We all love a good mood board, and the best thing about them is they can be used for ANYTHING. New house? Mood board. Next holiday? Mood board. Wedding? Mood board. Colour palette? Mood board. Marketing Strategy? Mood board. As I said, an-y-thingggg!

But, why do we look at turning our fluffy, fun mood boards into strategic planning and marketing direction? Well, mood boards can be an extremely useful tool in communicating a marketing vision or idea and helping it come to life. Us creatives sometimes can see a picture of how we envision a campaign or photo shoot but explaining that to the team or client is a whole other story - and being on the same page as a creative powerhouse is extremely important for executing a project or campaign. 

So how do we do this? Let’s break it down. Disco style. Just kidding, I’m a step-by-step girlie. 

Step 1: Setting the scene.

Where do we start? Personally, I’m big on “the vibe”. What feeling do we want consumers to have when they look at the outcome? Does it transport them to a terrace along the Amalfi Coast sipping on a limoncello spritz? Are they heading down an art filled alleyway to a hidden bar in the heart of Melbourne? Or does it entice them to snuggle up in a cozy cafe in Toowoomba? We always want to create an experience through marketing, so it is important to know what that experience is from the get-go.

Step 2: Add your elements. 

Once we have nailed ‘the vibe’ we outline the key elements. When we work with clients we are trying to capture a product or service. So, it is important we find similar imagery for the team to be able to envision what that product or service will look like in the final shots. 

If we are creating the mood board for a shoot at a cafe, what features of the cafe are we needing to capture? Does it have an epic new coffee machine the client is wanting to showcase? Or have they added a new item to the menu we are capturing? 

Or, say we are creating the mood board for an upcoming campaign for a beauty product, how are we wanting to display the product? In its packaging or in the hands of a consumer? These are the elements we need to see displayed throughout the mood board to make sure the entire creative team and clients understand the vision. 

Step three: Highlight your focus areas. 

It’s all fun and games going mad pinning anything and everything we see to our pinterest mood board but what do we do with it then? 

I know myself, I am guilty of adding rogue images that are a completely different setting to ‘the vibe’ BUT something as simple as the hand positioning holding a product in the image has caught my attention. This is why the final, but dare I say most important, key to being intentional when creating mood boards is to make sure we can communicate why we included elements and how they will apply to the campaign or strategy. As creatives, we all interpret content very differently, so being able to highlight the focus areas and explain effectively will help our creative visions come to life. 

The biggest takeaway we hope for is that if you thought mood boards were just for the dreamers, you now have learnt they can be a very useful tool & maybe even give it a crack making one yourself! 

Inspiration can come from anywhere and anything and bring our creative dreams to life. It is one of the things I love most about what we do! 💜

About the Author of this blog:

Sophie Mara

Sophie loves the creative & fun side of the marketing world, but her colour-coded to-do list is always close by to keep her on track (organised queen!).

Sophie graduated with a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) in 2018, she then spent the next 5 years gaining experience in a variety of different industries - which all operated very differently giving her a chance to develop a broad skill set. Sophie is excited to help bring brands to life & see them flourish in the digital marketing space.