How to create a beautiful moodboard

Mood boards are a great tool for creative brief⁠(opens in a new tab or window) projects, as they help to set the visual direction of the project. A mood board⁠(opens in a new tab or window) (or inspiration board) is a physical or digital collage⁠(opens in a new tab or window)of ideas that are commonly used in fields like interior design, fashion, and graphic design⁠(opens in a new tab or window). With Canva’s free online mood board maker⁠(opens in a new tab or window)and designer-made mood board templates⁠(opens in a new tab or window), anyone can create inspiring mood boards quickly and easily.

Mood boards⁠(opens in a new tab or window) are so much more than curating your Pinterest board. Don’t believe us? Below, we list some of the ways developing a mood board can help you develop your ideas. From multi-team projects to building the foundations of a company, learning to use mood boards as part of your initial brainstorming process can help you save time and energy when maturing an idea.

While many assume that mood boards are only necessary for projects like interior decorating and wedding planning—hello Pinterest!—the truth is, many professionals in many different arenas rely on mood boards as their first port of call for any big project. In fact, more than just a collection of engaging pictures, mood boards serve as a fundamental transition between an initial thought and a first draft. It may be more beneficial to think of mood boarding as visual organizing.

In a study conducted by the Journal of Business Research⁠(opens in a new tab or window), it was found that mood boards were effective in setting the scene, directing activities and aligning sub-products by establishing a point of reference.

To help you graduate from magazine cutouts stuck on your wall, we show you the benefits of creating a mood board as the starting point of any project. Learn how to create a mood board below.

1. Mood boards help establish a strong foundation

Once the initial project has been set in motion, creating a mood board helps you establish the basics of what the end result could ideally look like.

While many assume mood boards are used as visual inspiration for creative projects, they can also be used for things like competitor analysis⁠(opens in a new tab or window). Sometimes it’s even beneficial to create a few mood boards that highlight various different elements of the project so that you can provide a holistic, visual landscape before starting.

Learn how to create your own mood board using Canva Whiteboards below:

2. Mood boards clarify the vision

While you may have started your project with a clear vision in mind, (as is often the case) once you’ve started focusing on other tasks and dealing with other team members, it’s easy to forget the original intent and the purpose of why you started the project to begin with. Having a mood board on display helps remind you of the original goal. Looking at your mood board regularly can also help inform all the micro-decisions you make towards the main goal.

3. Mood boards make collaboration easy

The famous quote “a picture is worth a thousand words” is extremely relevant when it comes to mood boards. Sometimes, while you can try and explain how you want a design to look, or try to illustrate a concept, the clearest form of an explanation is through visual examples—this could be because the majority of the population are visual learners.

Easy collaboration is dependent on the fact that a team understands the goal and has a clear brief of what is expected of them. Mood boards help achieve this.

Got a Canva Pro⁠(opens in a new tab or window) subscription? Stick your mood boards in a folder and share it with your team, so your visual inspiration is there for everyone to benefit from.

In this visual example, we can see how various different team members are able to access the fundamental ideas drafted in the initial mood board. Here, the team is developing a perfume. Once the creative director develops the mood board, everyone from the perfumers to copywriters, photographers and designers are able to use it in order to inform their decisions and allow for easy collaboration during the development process.

4. Mood boards involve clients in the process early on

If you’ve been commissioned for a project, you want to ensure that your client is clearly briefed on your ideas as early as possible—this way you can avoid repeating the same tasks over again. While you can verbally communicate your concept in a meeting, the clearest way to communicate your ideas is to visually present them to your client. You can also create several mock-ups to give them variants to choose from.

That tendency to collect can actually serve you well in your design workflow. How? Through creating mood boards. A mood board (or inspiration board) is a physical or digital collage of ideas that’s commonly used in fields like interior design, fashion, and graphic design. It can include just about anything — photography, designs or illustrations, house plans⁠(opens in a new tab or window) and floor plans⁠(opens in a new tab or window), color palettes⁠(opens in a new tab or window), textures, descriptive words — anything that helps you define the direction of your project.

