HOW TO CREATE A MOOD BOARD FOR YOUR BRAND
I love the shifting of the seasons, and perhaps my favorite of all is the transition from summer to fall. Since I’ve spent much of my life living in warm climates, the cooler weather is always a welcome change and as a self-proclaimed introvert, I relish in the time to move inward.
The cycle of our seasons impact so much of our day-to-day rhythm, and also bring forth so much inspiration.
Before starting any design project, I always ask my clients to review my Season Pinterest Boards and select the one or two that they feel most resonate with their brand.
This in itself can be a powerful exercise to try to get more clear on the visual direction or a brand, which can be one of the trickiest pieces of the process - to bring forth the words and story behind a brand and translate it into a visual presence.
The Season Boards provide a shared starting point, and they were so much fun to make!
Check them out here:
Which one most resonates with your brand?
What is a mood board?
One of the most frequently-asked questions I get about the brand and web design process is, “What is a mood board?”
The mood board represents the overall “mood” or feeling behind a project or brand. The main purpose of the brand mood board is to set the visual direction of the brand, and therefore are super helpful to use before you start creating your website. It is also one of the first steps in the brand identity creation process AND the website design process.
The mood board should also bring forth the same emotions or reactions you want your clients to feel when they interact with your brand.
Notice the difference in how this mood board makes you feel:
Versus this one:
The first mood board is 100% summer, bold, vibrant, dynamic, colorful. The second mood board is winter with a splash of spring - calm, minimal, a little feminine.
Both of these clients are coaches, but the feel of their brands could not be more different. Ultimately, their brand tones communicate to their clients very clearly what they are about and the type of experience their clients will have when they work together.
So, are you ready to give it a shot with your own mood board?
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
The first step is to get clear on your brand tone words. Your brand tone words are the 5 or so words that represent the feeling behind your brand. Some questions you may want to ask yourself as you are determining your brand tone words include:
What makes your business unique?
What kind of personality does your brand have?
How do you want your clients to feel when they interact with your brand?
What adjectives would you use to describe your brand?
Once you have settled on your brand tone words, you are ready to start creating your brand mood board.
Create your own Pinterest board, gathering inspiration for your brand.
Great places to look for inspiration include Pinterest itself as well as stock photo websites.
Here are my 2 favorite:
Unsplash.com (free)
Inspired Stock Shop (affiliate link)
Once you have 30-40 images, narrow it down to 10 or so and download those images.
Upload into Canva.
Grab your free editable template here to create your mood board masterpiece!
Drag the photo into the spot you wish. Double click the photo to arrange it.
Play around with the photos until it feels right.
Don’t overthink it. If it feels right, it is!
There you go!
You are ready to create your own mood board, and although this article is geared toward your overall brand board, you can also create mood boards for programs, collaborations, or other creative projects that need distinctive branding.
Hi! I’m Jannan
I’m Jannan Poppen. I help small businesses bring their vision to life through branding and web design so they can create the impact and income they desire.