is also called “the inspiration board”. This explains quite a lot – it’s meant to inspire. There are so many new techniques to cultivate the creative insight, so it’s worth to at least try a few of them.
A mood board could be basically anything. It’s a creative mix of colors, images, photographs, illustrations, words, textures, and pretty much anything else visual. Creating a mood board is a very spontaneous activity, so it has some similarities to brainstorming.
The only difference is that while brainstorming you write down the ideas that come into your head. With the mood board, you do the same thing, but you express yourself through visuals. Here you’ll find some tips on how to create the best mood board possible.
Why You Need One?
The main goal of a mood board is to create inspiration. Therefore it could be used for anything. It could be for an advertisement, for a wedding, birthday party, a magazine print, book cover, home decor, even a website design.
It’s an amazing way to kickstart creative processes and tasks. If you decide to give it a go, you can do it in two different ways. Your inspirational board can be either digital or physical. The digital one could be expressed through a blog and a physical one – on a huge piece of paper.
Define Your Style and Colors
It’s very important to be consistent with your style, so it’s crucial to choose it way before starting. There are so many styles and color schemes. Your mood board can be vintage, modern, industrial, monochrome, feminine, dynamic, static, and so much more. It depends on the project you are working on and the goal you want to achieve.
Expand Your Inspiration Research
Don’t just stick to one platform on one physical magazine to find material for your inspiration. Especially if you decide to go with the digital mood board. Don’t forget that the internet is endless and there’s so much more than Google images.
Just think about how many inspiration you could find on Tumblr, Instagram, and Pinterest. Never underestimate social media – it’s one of the best places to search for original content that you won’t find elsewhere.
Focus on Something Specific
Make sure that you place the accents of your mood board on specific things that matter the most. Decide which elements are the most important in your project and try to make them stand out. The placement of these elements and the intensity of colors can help you achieve this. The more important an image is in the whole context, the more central it should be.
Don’t Forget That Simplicity is Everything
Keep it clear and keep it simple. It doesn’t have to be a pile of hundreds and hundreds of images, sometimes even a few is enough. Just continue making your collage or blog until it seems clear enough and easily understandable for you and your team members if you’re not working alone.
Just Do It on Your Own
On the other hand, if you are quite a visual person yourself and know your way around some graphics software, then you can use it as well. Make photo manipulations, illustrations, or even draw by your own hand. Just grab a pencil and let your ideas flow through colors, words, and visuals from your head. You can even use your own photos – there are so many ways you can take amazing photos with your smartphone, so don’t be afraid to try it.
Pick The Best Tools
There is a high chance that you chose to create a digital mood board because it’s much faster. Visual resources are way easier to find on the internet than in a magazine because you are able to use search multiple platforms at once.
So if you choose a digital inspiration board, you might want to use some great tools to help you with your projects. To start with, try out Inboard. It is an awesome photo and font organizer, therefore it’s a great space to create a mood board. If you enjoy this method of brainstorming and wish to use it in the future, there is an app called Emulsion that will help you organize your visuals and separate boards.
When you’ll become an experienced mood board creator and start searching how to evolve even more, read these 8 Tips for creating inspiration boards – it will get you even further ahead with this creative process.
