May 12 2020 | Inspiration , StoriesEdit , Collections , Design
Whether you’re a graphic designer, illustrator, interior designer, wedding planner, photographer, or in need of a touch of inspiration, you’ve probably created some kind of mood board or inspiration board.
Mood boards are a visual tool that communicates our ideas and concepts. They’re the perfect way to gather creative information in one place visually. They serve as an essential transition between your initial thoughts and the first draft of any project.
While it’s often assumed that creating a mood board is strictly for people working in creative fields, you might be surprised to know that professionals in a variety of industries heavily rely on creating mood boards as a foundation for planning new projects. The reason for this is that during the process of creating a mood board, you can narrow down ideas and begin to establish clarity for the direction of a project.
Mood boards also help promote and nurture creativity as they provide you with a unique opportunity to play around with images, colors, textures, and more. During the creation process, you’re able to conduct research that you might not have done otherwise.
As with any project, developing a mood board requires a bit of research. We suggest starting with a few keywords you can reference throughout the project. Keywords can be any word that you want your mood board to visually convey, like “spring,” “minimal,” “classic,” etc. Identifying keywords will help you search for images, textures, color swatches, or patterns to fit within your desired visual aesthetic.
Once you have your keywords established, it’s time to start looking for imagery for your mood board. If you’re a Pinterest user, we highly suggest creating a board on Pinterest with the name of your project. This Pinterest board will serve as a place for you to Pin any images of objects, color swatches, prints, etc. you find that you think might work well within your mood board. Once you have a collection of Pins, comb through your Pinterest board, and select images that align with your vision – these will be the images you add to your mood board. Add and remove images and color swatches as needed until you’re happy with the overall direction of your mood board.
Another way to gather images is to look through your saved photos on Instagram. If you plan on sharing your mood board on your Instagram Stories, tagging the accounts of images that inspired you is a great way to credit artists and build community.
While there are several programs that you can use to create your mood board – like Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator – if you’re looking to create a quick well-designed mood board with just a few taps, you’re in luck! We’ve just released our StoriesEdit Mood Board Templates Collection, which conveniently allows anyone to easily create their very own mood board in the palm of their hands.
Just about anyone looking for inspiration or looking to narrow down the scope of their ideas can significantly benefit from creating mood board templates.
Have a new product rolling out soon? Use a mood board to help establish the marketing direction for your project.
Creating a mood board can assist you when creating content. Do you have a specific blog idea in mind? Gather your ideas in a mood board so you can share it with your photographer, videographer, or even if it’s just for you to hone in your ideas.
Are you working on a new professional or personal project? A mood board can help you establish the tone and direction before creating anything.
A mood board can help visually capture what you have in mind for a client or project. The mood board exercise will help your client visualize your ideas and solutions prior to the start of the project.
Have a photoshoot coming up? A mood board is a great way to narrow down ideas for your photoshoot. You can even send that mood board to your phone to have it on hand while shooting to make sure you’re staying true to the direction of the project.
Have a new event you’re working on? You can create a mood board to present to your client to make sure you’re both on the same page in regards to the overall look and theme of the event.
The joy after putting together your first mood board is incomparable. Your mood board will continue to inspire you, keep you focused, and ensure that your project will end with success.