Starting the design process with a mood board is a good idea for two reasons:

1) Mood boards help you. Gathering some ideas and inspiration before you actually start designing can streamline the design process and cut down the time you spend staring at a blank screen. Using affinity diagrams⁠(opens in a new tab or window) to map out ideas can also potentially save you from a lot of wasted time and effort by getting client approval on a concept ahead of time — no one likes to pour their heart into a project only to have it rejected by a client.

2) Mood boards help clients. Creating a mood board to present to clients gives them an idea of what the finished product will look like and allows everyone involved to agree on a direction before too much work is done. It also helps avoid any misunderstandings that may result from trying to describe a design concept verbally. Two people may say the same thing, but mean something completely different, so a visual representation can help everyone get on the same page.

Most importantly, mood boards allow you to plan your projects and social content, so you can create a consistent look and feel for your clients.

Now that you’ve got a good grasp of how mood boards can be beneficial, start customizing these designer-made mood board templates, or start from scratch with Canva’s mood board creator.

Let’s take a look at some tips on how get get the most out of the moodboarding process:

Mood boards don’t have to make use of outside inspiration. If you’re doing some branding, maybe for a company or website⁠(opens in a new tab or window), you can create a mood board⁠(opens in a new tab or window) of different design elements you have created that you’re considering using in the final design and present it for approval. That way, you don’t have to go to all the work of pulling together the final product, but your client still gets to see the overall style, plus specifics like possible textures, illustrations, font choices, and color palettes, like Kyle Taylor⁠(opens in a new tab or window) has included here.

Create your own travel itenerary with this Red Scalloped Pattern Japanese Collage Mood Board⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

On the other hand, mood boards may include things that never actually show up in the project, but have been chosen because they represent the qualities of a brand or just illustrate a certain feeling or aesthetic. Here, Vivek Venkatraman⁠(opens in a new tab or window)’s mood board pinpoints some qualities that the brand identifies with — such as warm, summer, and outdoors — and finds imagery that matches up: children playing in the spray of a fire hydrant on a hot day, sunglasses on a picnic table, cans of cold beer. Rather than including possible design elements like in the previous design, this board features images that are more thematic; they say something about the company (its style, its audience), which provides a jumping-off point for the actual design work.

You can pick images that represent your brand, or can be identified as part of it. Try the Cream and Black Image Interior Design Moodboard⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

It’s common for designers to come up with two or three different concepts (or “comps” — short for “comprehensive layout,” a mock-up of a proposed design⁠(opens in a new tab or window)) for one project. Mood boards are a great way to present a design proposal or an event proposal⁠(opens in a new tab or window). Below, you’ll see how Jared Erickson⁠(opens in a new tab or window) created three distinct brand concepts and a mood board for each.

The first one has a clean, vintage-modern look with a warm color palette:

The second one has a more retro feel with curved shapes, a muted color scheme, and distressed textures:

The third has a definite urban, architectural influence, with geometric shapes, straight lines, and sharp edges:

Play around with one template to fit your different needs. Start with the Black and White Current Mood Photo Collage⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

There may be times when you’re inspired by the design aesthetic of a certain era — Victorian, mid-century modern, etc. When William Yarbrough started a personal branding project, he wanted to replicate the style of “the golden age of air travel” — the 1950s and 60s. So he found original materials from the era like postcards and luggage tags, which offer great ideas for typography and color pairings.

Your own photos can become a great start for your moodboard, like with the Summer Travel Photo Collage⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

The things you include on your mood board don’t necessarily have to relate directly to your project. For instance, this mood board from Carolyn Farino⁠(opens in a new tab or window) is for a user interface project, but — working off of what she describes as a “fresh, light, airy visual direction” — it draws from a wide variety of sources for inspiration, from food packaging to fine art. Just because something is from a different genre than your project doesn’t mean you can’t use it to help establish the direction of your design. Nothing is off limits.

Play around with the different ways you can spice up a mood board. Start from the basic, like the Gold Peach Brown Mood Board Photo Collage⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template, then personlize as you go.

Mood boards can be whatever you need them to be — from a wild brainstorming collageto an orderly project outline. But one approach is using your board to organize different pieces of your project and try out a potential style. For this web design mood board, Matt Cole includes typical style choices like fonts and a color palette, but also mocks up designs for actual site elements like buttons, icons, headings, and featured content.

The great thing with mood boards is that it can be used to organize your ideas and workflow. Check out the Bright Header Red Three-Panel Storyboard⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template and how it's used.

If you do opt for the organized approach, a big part of that (especially if you’ll be presenting the mood board to a boss or client) will involve making sure you have a well-thought-out plan that hits all the required points. Sarah Albinda covers all the must-haves for her user interface project: fonts and typography, menus, icons, colors, and even adjectives that describe the style. When it comes time to sit down and start designing, having a visual plan like this will give you a ready-made roadmap for your design, speeding up your workflow.

Mood boards can also be a great way to send out information, and making sure nothing is left out. See the Blue and White Artistic Four-Panel Storyboard⁠(opens in a new tab or window)template as an example.

There's no more impactful way to showcase your design concepts than by putting them into action, especially when it comes to branding. In the world of advertising, mood boards serve as powerful tools⁠(opens in a new tab or window) for guiding the creative process.

An advertising mood board⁠(opens in a new tab or window) consists of a collection of visual elements, such as images, typography, and colors, which direct the design development for a single advertisement. Alternatively, if you're launching a series of ads or utilizing multiple platforms, a mood board⁠(opens in a new tab or window) can steer the design of a broader ad campaign.

Advertising mood boards are versatile and can be applied to various ad types and campaigns, ranging from social media posts to banners, magazines and even billboards.

Here, Ashley Jankowski⁠(opens in a new tab or window) displays her logo⁠(opens in a new tab or window) work and other brand elements on business cards⁠(opens in a new tab or window) and paired with photography⁠(opens in a new tab or window) to give her clients an idea of what it might look like in real-life applications.

Mood boards aren't just for your inspirations. It can also be a place where you can make your ideas come to life. Check out the Black and White Music Mood Board Photo Collage⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Mood boards can come in handy not only for inspiration, but also for fine-tuning a particular design idea, as Adrian Cantelmi has done below. He experiments with different colors and contexts for both the full logo and an abbreviated monogram version.

Moodboards can come in many forms. Check out the Art Appreciation Flyer⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template that features round frames with images related to art in them.

A picture can paint a thousand words, as the saying goes, but words themselves are also powerful tools. Use them to explain and/or enhance the visual nature of your mood board. Short descriptions, like those on Ashley Bennett’s mood board, can help clarify any important information or fill in something that the images don’t communicate or that you don’t have room to show.

Add in notes to add detail and expand on ideas, like with the Salmon and White Six-Panel Storyboard⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

It can be helpful to combine your own design contributions — like the logos, icons, and font choices at the top center of this web design mood board from Zenman⁠(opens in a new tab or window) — with inspiration you find elsewhere. That way, you can easily pair the look of the design elements you’ve already committed to with the overall style you hope to achieve.

Add in graphic elements—like lines and shapes—to your photos to create interesting textures for your mood board. Check out the Blue Simple Current Mood / #Mood Photo Collage⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template.

Choosing one unifying style for your design can give you a visual theme to work from and make your concept look more pulled together. Lisa Rickman⁠(opens in a new tab or window) opted for the “flat” design style and a limited color scheme for a clean look.

The style you pick can greatly affect how your mood board will go. This Rustic Mood Board Photo Collage⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template is a great example of how it can work.

Have two related projects that need a consistent look? Creating a mood board for each, like Tricia LoPiccolo⁠(opens in a new tab or window) has done below, will ensure that you stay on brand for both. But this technique also enables you to make slight tweaks and easily determine if the changes still work with the overall appearance, especially if you’re working on them at the same time, side by side.

Coordinating looks and ideas can create a consistent look for your mood board. Start with the Pastel Themed Natural Plants Mood Board⁠(opens in a new tab or window) and build on it as you go.

If doing a mood board for the project as a whole is too overwhelming, try focusing on one element at a time. Here, Nikki Clark nails down the color scheme for her project. She picks colors that evoke items that tie in with the character of her beachy brand — sun, surf, coral reef. This is a smart move because the color palette works on viewers subconsciously to establish what the brand is all about.

Here are some of those colors in action, along with her font choices. Start with a single design element, add more one at a time, and before you know it, you’ll have a complete mood board and be well on your way to a fully developed design plan.

Don't let yourself get overwhelmed by ideas. Start with one thing, like with the Green Plants Mood Board Photo Collage⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template, then create a new one for different ideas.

This mood board for a magazine layout from Zehno⁠(opens in a new tab or window) includes design elements that are specific to a magazine’s style and/or that are conventionally found in similar publications—for instance, the drop cap (the giant Q) to start a block of text, or the large quotation marks to set off a quote. Paying attention to the context of a design and trying to anticipate any requirements that may go along with that will help your mood board get a good reception.

There are many wedding mood boards, like the Wedding Mood Board Photo Collage⁠(opens in a new tab or window) template, but it's important to remember that each one is unique to the couple it represents.

When working with a client, moodboarding⁠(opens in a new tab or window) may be a multi-step process. Here, graphic designer Breanna Rose explains how she created an initial mood board, but after a few minor tweaks requested by her client, ended up with a board that had a completely different aesthetic that was much more to the client’s liking.

You’ll notice that the first concept is light, bright, and slightly nautical:

The second concept, while it shares some of the same images, is darker with a more sophisticated, retro look:

Your mood board can change as ideas come. Start with the Simple Pastel Grid Photo Mood Board⁠(opens in a new tab or window), and adjust it as you add more.

Another possible approach when working with a client is to create one or more mood boards based on themes or qualities that the person or company has said they would like to communicate.

To help her client define their organization’s visual style, Samantha Zucker⁠(opens in a new tab or window) and the Reboot Design Team created three different visual directions, each with its own theme. For each of the three directions, Samantha went one step further and compiled two extra boards (in addition to the first inspiration board) — one with specific graphic elements that match the theme (patterns, color schemes, fonts, etc.) and the other featuring publications that have used a similar style.

Theme: Trustworthy & Modern. Description from Samantha: “For this direction, we are pulling from a tradition of corporate design that emphasizes cool tones and clean lines to convey a strong and modern aesthetic. The fonts are simple and slender type treatments, complemented by a serif body font to reinforce the emphasis on credibility/trustworthiness.”

Design elements for Trustworthy & Modern theme:

Real-life applications of Trustworthy & Modern theme:

Theme: Beautiful & Professional. Description from Samantha: “This option combines a warm set of tones and traditional type treatments with use of texture to suggest a professional aesthetic that remains informed by the human hand. We would use classic serif typefaces with highlights of human-feeling type to offer a light edge. The color palette grounds this traditional design in an accessible and inviting visual language.”

Design elements for Beautiful & Professional theme:

Real-life applications of Beautiful & Professional theme:

Theme: Extension of existing brand (energetic, colorful, simple, and people-focused). Description from Samantha: “This concept introduces a visual style that leans heavily on the house brand. While informed by the hues and feel of the brand, this aesthetic at once creates a unique aesthetic, applying brand colors into a ‘human’ direction, softening and introducing more natural tones. The graphic treatments pull from a clean and bright Swiss style of solid color and rigid grids.”

Design elements for theme:

Real-life applications of theme:

Themes are great because it lets your imagination roam, but it also keeps you focused on what you can add. Check out the Turquoise and White Mood Board Photo Collage⁠(opens in a new tab or window), and see how you can build up from there.

Mood boards are a useful and versatile tool for any design project. Whether you're working on a logo⁠(opens in a new tab or window), website⁠(opens in a new tab or window), or interior design project, creating a mood board can help you organize your ideas and bring them to life. They help you communicate your design concepts and ideas in a way that is easy to understand. If you have never tried creating one as part of your design process, give it a go for your next project, then come back and let us know how it went!

You can start with a blank canvas or use one of the many free designer-made templates⁠(opens in a new tab or window) available on Canva.