HOW TO MAKE A MOOD BOARD

The moodboard visually “materializes” the concept of our collection, through a collage of images and materials that have struck our fancy and can express better our creative hints and ideas. How to make an inspirational mood board? As we saw in the previous post ( you can find it here) we have good reasons to use mood board as a way to express our creativity and inspiration.

WHAT WE NEED?

First we need an idea, an inspiration. Basing on this concept we have in mind, that we can’t still concretely see, but only feeling psychologically and emotionally, we begin to look for the materials necessary to realize the mood.

fashion magazines
printed photos from Internet or scanned from a book (depending if we want to do a digital or paper tableau)
scissors
glue
cardboard or other support to paste images (for example a sketchbook)
graphic photo editing software like Photoshop, Illustrator or just Paint (to digitally assemble the images )
sketches, fabrics, objects and colors (in the case of a mood board for a complete presentation)

Making research on the internet, in books or fashion magazines (but not only) we will begin to select all the images that strike our imagination and that somehow correspond to our inspiration

In case of a paper mood board, we must to cut out accurately placing them on our support to create a visual connection and through their combination we will create a layout that can properly explain the concept of the collection.

HOW TO CREATE A MOOD
BOARD?

Although the appearance of the tableau depends largely on the size of the project that we are going to make and the number of material (photographs, drawings, fabrics, objects) at our disposal , there are some basic techniques to design and create a mood. I don’t speak about the strictly technical aspect (if you make a material collage with scissors and paper, or if you use a software), but about the graphic and visual “rules” to follow to make it effective and communicative.

1 FOCUS THE CENTRAL POINT

To give attention to the focal point of the collection (which may be for example the more significant photo), it’s necessary to build a layout grid In this first example, the grid is constituted by nine rectangles (by dividing the sheet into three parts both horizontally and vertically) and the focal point is placed at the intersection of these lines, exactly in the center of the sheet Then you can place the rest of the material around the focal point, dividing thematically, for color or appearance, all the photos and other available materials In the example below, the grid consists of asymmetric rectangles determined by the size and hierarchical importance of the pictures. At the center we have the whole image of a dress, that immediately let understand us the theme of mood.

2 CREATE A VISUAL PATH

To create a visual path for better defining the trend of the collection’s theme, it’s necessary to draw a line (imaginary or real) along the sheet on which we will build the mood board.

The trend line may be straight from left to right (recommended if you have not much material and in the traditional Western reading), zig-zag, spiral, waves …

The important thing is that the material is divided into different groups and that these groups have one or more elements in common.>Here some examples:

A-Z waves (mood board by the author on commission as freelance)

A-Z a spiral. Moodboard from Mode…information

3 CHOOSE ONLY THE SIGNIFICANT MATERIAL

Flipping through hundreds of magazines and cutting out a large number of images, it’s easy to lose sight of the concept’s focal point that initially inspired us.A-Z a spiral. Moodboard from Mode…information Not necessarily a mood board must contain a large number of images. Even a minimal tableau can be effectively expressive

From the magazine “Zoom on Fashion Trends”

4
CLEAN THE MOOD IMAGE

The mood is not only a way to put your idea on paper, but it’s primarily a useful means to present your collection’s concept to other people (whether we speak of collaborators within your team, you are making a job interview in a design studio or you are presenting a project to a client).

For this reason the mood boards must be clear, graphically well designed and certainly not shabby.

In the case of a paper tableau, images must be carefully cutted and pasted with equal care, avoiding puffs of glue. The support must be adequate to an important presentation, therefore green light to the use of luxury paper and card, with particular textures and finishes.

In a digital mood board is fundamental that the images are properly cropped or cuted, the colors calibrated and without elements of visual disturbance. Use fantasy is good, but in a thoughtful way and especially it must be coherent with the global image of inspiration.