How & Why to Create a Brand Moodboard.

You’ve seen all the cool looking moodboards on Pinterest when you go to do research for your brand but when you sit down to do your own you get a little stuck.

So how do you push past those bouts of “stuckness” (usually in the form of doubt, overwhelm and decision fatigue) so you can actually create your own brand moodboard? And why should you even bother?

Here’s the thing about moodboards…

They’re probably the single best tool for helping you sift thru all the creative ideas in your head and dial a potent core aesthetic for your brand (aka: ‘Core Brand Essence’) .

Your ‘Core Brand Essence’ is the overall look, feel & style of your brand.

It’s the overall vibe and impression a person gets when they experience your brand and it plays a key part in expressing WHO YOU ARE at the core (as a brand & often as a human).

When you’re truly communicating & transmitting WHO YOU ARE at every possible touchpoint of your brand, your ‘Ideal Client’ is attracted to you and you’re empowering them with useful information to make a clear choice on if your brand is for them. Or not.

Starting a brand from scratch and defining your ‘Core Brand Essence’ is exciting! 

BUT, like an artist facing the blank canvas for the first time, it can be overwhelming AF to actually choose a direction and hone in on WHAT your ‘Core Brand Essence’ even is.

Follow the steps in this tutorial to create a moodboard that captures your one-of-a-kind ‘Core Brand Essence’ and you’ll be well on your way to being able to infuse that essence into the key touchpoints of your brand, put yourself (& your brand) out there with clarity & confidence, and attract your intended clients!

STEP 1 -
Reflect & Brainstorm

Grab a notebook & pen and start by finding a quiet space to reflect on what you want your brand to look & feel like at first glance.

Brainstorm keywords that you think best describe the brand aesthetic you’re going for.

Don’t worry about getting it “right” or nailing it completely at this stage! These keywords are just a starting point to help guide you once you jump into “visual research” and inspiration gathering mode in the next step.

Keep going until you feel like you’ve got down some words that resonate with you and capture what you want to communicate and evoke with your brand.

Now pause to evaluate your list and circle the top 3-5 keywords that you feel most excited by.

PRO TIP: It’s best to use descriptive adjectives or feeling based words as they translate more easily into visuals. If you get stuck you can refer to this list.

STEP 2 -
Go Wild & Gather Inspiration

Use Pinterest.com for this step, and start a new board (most likely a secret one) labelled “My Core Brand Essence” or something like that.

Use your keywords from step 1 to help guide your search and start exploring.

Start “pinning” anything that stands out to you in relation to the essence of your brand. Go wild & pin whatever catches your eye and pulls you at this stage.You’ll be fine tuning and picking out the gold your final brand direction later!

It could be a colour palette you’re drawn to, an image that evokes a feeling you want toinfuse thru your brand, a texture, a quote, a styling detail...whatever resonates with you and reflects the vibe you want to evoke! 

While thinking about your own personal tastes, also keep in mind WHO you intend for your brand to speak to. Ask yourself, “Would my ideal client resonate with this also?”.

Keep going until you feel like you have a good variety of images that reflect your 'Core Brand Essence'.

You might even want to break this step into a few different sessions before moving to step 3 like I usually do. And remember to let yourself PLAY & HAVE FUN with it!

STEP 3 -
Pick Your Favs

Now look back at your ‘pins’ from step 2 and pick out your favs!
(The key ones you’re the most stoked about!)

Also at this stage, try to eliminate any images that don’t feel totally aligned. You can either do this by deleting them from your board or you may want to just start a brand new board for your refined direction (especially if you have a lot of images).

After you’ve narrowed down the images, chances are there are going to be some gaps in content or some new ideas that have emerged, so take some time to do one more pass at finding images that will fill out your board until you feel like it’s at a well-rounded place that visually represents the core essence of your brand.

Are some images very similar and essentially communicating the same thing?
Could you swap them out and make space to pull in some others to add some variety to your final selection?

Spend about 30-minutes pulling together and refining your final selection of images.
In the next step you’ll be using them to create your final brand moodboard!

STEP 4 -
Create Your Brand Moodboard

Now it’s time to build your final brand moodboard!

Pulling from your final pinterest board, build a digital inspiration boardwith a graphics/layout program of your choice (ie: Adobe InDesign, Illustrator or Canva). There’s an example of a moodboard layout below, but have fun with it and make it your own!

However you choose to build this final collection of images, remember that the idea is that it will serve as a visual reference of your overall brand aesthetic as you move forward with your brand development.

Yay! You did it!

You’re officially the creative director of your own brand!

Now that you’ve completed your own brand moodboard you now have a super useful tool to direct your design and creative for your branding - which includes things like your 
logo(s), colors, fonts, photography, textures/patterns, styling etc.

If you ever get confused, overwhelmed, or unsure of what design choice to make, then refer 
back to your brand moodboard and ensure whatever you’re grappling with aligns with your original direction.

For a strong visual brand identity you want to keep things aligned & cohesive as much as possible. This will result in a potent, distinct & recognizable brand identity.

Know that your brand will (and should!) always be evolving - if you’re finding things are feeling a little stale or unclear then it’s probably time to inject some fresh creative energy into it.

I do this process each quarter to inject newness and embrace natural brand evolution.

Reach out or comment below if you have any questions.

Otherwise happy creating and BIG LOVE!
Lindsay x