How to Use Mood Boards for Your Branding Design
Whether you’re conceptualizing your startup’s branding, going through a brand refresh, or simply creating a design for your marketing campaigns, organizing all your creative ideas can be overwhelming. One way to organize your thoughts is by using a mood board.
Mood boards are visual representations of your brand identity and help you to keep all your ideas organized in one place. In this post, we’ll show you how to use mood boards for your branding design so that you can create a cohesive and on-brand
What Is a Mood Board?
A mood board is a collection of images, colors, textures, fonts, and other design elements that are all related to a certain idea or concept. For example, if you’re working on a branding project for a new fitness app, you might create a mood board with images of people working out, healthy food, and green smoothies.
The aim of using a mood board is to help you visualize the overall feel or mood of your project. It’s a helpful tool to use during the early stages of conceptualizing your branding. By seeing all your ideas laid out in one place, you can start to see how they all fit together and what direction your project should go in.
Should You Create a Mood Board?
Creating a mood board isn’t a crucial part of the design process, but if you do decide to create one, it can be a helpful tool.
1. Visual inspiration
As we mentioned, mood boards are especially helpful at the early stages of designing, and finding inspiration during the process can be difficult. With a mood board, you can curate all your visual inspiration in one place so that it’s easy to find and reference later on.
However, it must also be noted that mood boards can be used at any stage of the design process, and having a visual inspiration board can help to keep you on track even when you’re in the middle of designing.
2. Keeping your project cohesive
When you’re working on a complex design project with many moving parts, it can be easy to lose sight of your overall goal.
A mood board can help you to focus your ideas and keep the project on track. By seeing all your ideas laid out together, you can start to see which ones are working and which ones need to be scrapped.
3. Easy communication
If you’re working on a large project with multiple stakeholders, mood boards can be especially useful in getting everyone on the same page. By sharing your mood board with your team or clients, you can get feedback and input on the direction of the project early on. This can save you time and frustration later on, when changes are more difficult to make.
What Elements Can You Include in Your Mood Board?
The elements you put in your mood board are entirely up to you, but there are a few common elements that are often included:
1. Color palette
One of the most important aspects of your brand is your color palette. Your mood board is a great place to experiment with different color schemes and see how they all work together. You can even create a separate mood board just for colors.
2. Fonts and typography
Your font choice is another important aspect of your brand identity. On your mood board, you can experiment with different font combinations and see how they work together. Try to limit your font choices to 2–3 fonts so that your design doesn’t look too busy.
3. Images and texture
Images are a great way to add some personality to your mood board. In addition to photos, you can also add illustrations, patterns, or even just simple shapes. Design pegs, which are images that serve as inspiration for your project, can also be included in your mood board.
In addition to images, textures can add another layer of interest to your mood board. Including items like fabric swatches or paper samples can give you a better idea of how your project will come to life.
4. Words and phrases
In addition to visual elements, words can also be included in your mood board. This could be a mission statement, a tagline, or just a few keywords that describe your project. By including words on your mood board, you can start to get a feel for the overall tone of your project.
5 Tips for Creating a Mood Board for Your Brand
Like art, there are no hard-and-fast rules on how to create a mood board; whatever works for your brand is what you should go with. However, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
1. Keep it simple
When you’re first starting out, it can be tempting to try to include everything on your mood board. However, it’s important to keep things simple so that your board is easy to understand. Stick to a few key elements that you want to focus on, and add more as you go along.
2. Have your branding in mind
Your mood board should be a reflection of your brand, so keep that in mind as you’re creating it. What colors and fonts represent your brand? What kind of images would best convey your message? Answering these questions will help you to create a cohesive mood board that’s in line with your branding.
3. Use high-quality images
On a related note, the images you use on your mood board should be high quality so that they accurately represent your brand. If you’re using stock photos, make sure to choose images that are in line with your brand identity.
4. Organize your board
Just like with any other project, it’s important to keep your mood board organized. This will help you to find what you’re looking for when you need it, and it will also help to keep your thoughts clear. You can organize your mood board in any way that makes sense to you, whether that’s by colors, by fonts, or by topic.
5. Communicate your mood board to others
If you’re working with a team, it’s important to communicate your mood board to everyone involved. As we mentioned, doing so will help ensure that everyone is on the same page and that your project is heading in the right direction.
3 Design Software to Use for Your Mood Board
A mood board can either be a traditional one using an actual board, or it can be digital. If you opt to use a digital mood board, there are a number of software that you can use to make the process easier. Some of these include:
- Milanote: Milanote is a free software that’s specifically designed for creating mood boards. With Moodboard, you can drag and drop images, colors, and text to create a board that’s tailored to your project.
- Canva: Canva is a free design software that offers a wide range of templates that you can use to create your mood board.
- Adobe Photoshop: Adobe Photoshop is a paid design software that offers more sophisticated design tools.
Create Cohesive Brand Designs with the Right Tools
Mood boarding is a great way to get started with your branding design or with any of your design projects. The key is to use the right tools so that you can create a cohesive mood board that accurately represents your brand.
If you want to read more design and branding tips, head on to our blog at https://www.ilfusion.com/blog.
