What is a mood board and why do I need one? [2023 updated]
Mood boards are visually beautiful collections of images, textures, colors and text that combine to present an idea or evoke a certain feeling, hence the name mood board. Often words simply can’t do justice to an idea, so designers turn to imagery to paint a better picture of their vision.
Creating a mood board online works well for collaborative visual projects within distributed or remote teams. This way, you can make sure everyone’s on the same page visually before you get too far down the line.
In this article, we’ll show you how a mood board can be a helpful tool in your visual project. Plus, we’ve created a simple mood board template you can use to get started.
Interested? Read on to find out how to create your own online mood board now using a free template.
How to create a mood board online using the template:
- Hunt down anything you can find on the internet. Look within your own photos, on Pinterest, in magazines and websites and save the image. Don’t be afraid to look in a completely different field- you never know where inspiration may strike.
- Start adding to your template. Drag and drop or click the Insert Content button to upload content such as images, videos or take screenshots.
The template is divided into sections to help you arrange your mood board:
- Design inspiration: Add a graphic of something that will fit into your product design such as a piece of fabric, font, or inspiring product.
- Feature image: Your hero images go in these two boxes. They could be flat lays, styled shots or images that you feel encapsulate your style perfectly. Add graphics as JPEGs, PNGs, AI, PDFs and more!
- Texture: Textures evoke strong emotions, so it’s important to add texture that represents your vision.
- Lifestyle image: In this section, you can add an image that represents an aspirational lifestyle of your desired customer.
- Color: Create a color palette by adding shapes, then selecting your preferred colors for this project.
- Rearrange, refine and re-do until you are completely happy with the visual look of the mood board. Use the slice and crop controls to clean up images, and the alignment tools to get everything in line.
- Once you’ve finished your mood board, you can invite others to view it by sending them a link. Collaborators can share their thoughts via the comments section or by adding sticky notes on the board.
- Download as a PDF to print your completed mood board.
Mood board online examples
Mood boards are used by creatives in many industries such as branding, film and music, marketing and social media, event planning and fashion.
They are particularly useful for:
- Inspiration at the start of a project
- Affirming the concept of brand identity
- Pitching ideas to a client
- Communicating your identity and vision to external contractors.
To get your creative juices flowing, we’ve put together two example mood boards from within the fashion and interior design industries.
Fashion industry
Creativity and style run through everything fashionistas do. A mood board can help align thoughts and collect ideas when creating new collections or lines as well as ensuring the collection is cohesive.
Interior design industry
It’s important for interior designers to be able to translate their lofty visions into digestible design ideas to show customers. When you can’t meet face-to-face, the best way to do this is by sharing a mood board online.
Why a collaborative whiteboard is the best mood board tool?
The process of creating your mood board doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it should be a fun exercise! While you can always grab some magazines and cut-and-paste images onto a physical board, you’ll be saving yourself a lot of time, as well as accessing infinitely more inspiration with an online mood board.
The other benefits of a mood board online are:
- Perfect for remote teams: Involve everyone in the design process, regardless of location
- Give and receive feedback in real-time: This ensures there are no misunderstandings or never-ending attachments of different versions
- Easily important rich content into your board: Videos, files, fonts and photos. You’re only limited by your imagination
- Share boards easily: Share a link to your board with team members, clients and stakeholders in one easy click
- Infinite canvas: You can add as much content as you need to capture the mood of your style. Our template is a guide, but you can always adapt it to suit your needs.
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Great
Good information thank you
Thanks for sharing this information