What Is A MoodBoard?

May 14, 2024

The term moodboard is not widely familiar to everyone since it is mainly used by the people of graphic design.

If you work in the industry, knowing this term is a part of your duty. It explains compositions or both visual image and other objects collections that are intended for design purposes and presentation materials for clients. Learn more about moodboard from our explanation below.

moodboard

 

The Definition of Moodboard

In other words, moodboard is a collection of image compositions, visuals, and other related objects in one frame. Designers made it either for design occasions or present it to clients (according to Technopedia).

Creating a moodboard will help designers in most design processes. It gives designers a brief how to select a theme for a project design.

Therefore, moodboard is a-must-have template made by designers before starting a project. Here are some objects or samples you should include:

  1. Images, any related images to the projects or designs.
  2. Fonts, possible type of fonts/text for the design.
  3. Colours, various colours choices.
  4. Graphic, essential graphic for design theme progress.
  5. Patterns, certain patterns which must be in the design or as per client’s request.

Moodboard is fluid. There are no fixed rules telling how to make a good one. Designers could customise their own templates and contents, based on their needs.

Regardless of its flexibility, moodboard should follow your design project theme. For business purposes or rebranding, it is required to have your moodboard perfectly organised.

Further, moodboard have a significant role in introducing your brand. It should be able to tell your project accurately and keep the audiences from having different perceptions.

 

The Functions and Benefits of Using Moodboard

Moodboard is an essential media for designers in the design process. It serves as a clearer representative of the prospective design.

The Functions of Using Moodboard

In general, it functions as:

  1. A description of design purposes and its benefits.
  2. An arrangement of abstract ideas into an actual design
  3. A great way of learning
  4. A planning method for industrial projects, mainly for the fashion industry and textile craft, or garment.

The Benefit of Using Moodboard

Also, moodboard serve some of potential advantages, such as:

Direct the Design Process

It helps direct the design process from the very beginning (raw ideas) into a form of actual work. Starting from selecting theme or title, collecting theme related images, to processing them into a work or design product.

Developing Cognitive Ability

Creating a moodboard also helps designers explore their cognitive or knowledge, improving their imagination ability as well.

Practising Affective Ability

Every time designers start a new project, their affective ability is improving too once they make a moodboard.

Affective ability is designers’ emotional ability, because creating a moodboard pushes designers to expand their instinct and feeling.

Performing Designers’ Psychomotor (Motoric) Ability

Also, creating a moodboard helps designers’ to practice and develop their motoric ability. Such as arranging images, creating a design and working on a related theme. 

 

How to Make a Moodboard

Making a moodboard is quite easy, you just need to arrange various ranges of images, colours or other objects in one frame or panel.

You can explore your surroundings to create a mood with those elements, which conforms to the theme either physics or digital. Here are 6 ways to help you create one:

  1. Selecting a theme or title
  2. Preparing tools and materials
  3. Collecting related images to the theme.
  4. Cutting images or editing them into digital.
  5. Preparing a frame to place various images, texts or other objects. It is possible to do it in physical or digital forms.
  6. Drawing the design.

There are to ways of making moodboard:

Digital

It is a much easier way than creating a physical one. Choose this option to have a more modern moodboard.

Some platforms provide moodboard creating features. Such as Pinterest, SampleBoard, Milanote and others.

If you use Pinterest, get your images from the sites then put them to a moodboard (this feature is available both in website and application).

Pinterest offers images which correspond to the users’ collections, helping them find what they need.

For SampleBoard, they provide you with a tool to directly create a moodboard. Some options are available such as graphic design, interior design and wedding planner.

Physical

For some designers, a real moodboard should come in a physical panel. It is another way you can try as a graphic designer.

You will need a board-pad, images and other objects. Get your ideas from magazines, newspapers or self-captured images.

You can insert some notes too, sticky notes and others. Find physical images then patch them on the board. This method requires more time and effort to complete.

 

Helpful Tips to Create a MotherBoard

Following the above information to create your own moodboard would be useless if  you know nothing about how to create a proper one.

Check out below for some useful tips:

Defining Purposes into Panels

Referring to Milanote, creating a moodboard should be divided into some categories. For instance, some panels are specifically created for fonts, colour schemes, images and other related objects.

The categories will help you define your purposes. They offer clearer choices to save your time in making a design.

Observing Other Websites

You are suggested to visit and learn about other websites for more inspiration. Countless templates are available out there to help you.

However, those sources are only for inspiration, not for being plagiarised. Look, learn, imitate and modify.

Asking for Feedback

There is nothing wrong asking for suggestions from your workmates or seniors. You could either consider their advice or make an immediate change.

 

Overall, creating a moodboard is an important skill for todays’ designers. It is a-must-have product to have, generating prospective offers which suits the design.

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