Using Mood Boards in the Design Process (2024)

This article is written by Khushali Sandhi. Khushali is a Senior User Experience Designer at Amazon with over 13 years of professional experience, specializing in creating impactful UX/UI solutions for complex cloud-based database systems. After beginning her career in front-end development in India, her passion for understanding and solving customer problems led her to transition into UX/UI design, culminating in her current role at AWS.

What is a mood board?

A mood board is a collection of images/real objects/textures setting a tone or mood of a product. It gives a sense of how the product will look like and feel like, as well as what kind of emotions the product could arouse.

When and why is a mood board used in the design process?

A mood board is used during the initial exploration phase. The purpose of a mood board would vary based on what you are trying to achieve. If you are working on a particular feature of the product, it could be used to explore the type of language or messaging that could be used or the type of images, illustrations, and infographics that feature could have. Many designers use mood boards to share it with the team and get feedback from them. I personally do not use a mood board when working on a specific problem of the product.

The other common purpose is to define the branding and styling of the product. This is a very popular methodology when working with various clients. I use mood boards with our clients for this purpose. A mood board acts as a medium of communication for visual design. While sharing it with clients, I talk about the opportunities we have in the product. It is a collaborative process to brainstorm the colors, fonts, language, emotions, and overall feel of the product. Anything that can give direction to the visual design of the product is a good idea to share and discuss with clients. It is a big-time saver!

How to create a mood board?

To start with, you want to first think about what you want out of it. I always start with a blank canvas and ask myself, given the requirements from my clients, what do I want to begin with on this canvas? And that leads me to several questions:

• What is the goal of the product in the subject?
• Who are the users of this product?
• What are the users going to feel when using this product?
• What problems will this product be solving?
• When and where would this product be used? During the day or at night? While driving, at school, in the office, or at home?
• On which devices will this product be used? Mobile? Desktop? Watch? Tablet?
• If it is a physical product, what would the texture be like?

The list of questions can be longer depending on the project, but this set of questions is enough to get started. When I have the answers to these questions, I am ready to explore different themes. It is always a good idea to share 2–3 mood boards with clients or the team and get feedback or reactions from them. Each mood board could have a theme for the overall product, for example, a fresh, youthful, and bold theme or an organic, warm, and soft theme. These themes would define the overall feel of the product. Think of the emotions you want people to feel when using the product. Write down these themes on a piece of paper or post-its.

Once you have 2–3 themes, start thinking about the assets you would need. I list these down at this stage:

• Color palette
• Real images
• Illustrations
• Graphics
• Fonts
• Language
• Texture
• Navigations
• Shapes

Once I have noted down the assets I am looking for, I am ready for the fun part—collecting inspiration. This is my favorite part. Based on the themes you've noted, search for images, objects, and textures that would express those emotions. You also want to keep the assets in mind.

If you come across images with colors that could be part of a product's color palette, grab them. If you find one with a great font choice, grab that too. Go wild with explorations—visit Dribbble, Behance, Pinterest, Google, or wherever you draw inspiration from. Inspiration can also come from your surroundings, from real objects. Just take photos if you come across something really interesting. Save all your collections in a folder so you don't lose them. Everything is yours!

Once you have collected all the images and you are satisfied with the adventure, it is time to start creating a mood board. I create mood boards in Sketch and use InVision boards to share with clients. I tackle one theme at a time and start arranging them. There are many templates for mood boards, but I prefer to keep it simple. I pick images with the same or closely similar colors so it does not look overly vibrant unless that's my intent.

When adding images, write down why you are adding them. What do you hope to achieve when you present them to the team? Every image has a purpose for being there. Be sure to jot down your thoughts. This not only helps in adding meaningful images but also prepares you for the presentation.

How to share a mood board with teammates/clients?

Alright, now it's presentation time! When I created my first mood board, I was very nervous about presenting it to the clients. I jotted down specific topics I was going to discuss for each image on my mood board. It was my first time doing this, and I found it very beneficial; now, I do it every time. Sometimes, I also write down a sentence or two about the images.

When presenting to clients, talk about the overall tone of the mood board. Discuss specific assets (remember the ones you noted down earlier?). Tell the story of the mood board. Share what you think are the opportunities and how they could help achieve the goal. If a teammate or client says, "I like this image a lot," ask clarifying questions. In my experience, clients sometimes point to an image and say, "I like this one."

Ask them why and what specific parts they like. Help clients speak the design language. As designers, we have to help them become our collaborators. I have found this exercise very helpful. It is super fun and saves a lot of time during explorations. Moreover, you get a great amount of material to put on your blank canvas!

Mood boards serve as a powerful tool in the design process, blending creativity and strategy to visualize ideas and convey the essence of a product. This collaborative approach not only streamlines the design phase but also enriches the creative journey, making it more engaging and efficient. Whether defining a product's aesthetics, evoking desired emotions, or exploring design possibilities, mood boards are an indispensable asset for designers aiming to bring their ideas to life and craft experiences that resonate deeply with users.

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