Imagine walking into an artist’s studio. You will certainly see a huge array of colors, paints, brushes, palettes, you name it. If that artist is painting at that moment, and you were to look at the palette the artist is using on his current art board, without even seeing the painting, you can kind of get a feeling for the mood of that painting.
If there were dark shades of blues, purples, grays and black mixed together and being used, you wouldn’t think that they are trying to portray a daylight scene. You’d probably guess that it were either of a night sky, or just a darker theme in general.
In a similar sense, we like to provide the mood of your brand before we dive into the specifics of your visual elements. We refer to this tool as a “board” because it works in a similar way a cork board would. It allows you to step back and analyze all of the different elements you have put in. In this board, we will pull in different textures, icons, and images to give your {brand story} visual characteristics. Here are 5 easy steps to get you started on your mood board:
Step 1
It’s important to understand the meaning behind your brand. This is why starting with your values and personality traits is key. After accomplishing this, you can then understand what kinds of emotions you’d like your brand to associate with and evoke.
Step 2
Find the host for your mood board. This can be done on a number of different sites, but Resound specifically likes to use Pinterest for ours. They make it very easy to search and pin new ideas, concepts, patterns, textures, and images that match the mood you are going for.
Step 3
Step back and analyze. This is arguably the best part about the mood boards. This is the time when you can finally start to see things come together. As you’re scrolling through your new mood board, you’ll begin to see the mood your brand is creating with your audience.
Step 4
Start to implement this mood into your visual elements. Now is the time you can start to create your logos, images, patterns, textures, icons, anything you need to include as part of your company’s visual language. It is very important to wait and do this until you understand your mood. A logo that doesn’t portray the same emotions can be very detrimental.
Step 5
Contact Resound! Okay…you caught us. This step is “optional,” sure, but if you’d like help getting started with your mood board, this is what we’re here for! We feel like this is so important to get right. Outside of the personality traits, the mood board is a stepping stone for the entire visual representation of your brand!
This isn’t a step, but if you keep one thing in mind, just always be sure to have a blast doing this. This shouldn’t be stressful for you. All you have to do is remain genuine to who you are, and you’ll begin to start shaping the visuals of your brand in a way that really impacts your audience.
