Comments on: How moodboards can save time, money and your sanity!

By: Steve S

Steve S — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:50:00 +0000

If you look at what a mood board is in other areas of design it has little to do with the end product and more to do with ‘lifestyle’, ‘product positioning’ and capturing an ‘ethos’. Usually entirely made up of imagery ripped from mags and the web and presented in such a way as to convey a style or direction. Quite often the imagery will be to evoke feelings or senses and have no reference to the actual end product.

By: bgrggfe

bgrggfe — Sat, 26 May 2012 02:32:00 +0000

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By: Paul Kent

Paul Kent — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:13:00 +0000

I did some mood boards recently for a client and it worked really well. I created three alternative moods based on the subject matter (in this case mental health). I used very generic elements so as to steer the client away from it being an actual mock-up of the final site – I did have to keep reminding them that it was only mood, as they did start getting bogged down with content. The layouts were pretty lose and resembled a collage rather than a web site. My overall conclusion was very successful in the end. The creative meetings were much less formal and open to ideas and it felt a very inclusive process and I highly recommend it. Admittedly the client are a bit of a dream and easy to deal with which is not always the case. I think you need to compromise to a certain extent and just look at the bigger picture rather than smaller details.

By: Mrladoo

Mrladoo — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:26:00 +0000

Yes that access to the end client is very elusive with the ol fed govt. Regardless I have a couple of things coming up – we’ll see how it goes. Thanks again for your comments

By: Paul Boag

Paul Boag — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:15:00 +0000

A couple of things that might help.

First, you HAVE to get access to the end client. You are never going to get anywhere if you cannot build your own relationship with that end client and convince them you are an expert.
Second, I tend to pre-empt common issues and one of those issues is colour. Before showing the client a design I explain that colour is one of the most subjective elements about design. It creates a strong and very personal reaction so be careful not to allow personal opinion to effect their comments. Suggest that if they do not like the colour they shouldnt dismiss it but instead test it. By pre-empting the issue it will significantly reduce the chance of the user responding to the colour in a negative way. If you want to know why you will have to buy my book “Client Centric Web Design” ;-)

By: Mrladoo

Mrladoo — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:10:00 +0000

Absolutely. Client education is always (almost always) an unsaid skill designers need to develop. I do a lot of fed govt work and my client is a sub to the govt client so a lot of times I’ll send some ideas along and my client decides that the govt client won’t get it and doesn’t even show them something I sent. Then I have some folks who, if they see a color or something they don’t like, they can’t get past it and any amount of explaining and trying to get them to focus won’t fix it. But I think I’m going to work harder at doing this. Obviously it makes a lot of sense to us (designers). I guess getting clients on board with the idea they are saving tine and money is key. Thanks for your response

By: Paul Boag

Paul Boag — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:00:00 +0000

The trick is to very carefully explain what they will see before you do the moodboard and then provide them specific guidance about the type of things they should be looking for. Typically I tell a client that when they are looking at a moodboard they should be asking themselves the following questions…
- Are the colours, typography, styling, textures and imagery inline with the branding and personality previously discussed. – Will the target audience respond well to those same elements in the moodoard.
In other words you are getting them to focus on the colour, typography, styling, texture and imagery rather than the overall design.
Does that make sense?

By: Mrladoo

Mrladoo — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:53:00 +0000

Seems like there is a bit of a fine line between design comp and mood boards. My clients are usually pretty literal so if I show them something thats rough or just an idea they think its final or they don’t get it especially when you are emailing pdfs back and forth but the idea of spending less time doing PSD comps is very appealing. I guess you gotta know which clients will be good with it and which ones will not

By: Paul Kent

Paul Kent — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:19:00 +0000

In my experience of working in print advertising mood boards were always an internal process and standard practice, pinning stuff to the wall, but client’s would never see them. Also if you were doing a pitch then in a way you would create loose mock-ups that were similar to mood boards. Clients would then see them during a presentation. So mood boards are nothing new in the creative industry. The approach to web site design shouldn’t be any different. Like thinking outside the box we should think outside the computer screen.

By: Billie Bryan

Billie Bryan — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:45:00 +0000

I’ve been