How to curate your own brand moodboard in 5 steps

Check out ^this moodboard *live in Pinterest* for the MD Creative brand refresh coming later this year!

In this post I’m sharing how I curate a moodboard with Pinterest in collaboration with my clients and how you can do this yourself!

One of the first visual creations of your brand is your moodboard. It sets the mood for the entire brand, and gives you (the client) and me (the designer) a very clear idea of what you are wanting to achieve with your branding. I treat the mood board just like I treat the actual logo concepts, allowing for several rounds of edits to make sure it’s perfect.

Before I design the moodboard, I try to get as much info as I can from my clients on what they want, what their style is, who they look up to for inspiration, keywords that they use to describe their business, and more. Then I ask them to show me all of this through a Pinterest board. Here is the process to creating a mood board for your brand:

1. CREATE PINTEREST BOARD
You can make it public, private and also share it directly with me or whoever you’re working with to build your brand identity. Anyone can make a Pinterest board and this should be a fun and exploratory experience!

This is the brainstorming phase to gather images that speak to you and your brand. You can add images of people, things, other logos, designs, illustrations, fonts, textures – whatever speaks to you! This is not about creating a perfect board on the first go. It’s about getting what’s in your head and heart onto a board.

2. PIN EVERYTHING THAT LIGHTS YOU UP
This is where I give you permission (not that you need it) to go pin-crazy! Start by pinning everything that makes you smile. If you feel like it speaks to you and what your brand represents, then pin it. Get personal. Dig deep. What kind of style do you truly love?

Pinning other logos and brands as well as photos specific to your industry is great, but really think outside of the box. If it speaks to you- pin it. You can begin by pinning directly from the main page, or you can search specific things. Here’s a few suggestions for things you can search for:

• Clean/Vintage/Rustic/Feminine/Modern Design
• Mountains/Beach/Lake/Ocean
• Black and White Photography
• People/Experiences/Vibes
• Bohemian/Feminine/Modern/Traditional Wedding
• Modern/Eclectic/Minimalistic/ Home

3. TAKE A STEP BACK AND ANALYZE YOUR BOARD AS A WHOLE
As you take in everything that you have pinned, you will notice that you have (either consciously or subconsciously) pinned pictures with either one common theme, or a few common themes. You will notice that you are drawn to a certain style of photography, a certain colour palette, or even a certain theme like nature or fashion. You will also notice that there are images that do NOT fit in the overall theme or themes you have created. Go ahead and delete them. If you have more than one theme, pick your favourite and move on.

4. NOW THAT YOU HAVE RECOGNIZED YOUR THEME, PIN AGAIN AND FINESSE 
Is your theme modern and clean? Search for things like “minimalist” and “white space.” Is your theme boho and earthy? Search things like “summer” and “adventure”. Add and delete, and add and delete. The more you refine your board, the more you will see your style and mood shine through, and the clearer it will be to you. Remember, this isn’t a board dedicated specifically to the design. This board is about the vibe of your entire brand.

5. ADD + DELETE + REPEAT UNTIL YOU HAVE A BOARD THAT FEEL RIGHT 
Your final board should set your heart on fire! It should be a representation of you and what you envision for your brand looking like. We will study this board, and how we can incorporate what you love about these images into your brand. *PRO TIP to finalize your Pinterest board, create sections to break out logo designs, fonts, colours, overall vibe, photography – this helps you organize your inspirational images. 

Now what? It’s time to share this with your designer so they can take this into a moodboard and then start to develop your logo concepts.  By coming into a conversation with a designer with this in place, you’ll have an added confidence and strong concept of the direction of your brand.

If working with a brand designer isn’t available to you, take a look at our Brand Clarity Course where you’ll not only create your own moodboard, but define your brand vision, colour palette, fonts, target audience and look and feel! Then you can DIY with confidence and not only save yourself time, but money too!