Mood boards are such useful tools and commonly used in fields like interior design, fashion, and graphic design. They serve a number of purposes. Allowing you to collect thoughts, ideas, color schemes and moods in one place, defining a coherent design concept without risk of losing sight of the bigger picture. There are a number reasons why you should create a mood and I mentioned them here. The question is how do I curate them?
Before you can learn to create a board, you need to understand the different types. Physical and digital. Iv put together a little neat Know how to get you up and started.
Physical mood board
The traditional method and option is a Physical moodboards. A physical moodboard is something you can touch and feel in your hands. Typically, they are laid out on a piece of foam board — a craft material used for purposes as wide-ranging as building dioramas and mounting photographs. Alternatively, a cork pinboard with pins can be a stylized way to display your inspiration.
Essentially it’s a back to school arts and crafts lesson. Start by considering painting the board in a color that matches your chosen palette. Painting your board will help you achieve two things, an ascetically pleasing background and a visual to show how the intended looks will layer on top. Utilise magazine images or photographs, by cutting out your images and neatly stick them to the board. Layer and over lap them or neatly place them in rows. A physical board is that – physical. Ensure to add materials you want to inject into your project. Add samples of fabric, wood, ceramics not to your board. This creates touch points to see how all the textures come and work together.
I did this for our bedroom mood board. I added the wood samples and hard wear details I knew I would be using and arranged them on a board to visualise how the components worked together.
Digital Mood board
A contemporary yet simple solution is a Digital moodboard. They allow you to easily incorporate images you’ve seen on the internet or objects you’ve photographed digitally. Using the digital content you find, you can arrange them on a number of online platforms. Offering you a way to bring these images together. Some common ones are:
Pinterest.
This social media platform allows you to easily bring together images into what they call “boards”. This tool is particularly good for discovering new and lots of images. At the very least you will want to use it at the research stage. Start pinning rooms, color schemes, furniture and accessories that you like. Try to avoid having too many preconceived ideas and just start pinning what appeals to you. Be sure to include all the elements of your space. It can be very easy to forget the more boring yet important pieces like window treatments or flooring. Pinterest makes it a doddle to go back in and add/subtract to your board til your heart’s content. Going back in and making changes doesn’t feel like a chore. It will work for any amiture purposes and even for professional designers.
If you can’t find the product you’re interested in already on Pinterest, don’t sweat. Go to the manufacturer’s website, hover over the top left and look for the red Pinterest “pin” The icon pops up on most product website images. Clicking on this allows you to pin directly from a brand’s site. Once you have finished pinning all your thoughts in one space, give it some space. Let your ideas marinated for a while. Make any edits or adjustments. paying particular attention to anything just doesn’t feel right. I’m big on “gut feels” with design and life in general. Listen to this feeling, as the saying goes – don’t try to force a round peg into a square hole.
Canva.
Canva provides online graphic-design tools that offer a free alternative to expensive industry software. The moodboard maker has an easy-to-use ‘drag-and-drop’ interface and several template options. The clean layout makes it a professional-looking option for presenting your work to others. If you fancy being an amiture interior designer or professional alike.
How I create mine.
I use the app Morpholio Board An Award winning app winning the crown of “Best App,” Board is the interior designer’s dream software. Called “Ideal” by Interior Design, “Addictive” by ELLE DÉCOR and “Stellar” by Design Milk, Board combines your perfect product library with powerful tools and the mobility to work or present anywhere. Create fast and stunning design boards like material boards, furniture boards or even branding boards.
It features mood board super tools with powerful layers, amazing image controls and smart text. The best thing is you can connect the app to your Pinterest account. Creating seamless access to your pins, boards and favorites. You can explore furniture and top brands such as Dyson. Get creative curating galleries with your own personal library. Discover amazing products and organise your favourites in away you desire. With a number of free and pro features this app in my opinion is amazing. If the app doesn’t have what im looking for. A simple technique I like to do – screen shot. I utilise google (or any search engine), then screen shot the item or inspiration.
I crop the screen shot as to just use the picture I’m wanting on the board, (this eliminates the background noise of the screenshot). Using the ‘upload’ feature, I am able to load it on to the my morpholio board. This works just as well if you are taking photos of your space, or item you have seen in a shop.
Whatever means you use to create your idea board, just know that it’s a great tool for pulling your design ideas into one place side by side, and seeing how they work together.
Make your board and then take a step back – what do you think? Do you like what you see? how does it make you feel? Most of all, take your time and have fun with it. It often takes a while to get our projects rolling. Tweak your ideas and swap in and out other ideas, furniture, colors etc until it works the way you want it to. Enjoy the process and Mae the most of your design journey.
Already a Mood Board pro? Is there any other apps or technology you like to use to create your moodboards? let me know in the comments below, im always looking for new initiative tools.
Thankyou for joining, until next time
Much Love
S x
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