When embarking on a brand design project, jumping straight into logo creation or color selection often leads to disconnected visual elements that fail to communicate a cohesive brand story. Mood boards—curated collections of images, colors, patterns, and other visual references—provide a crucial preliminary step that aligns stakeholders, establishes clear direction, and creates a foundation for successful brand design. Here’s how to create a mood board that effectively captures your brand’s essence.

The Purpose of a Brand Mood Board

A well-crafted mood board serves multiple functions in the branding process:

• Translates abstract brand attributes into tangible visual references
• Creates alignment among stakeholders before detailed design work begins
• Establishes a visual filter for evaluating design decisions
• Communicates brand feeling and direction to designers and creative partners
• Serves as a touchstone throughout the design process to maintain consistency

Think of your mood board as a visual strategic document rather than just a collection of pretty images.

Gather Your Brand Foundation Materials

Before collecting visual references, assemble the strategic inputs that should inform your mood board:

• Brand positioning statement
• Core brand attributes or personality traits (3-5 descriptive words)
• Target audience profiles
• Competitor visual analysis
• Any existing brand elements you plan to maintain

These strategic foundations ensure your mood board isn’t just visually appealing but strategically aligned with your brand’s objectives.

Collecting the Right Visual References

With your strategy in mind, begin gathering visual material that evokes the feeling and attributes of your brand. Look beyond your immediate industry to capture a broader sense of your brand’s visual world:

• Photography styles that reflect your brand’s tone (candid vs. polished, vibrant vs. muted)
• Color palettes that evoke your brand personality and differentiate from competitors
• Typography samples that capture your brand voice (traditional, modern, playful, authoritative)
• Patterns and textures that add depth and tactile quality to your visual language
• Architectural or natural environments that embody your brand’s world
• Examples of composition and layout that reflect your desired aesthetic approach
• Historical or cultural references that connect to your brand’s heritage or values

Digital platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, and Behance are valuable sources, as are physical materials like magazine clippings, fabric swatches, or material samples for product-based brands.

Organizing Your Mood Board Effectively

How you arrange your references significantly impacts how your mood board communicates. Consider these approaches:

For Digital Mood Boards:

• Use tools like Milanote, Pinterest, Canva, or Adobe Creative Cloud Express
• Group similar elements or create sections for different brand attributes
• Include brief explanatory notes about why specific elements were chosen
• Consider creating a visual hierarchy with primary and secondary elements

For Physical Mood Boards:

• Mount materials on foam core or bulletin board for presentations
• Experiment with layering and spatial relationships between elements
• Include actual material samples where relevant (paper, fabric, packaging)
• Consider how elements interact when physically juxtaposed

Refining Your Mood Board

Once you’ve assembled your initial collection, the crucial refinement process begins:

• Remove anything that doesn’t clearly align with your strategic foundation
• Look for cohesion across all elements—they should feel part of the same family
• Check that the overall impression matches your brand attributes
• Ensure there’s enough distinctive character to differentiate from competitors
• Test how different stakeholders respond—do they see what you intended?

From Mood Board to Design System

A successful mood board isn’t just a preliminary step—it becomes a valuable reference throughout the design process. Use it to evaluate logo concepts, color palette selections, typography choices, and other brand elements as they develop. The most effective brand designs maintain a clear connection to the feeling and direction established in the mood board phase while translating those inspirations into original, ownable brand assets.