Experienced designers are familiar with the term “mood board.” In general, a mood board is just what it sounds like, i.e., a collage with pictures, photos, notes, and patterns put together to facilitate a working process. Designers usually craft mood boards to visualize their ideas. Please, don’t confuse mood boards with templates, as their role is more significant in a designer’s work.
How to Create an Ace Mood Board
Do you want to know how to create an ace mood board that will inspire you and boosts your creativity? We’ll give you a couple of great tips. When working on a mood board, follow these steps:
- Think about the concept of your project.
- Use different elements: images, samples, and typography.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment.
- Adjust your mood board at separate stages of working on the project.
- Use various design tools.
If you are on the hunt for a top-notch design tool while crafting your mood board, you may try mood board maker. It is an online design service with thousands of amazing templates for any purpose. You can pick out pre-designed templates or craft your own, applying your imagination. Even if you have never worked with online tools before, Crello offers step-by-step tutorials for amateurs. In other words, if you seek inspiration and want to optimize a creative process, this graphic design tool is just what the doctor ordered.
5 Reasons Why Designers Need Mood Boards
If you think that mood boards are total nonsense or useless for professional designers, we will give you at least five proven reasons why it is not so!
You Move in the Right Direction
Mood boards will help you control the whole creating process step by step. Of course, an initial draft can differ a lot from the finished product. But when you visualize your ideas on a board, you can see a clear picture of how a project will flow and make adjustments when necessary. When you have many ideas that you need to combine to see how they match, a mood board will show whether you move in the right direction.
You Have a Source of Inspiration
Designers and people of art know that inspiration is the heart of any project. When a muse leaves you, it’s getting tough to concentrate, and you have to put the creating process on hold. It will unlikely happen when you have a blueprint of the final product in front of your eyes rather than in your thoughts only. Nothing inspires and motivates designers stronger than a picture of a finished masterpiece. That’s why artists need mood boards.
You Get a Client Involved
Statistics say that 86% of business partnerships end because of a bad customer experience. Designers know it firsthand because they often deal with clients’ unrealistic expectations. The best solution to shield yourself from disgruntled clients is to make them involved in the creating process. A mood board can be your helpmate in this regard. It will be like a bridge between you and a customer to ensure that both parties have the same vision of the end product. Everyone will agree that it’s better to receive feedback during the creation stage rather than remodeling the finished work afterward.
The Process Goes More Smoothly
Do you know that the human brain needs around thirty minutes to concentrate when we switch between different tasks? Of course, it’s more efficient to finish one task before moving to the next one, but it’s not always possible when you work on several projects with strict deadlines. Mood boards appear to be highly time-saving in this matter, especially when you work in a team. The creating process flows more smoothly when all the participants are on the same page. Everyone has the same clear vision of a final showpiece when its key components are placed on one board.
You Maximize Your Productivity
A mood board is similar to a check-list to some extent. It shows what steps and in what sequence you need to do to complete a project in time and avoid burnout and stress. You maximize your productivity significantly when you have a visual plan highlighting the project’s every phase, from idea to creation. Besides, you can use mood boards in your portfolio to visually deliver your marketing messages to potential customers.
Final Thoughts
If you have never used mood boards in your work before, we hope this article would be a good push to start. A well-crafted mood board is a must-have for all designers and artists. It helps save precious time for corrections if unsatisfied clients ask to redo a finished product. Besides, by visualizing your ideas on a board, you always have an inspiration source in front of your eyes.