A great example of moodboards in action
Posted in Design on: Monday, March 8, 2010 by Paul Boag
Moodboards are a valuable tool in the design process. However many web designers lack experience in producing them. Find out how to produce a stunning moodboard that will impress clients.
At Headscape we have been using moodboards for some time as part of our design process. We believe that working with moodboards is considerably more effective than producing multiple design concepts.
They have the advantage of being quick and easy to produce. This means that, unlike design concepts, they are disposable. You can try lots of different approaches to find the one that works for both you and the client.
However, as I said in my post ‘How Moodboards Can Save Time, Money And Your Sanity!‘ they can be tricky to produce. Inexperienced web designers can often overwork moodboards making them more like a design concept than some initial ideas.
Moodboards in action
Recently I came across this concept video for Microsoft’s upcoming iPad competitor. Although the technology looks very impressive that was not what grabbed my attention. What impressed me was the moodboard they created to show off the technology. This is a great example of moodboards in action and demonstrates the kind of look and feel a moodboard should have.
Of course we don’t all have fancy (and as yet non-existent) tablets to create this kind of thing on. However, all of this could just as easily be achieved using a Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch.
Hopefully this video inspires you to create freer, less structured moodboards that don’t take hours to craft.
7 Comments
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I totally agree. Moodboards are a great way to collect your thoughts, to find, and set, expectations. They can be really enjoyable too so long as you don’t feel too constrained to produce something in a very rigid format – this stage of the project should be about letting your imagination go and seeing what sticks.
I like doing this and involving clients. It seems to give them a nicer, easier for them to understand way of being involved in the design process.
There’s no jargon, no having to explain what they want they just help you out by showing you.
It’s also fun :D I never grew out of the PVA glue
I’m a big fan of moodboards and they often come to help me whenever there’s a project to be settled.
Lately I tried to use moodboards even for personal use and this video opened my mind to this kind of usage, so thanks =)
Love moodboards, but I really love the device. I am a geek for all things electronic.
I watched the video and forgot what the article was about. I want one of these! *sigh*
I’ve presented concept drawings and swatches to clients forever, but missed the point on how a raw materials like mood boards could impact client attitudes. I had been so impressed by a co-worker’s (Micheal Endy http://www.michaelendy.com/) mood-board during one client pitch that I had completely rethought my approach to client kick-off presentations.
Mood boards present a chance to weed out client hang-ups such as specific colors, font-treatments and photo-styles long before the design team is invested deep into process.
I’ve been using mood boards for several years now, and I couldn’t imagine starting any design project without one (not just web design).
I recently helped develop a mood board app for the iPad, called Moodboard. Check it out if you use mood boards in your work!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/moodboard-mood-boards-for/id355893506?mt=8