a guide to → EFFECTIVE MOODBOARDING

There are many benefits to mood boarding when it comes to collaborating with a graphic designer, with the first on being ensuring everyone is on the same page before moving forward with a design. Ultimately, in the long run it is going to save you both time and money!

“Mood boards allow me to
visually understand the tone and mood of a clients design style, which means I can exceed their expectations when presenting concepts”

Emma M, Graphic Designer at Wahoo

First things first. Here’s some guidance on what you should be including in your mood board to ensure it’s a really effective communication tool…

1. Make sure your mood board matches your brand aesthetic
Include any visuals that already exist in your brand. For example, your brand logo, a link to your website, brand specific design elements (e.g. icon styles, image guides etc.) as well as brand colours and fonts.

2. Give a little more insight into your brand
Share your brand values, your mission statement, taglines or previous brand design elements you have loved.

3. Get your colour palette down pat

When it comes to choosing colours, it can easily get a little overwhelming! However, Adobe’s Colour Picker Tool makes it a little easier. With this tool, you can easily find colours that complement your brand colours.

TIP if your seeing a consistency in the images you are choosing to put in your mood board, you can always pick a few colours out at the end, once you have completed your board.

4. Focus on your fonts

Have fun with some typeface styles. Fonts can be a great way to express a particular mood. Think about different weights too (i.e bold, italic, etc).

TIP do the terms ‘serif’ and ‘sans serif’ sound like another language to you? Here’s a Beginners Guide to Fonts to make things a little easier.

5. Get creative with imagery

Collate a range of graphics, patterns, icons and photos that you love. You can find inspiration (and build your board!) on online platforms such as Pinterest or Behance.

TIP your inspiration images don’t need to be relative to your industry. If you’re a commercial property developer, but you love the packaging your new luxury fragrance came in, then be sure to include it on your board.

6. Add some notes to explain what you like about certain images
Mood boards are a form of visual communication, however feel free to add short notes about why you have chosen particular elements to help better communicate your ideas.

Now that you’re equipped with the knowledge you need to create a highly effective mood board that clearly communicates your design ideas and expectations it’s time to start building one.

Behance and Pinterest are both free online platforms where you can easily search for inspirational images and create shareable mood boards. Here is a handy guide to getting started with mood boards on Behance to get started. On the other hand, if you’re more drawn to pinterest then we are more than happy to help you get started, just get in touch and we’ll get back to you pronto!

words by Kate Cowley, Digital Marketer & Content Creator at Wahoo.