MOODBOARD : VISUAL TOOL

For any design discipline, visual tools like ‘moodboard’ which illustrate a project’s features and
overall atmosphere is very important, especially during the early stages of the design process.
As images have immense powers of influencing and inspiring the viewers, a powerful visual
tool ( a moodboard ) can be a game-changer for both designer and the client.

Moodboard, also known as inspiration board, is an assemblage of color, texture, prints,

materials, or other design elements that makes up project identity. These elements are often
gathered during the design process ( specifically on ideation stage) and serve as inspiration for
what the project will look like. For architects in particular, moodboard have been helpful during
visualization and rendering phases. Although mood boards are commonly used in interior
design practices, they have become powerful visual communication tools in architecture,
fashion design , product design and even web-design. Mood Boards are useful for basically
anyone who would like to have a certain “look” and “character” to a particular work.

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PURPOSE

https://www.toptal.com/designers/visual-identity/guide-to-mood-boards
Mood Boards are valuable communication tools between client and designer as well as among
design team members as it helps each stakeholders be on the same page at the outset of the
project. Often when designers skip mood boards and produce work, there will be scenarios
when the client is not happy with the design which can result not only in wasted time and
resources but also loss of trust as if the client feels it's totally different from what they actually
wanted. It also prevents the dreaded “I will know it when I see it” syndrome with clients.
Showing clients a moodboard gives them something to see that’s still relatively low-fi and easy
to create. Designers can even create multiple moodboards if they are not entirely unsure of
what the client might want. This will yield fewer revisions to the finished designs since it can
put designer and client on the same page at the beginning of the design.

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-make-a-moodboard-step-by-step-guide
In short, the major reason for creating mood boards are :
I. Communicate effectively among all stakeholders involved.
II. Organize the project's look and feel .
III. Guide or be reference point to maintain consistency as well as to refine aesthetic of the
project in line with client's expectations and goals.

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PROCESS

There is no one single set of rules or just one way to make a moodboard. They come in all
different formats, shapes, and styles. Some prefer digital while some create physical depending
on need and context of the project.

The choice of Moodboard format can be answered by following questions :

I. Are your clients or collaborators are local or remote ?
II. How important is to have look as well as feel of textures ( or any other industry specific
items) to you and your client ?
III. Where are you going to source most of your moodboard items ?

Moodboard softwares
I. Pinterest Creating a board for each project to organize ideas found online. (Good for
exploration)
II. Moodboard Create free moodboards with no account needed.
III. Moodzer is new to the scene (beta app) but appears to have all features needed to
create stunning moodboards that are easy to share.
IV. Adobe Spark makes it easy to create mood boards in formats that play nicely with other
adobe products. It offers plenty of flexibility for creating moodboards in various shapes
and sizes with library of stock photos, fonts and design elements.
V. Canva offers moodboard template and variety of built-in design elements and stock
photos. Free alternative to expensive industry software. ( easy to use drag and drop)
VI. Milanote : Browser based app with handy additional features like the ability to add
videos and gifs, font files and text notes to explain your thinking.

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The process of creating moodboard can include following steps:
I. Write a quicknote
Quick idea notes can be derived from a design brief or based on your observation on
client’s verbal and non-verbal cues regarding his likes, dislikes, priorities and
references.

II. Brainstorm your theme

Based on Quicknote , try to uncover or discover keywords that can be derived from the
quicknote. Let your eyes roam and take a note or sketches of what resonates. You can
even use following inspiration sources during this stage :
a. Design Trends & Inspiration : Pinterest , Instagram
b. Design Community : Behance, Dribble
c. Design Research :

III. Collect the materials

Once you have got a particular theme or themes suitable for the project, collect the
materials that become a cohesive fit for your theme. Use following resources for
materials
a. Color Palette : Coolors.co or Design Seeds,
b. Typeface : Typewolf
c. Imager : Unsplash ( artistic) , Pixaby (illustration & photos) , Pexels ( well
organised photo library), Adobe Stock , Istockphoto.com, shuttershock.com

IV. Review, Curate & Present

There will be more materials than useful. Thus, curate by choosing images and samples
that come together harmoniously to reflect your design theme. A cohesive fit is
important, so discard anything that clashes.

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Resources

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-make-a-moodboard-step-by-step-guide#what-is
-a-moodboard

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/how-to-create-mood-board

https://www.archdaily.com/960594/the-art-of-visual-communication-12-tips-for-creating-powe
rful-mood-boards

https://www.toptal.com/designers/visual-identity/guide-to-mood-boards

https://www.adobe.com/express/learn/blog/creative-lookbook-and-mood-board-designs?gclid
=Cj0KCQjwktKFBhCkARIsAJeDT0je_pPfvABwSQ-bH-P2_onDGPu4o0BqN1ighdIrNL6lfqfWrll0g
5kaAozoEALw_wcB&ef_id=Cj0KCQjwktKFBhCkARIsAJeDT0je_pPfvABwSQ-bH-P2_onDGPu4o
0BqN1ighdIrNL6lfqfWrll0g5kaAozoEALw_wcB:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!3085!3!469156566468!b!!g!!!11
239754048!111087123300

https://www.canva.com/create/mood-boards/

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