A mood board is first and foremost a collage that serves to collect a series of images, text, colors, and other visual representations of your brand. It is an easy way to whittle down your brainstorm into one cohesive space that will serve as inspiration for future marketing materials like a new website, logo, business cards, or email campaign.

Creating a mood board at the beginning of a project can decrease costs, too. By having a roadmap for a visual story everyone can agree on in the early stages of the project, there are often fewer time-consuming production and design changes after a prototype has been created. And creating a mood board at the beginning of your brand redesign can help inform future products and create cohesion across a wide variety of mediums. These are some of the key elements necessary to have a strategically significant mood board for your brand.

Image Styling

One of the first elements that will be used to create a mood board is image inspiration both in photography and illustration. Finding images that connect to your brand’s personality and color palette are a great jumping-off point to build a mood. They should represent the same look and emotions you want your brand to evoke in your customers. These photos often inform the color palette that makes the most sense for your business as you gravitate toward them naturally.

Color Palette

Color is the first impression a consumer has of your brand. Before they read any text or consider images, first the emotions evoked by the color inform their next visuals. A business color story can be harnessed by a design team to encourage action and influence the mood of its audience. In fact, research has shown that 60% of people decide whether or not they’re attracted to a message solely based on color, and brand recognition increases by up to 80% with consistent color messaging. But your color palette should also be versatile in order to achieve impact without looking one-note. Choose at least six colors, with light and dark shades and both dominant and accent choices.

Typography and Fonts

Every font has a unique personality and characteristic. When choosing yours, it is imperative that you choose the one that best reflects the personality of your brand. Different fonts evoke different emotions. For example, serif fonts portray tradition, reliability, and masculinity, which is why they are used for brands like financial institutions. Sans-serif fonts give a modern, stylish feel. And script fonts are elegant, classical and feminine like Coca-Cola.

Applications Across a Variety of Mediums

The final opportunity your mood board should take advantage of is how it can be applied for all your business purposes including paper, digital, tee shirts and any other vital interpretation unique to your market offering. This is the best way to ensure that the mood board will best inform future uses for your marketing team and general staff. How do you find your clients? What makes your interactions special? It should be incorporated in your mood board to be certain you don’t lose sight of it.

While there is often a temptation to jump right into the design phase of a project, taking the time to put together a mood board first can save time and effort, while ensuring that your campaign achieves its goals. Need help with your creative vision and branding? That’s just some of what we do.