Not a mood swing. Not a mood ring. It’s a mood board.
A mood board is basically a “visual brainstorm” that is used as a starting point in the design process. It allows the designer to gather their thoughts and begin to develop their concepts. A mood board is typically a collage that consists of images, text, and samples of objects in a composition of the choice of the mood board creator. Our graphic designer, Lindsey, usually includes a few different “concepts” with examples of directions she wants to go in with the logo and branding, as well as a few different color options.
At Get Online NOLA, we primarily use mood boards when beginning the logo and branding process. When a logo is already provided, a mood board is not typically needed. For businesses that already have their branding in place, we can move right on to designing the website!
Get Inspired
When starting a mood board, our graphic designer usually conducts a bit of research into the client’s industry. She starts by looking at the client’s competitors to see what kind of logos, color, and imagery other similar companies are using.
For color inspiration, industry research is combined with color theory to create a unique color palette for each brand. Pinterest boards, design inspiration websites such as dribbble.com, or even a simple Google image search can be used to get inspiration for mood boards. The pictures included in the mood board are solely used as inspiration. The logo you get will always be unique!
An Example Mood Board
This is an example of a mood board for a tech company. It gives options for different types of logo styles (overlapping colors and typography with imagery) as well as two different color themes.
Image credits: Overlapping M, Mohawk, Presto, Moon, Horse, Tusk.
Benefits for the Client
Mood boards are a very important step for making sure the client and designer are on the same page. They are not a literal representation of your company’s branding and logo. Mood boards exist primarily to get the client’s feedback.
With our “Project Huddle” software, the client can comment and tell us which parts of the mood board they like, and which parts they don’t like. This is the best opportunity for the client to tell the design team “Yes, you got it right, this is the exact direction we want to go in” or “Actually I had something else in mind, could you try again.” In fact, this is the best time to give the designers negative feedback because the team can come up with other concepts before they begin designing the actual logo!
Remember, mood boards are not final. It won’t hurt our feelings if you hate it. We want comments from the clients so we can have a better idea of the direction they want to go in with their logo and branding. The more feedback the better! The designer will take all your feedback, both negative and positive, into consideration when conceptualizing and designing the first draft of your logo.
Benefits for the Designer
Before a designer invests hours into designing a logo, a mood board helps to clarify the direction the client wants to take and what vibe they want in regard to their branding.
A mood board is more than just choosing fonts and colors! It helps to distinguish your business from others and helps to define your company’s personality. It can potentially save a graphic designer wasted time and effort by getting the client’s approval of a concept ahead of time.
Though the mood board isn’t the logo itself, it gives the client an idea of what the finished product will look like and allows everyone involved to agree on a direction before too much work is done. This helps to avoid any misunderstandings that can result from just describing a design concept verbally because, with a visual representation, everyone is on the same page.
Still have a question about mood boards?