Mood Board for a Brand
A Visual Journey
Have you ever wondered how successful brands create and maintain their visual identity effortlessly? It starts with a simple yet powerful tool – the mood board.
What exactly is a brand mood board?
- It is a starting point to envision and shape your brand’s visual elements, all in one place.
Creating A Mood Board
Did you ever make a collage? Imagine you have virtual scissors and glue to assemble a few elements on a screen. These will be the key components you need for the board:
- a carefully curated color palette,
- playful yet professional typography style,
- vibrant graphics that will inspire your logo.
Placing all your initial choices on one board will allow you to explore if these elements can work together, convey your brand’s message, and create harmony. Or not.
Where exactly to begin? Assuming you have already done the research suggested in the chapters before, and are aware of your industry standards and expectations, consider your mission and the target audience, and then list adjectives that would describe your brand,
How could the ADJECTIVES help? Check my previous chapter where I asked ChatGPT to produce ideas for a brand design. The prompts I wrote were loaded with adjectives: “cozy”, “organic”, “creative”, “inviting”, “family-friendly”, “elegant”, “relaxed”, “tasteful”…
Knowingly or not, we associate certain colors and shapes with actual emotions. Ai can build on these ideas because we thought it. But as a designer, you need to be aware of them too.
The Mood Board BasicS
1. Colors Have Meaning
Colors are associated with different meanings and emotions. For your convenience, I prepared a free PDF file with a list:
To read more about choosing colors read: Colors For A Brand.
QUICK TIP: If your company has a physical place, it is a good practice to start your design by taking photos on the premises. Nature has a great way of harmonizing colors. Try to pick your initial color ideas from these photos.
2. Fonts Have Personality
Fonts can be classy or contemporary, elegant, or playful, bold, or subtle. Matching font characters with the personality of your brand is the best way to maintain brand consistency in the future. Fonts also need to appeal to your audience and most importantly: they must be EASY TO READ
To read more about choosing fonts read: Fonts for a Brand.
3. The Logo Has to be Significant and Simple
It is a visual symbol that will represent your brand. It should capture your audience’s attention, communicate your brand values, and stand out. It typically consists of unique shapes, symbols, or typography.
To read more about logotypes and design read: Logo for a Brand.
Ready to start? Let the mood-boarding journey begin!
Back to the “Cozy Caffee” I invented in the previous chapter. This time, I combined the adjectives with real photos and a couple of images from the Pinterest search that ChatGPT suggested.
A Mood Board for a “Cozy Caffee”.
The Mission:
- “Create a friendly space where kindness meets deliciousness”
- “Arrange a comfy hub for the local community, supporting ideas and talent exchange”.
Audience, standards, and adjectives:
- Audience: creative, inventive, peaceful, family-oriented
- Colors and shapes standards: natural, earthly, whimsical
- Adjectives: cozy, relaxed, delicious, tasteful, elegant
All the information and a few photos lead me to colors:
- Brown: for earthliness, comfort, and COFFE!
- Green: for nature, growth, and harmony
- Orange: for enthusiasm, and creativity
- Pink: for playfulness, and energy
I selected fonts that are decorative and a little quirky, drew a simple vector of a cup, and coffee beans, threw in an image of a ginkgo leaf for the earthly-herbal feel, made a couple of versions – and voila – there is a first sketch to talk about.
* This simple template is here just to help visualize the process. But if you’d like to use it, it is available in my Etsy Shop, and it can be edited in a free CANVA account. Just make a copy and place your pictures, colors, and graphics.
Experiment, and try different elements to see if they work together.
In the following chapters, you can learn more detail about the elements. As you read you will refine the mood boards until you are pleased; until it becomes a Brand Board, the final version, and the go-to outline for all who will be using your brand elements in the future.