Mood boarding can be tough, but is a great excerise to help generate a new look and feel for your brand. We've generated an infographic to that makes creating a mood board fun and easy in four simple steps.
Below we've written out a step by step guide to creating a mood board.
1. PICK 1 - 2 FONTS
You do not need to be a typographic guru to know what fonts look good together and what ones don't. Focus on personality and legibility.
The first font you choose should be something that you would want to use for headers on your print and web materials (show something with some ‘character/ personality’). The second font you choose should be something that is easier to read and will work well as body text across your print and web materials. Choosing a font family that is flexible and has thin/narrow options, bold, extended and black will get you the furthest.
2. CREATE A COLOR PALETTE
2-3 colors is fine, you do not need a huge assortment to feel visually cohesive— less is more.
Overall, it is good to pick 1-2 brighter colors to use for accents and then think about something additional that is more neutral.
Also consider using lighter and darker tones of the same color (hue) you are already using...lightening up (adding white) to your header color and then using it for a sub-header is a nice way to have something feel cohesive without needing to choose an additional color— make sure everything you choose goes with your logo as well.
3. PATTERN & TEXTURE
Not everyone likes or wants texture, but it should be considered either way. If you already know you want your colors and backgrounds to be flat, that is still a texture...
Show Visually: ie. flat, smooth, clean, etc. Or maybe you want a little more of a grunge feel, or something else that has a tactile or 3-D quality to it.
4. IMAGERY
Choose 1-3 main photos and/or illustrations and another 4-7 images that you can use interchangeably across all of your materials.
Make sure the images you choose (as a collection) show the core values of your organization, campaign, project or idea.
For more about mood boards and brand revitalization, check out these blog posts:
