How to Make {Mood Boards}

Looking to create a Mood Board? It isn't as hard as you think.

I first learned about making mood boards when I was working on rebuilding my catering and event website.  I took a course called the Girl's Guide to Web Design and it was given by a friend of a friend, self-paced, and a really good introduction to coding and building a site from concept to launch. {Yes, I recommend it.}

Mood Board for pisatche and rose

One of my favorite take aways from the class was the Mood Board, which is a collage of images and text that give a way to define and refine your vision.  When I say that it is one of my favorite takeaways, I really mean FAVORITE!  I started using them as discussion points for clients, for event guidelines, and for pure graphic delight, whenever the mood hit me.

How to Find Images

Follow Margaret's board Moods on Pinterest.

Pinterest is the perfect place to be inspired and find tons of images to add to your Mood Boards.  I created an entire board of Mood Boards that I found or made for various events.

The next event we are starting to plan is our back to school party.  It's a party for parents to celebrate surviving the summer.  I want to create an environment where people are comfortable enough to mingle, enjoy the transition into a new year, and maybe meet a new friend.

I love the idea of celebrating a new beginning and meeting new class parents.  Be cautioned that once you start having this sort of event, it will become an annual gathering!  {Which is awesome!}

How to Make a Mood Board

There are only three steps to making a mood board.

1. Collecting - images, fonts, fabrics, textures, colors. I use Pinterest but you can always create an offline mood board using magazines
2. Refining - review your collection and pick the best of the best to reflect what you want the mood of the event to be.
3. Reworking - there is generally a good amount of time between my first mood board and the event.  I try not to get too attached to the first generation of my mood board. My final board is usually done two weeks before the event and would include specific colors I want to highlight in the event.

When I am working on creating a board, I do not just go in search of decorations or photos of other people's events.  I try and think about how I want to feel at the event and then I start pinning whatever makes me feel that way.  After I have all those photos on one board, I add in some specific decoration, food and drink ideas.  At this point there is no judgement, I'm not trying to create a theme in pictures.  I am just gathering.  Here is what my Pinterest Board looks like.

Follow Margaret Lipsey-Kassab's board Back to School on Pinterest.

Things to Remember

1. These boards are to help you define your mood or to inspire you.  If you just want to find photos of the exact party you want and then buy everything in the photos, then you don't really need to make a mood board.
2. Don't judge what you choose.  Put yourself into the feeling of the event and then just start collecting images and text that reinforce that feeling.  You can always edit later.
3. Do not limit yourself to event only items.  The images that you are inspired by may be super focused or they could be completely abstract.  Trust yourself to know what you like or get a friend to help.
4. If you can work directly from Pinterest, it is perfectly fine to leave your board as it is.  I occasionally fall into the "pin in and forget it" camp sometimes so I like to create a single image.
5. If you want to make a single image and you don't have Photoshop, consider signing up for the Adobe Creative Cloud.  You can also use similar sites likeCanva orPixlr.   You can add color swatches with each of those programs if you find the perfect color combinations.

It is important to mention that I use these boards only for inspiration. By this time we have all seen and or experienced the Pinterest fails and that is definitely not my intention.  I want to be inspired when I start to shop, when I plan the menu, when I design the invitations, and when I talk to my guests about the party.  

The board above is just my starting point.  As the event creeps closer, I will add more pieces.  I hope you have fun playing with the mood boards!

Rose