Are you curious how I get from point a to z in designing?
Well, let me show you!
One of the biggest helpers in creating a mood board.
What is a Mood Board?
A mood board is just a fancy way of saying a document that has all the inspiration on it.
I create mood boards with all my brand clients to make sure I am understanding their vision. And also pulling important pieces from their vision.
How do I build a Mood Board?
1️⃣ I get my clients to fill out an in-depth client questionnaire. It includes questions about
- how you want your ideal client to feel when interacting with your brand
- what makes you stand out from others in your industry
- if your brand were a person, what would be their personality
- and a few fun questions like what’s your favourite drink,
- where would your brand be if it were a location,
- and what store would your brand be
2️⃣ I take those answers and turn them into a mood board. I get my clients to gather inspiration and from that, we create a custom mood board. It helps me bring your brand to life.
I use Pinterest a lot with these clients. This way we can find colours, images, fonts that inspire them or relate to them.
3️⃣ I share the mood board with my client and we tweak it to fit within their overall brand personality.
Once the mood board is approved, I begin designing the logo! Like this one above, you can see how it adjusted and changed as I built out the brand for Bennett’s Custom Designs.
Adjusting Mood Boards
The mood boards aren’t the final branding board or brand guide that I hand off to the client. But they help me, the designer, know I’m on the right track when pulling colours, fonts, and images to help create an overall cohesive feel to your brand.
I expect there to be revisions to the mood board. And I encourage all feedback so my clients and I are on the same page.
I’ve changed the layout of my mood boards as I’ve grown in business, but I still follow the same steps of gathering inspiration, colours, and fonts.
I find it’s also helpful to share a video when I present the new mood boards to clients. This way they can hear my rationale and understand why I chose things. Not everyone is a visual learner. And so a video with me walking through the choices I think helps my clients know I’m seeking to dive into their business.
Why Are mood Boards Important?
I think a big reason these are important is it gives us designers the chance to learn more about the client’s business and vision beyond the in-depth questionnaire.
There are times that my clients will write things down that they think they want in my questionnaire, but when I pull that inspiration and they see it, they change their mind—TOTALLY okay!
The second reason I think it’s important is that it gives my clients direction too. They know that I will be building off what they saw and approved of. If I didn’t share a mood board then I could possibly take longer to wrangle an idea and get on the same page as my clients.
Mood boards are ultimately the first step in creating a cohesive brand. It ensures my client and I are communicating, and moving forward in the same direction.
And the mood boards help me create the final brand guide that I deliver to all my clients.
What questions do you have about mood boards? You can message me on the ‘gram and I’d be happy to chat more!
And if you want a custom brand made, I’d be honoured to design it for you. Hop into my contact form and let’s bring your vision to life!!
