How to create a DIY brand mood board in Canva (and why it’s important)
Are you wondering why you need a moodboard?
A mood board helps you 1) visualize your brand before you set everything in “stone” and create the logo, website, and other visuals (a strong foundation is KEY!)… and 2) it serves as a tool you can provide designers down the road as they help you design more material for your business.
Future designers can take a look at your mood board (and your brand board which you will create later) and they can get an idea of what your visual brand is all about in just a few seconds. It’s an amazing resource to have in your back pocket!
So, how do you create a DIY mood board then??
Great news! I did a live training last week all about mood boards and HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN. Watch that video below or keep scrolling to read all the steps.
Step 1: The Pinterest Board
The first step to every mood board is inspiration and I love to do this through Pinterest. It’s a good idea to start a new pinterest board and title it something like “my brand inspiration”. Then, you will start pinning anything and everything you love!
I love to start by searching for “home décor inspiration”, “clothes inspiration”, “textures”, “patterns”, and I even search for the colors that I’m looking for. So for example, I will search “white pink and gold” and see what comes up.
Work on collecting pins of your favorite things over 1-3 weeks and give yourself plenty of time to gather inspiration.
Step 2: Narrowing it down
Once you have collected a LOT of your favorite things in your Pinterest board, you will want to narrow this down. Look through the board and find your absolute favorite pins. Look for consistencies here… what are you pinning over and over? What colors do you see being repeated? What textures are you gravitating towards?
You will most likely see a consistent general “theme” throughout your board. Look at the consistencies and figure out what you want to pull from that board into your brand.
The biggest thing to remember is that your brand should be natural to YOU in real life. You should absolutely LOVE every element that you work into your visual brand and it should be what you would live out in real life… so if you don’t like the color pink in real life… then don’t work it into your brand!
Step 3: Save your favorites
Once you have narrowed down your favorite colors, elements, textures, and patterns, it is time to pick your favorites!
You will narrow this down to about 10-15 of your absolute favorite image that really sum up the look and feel you want for your brand. Save these images so we can use them in our mood board.
Note: It is good to remember the source of each image so if you post your mood board online you can give credit to those who own the images.
Step 4: Lay everything out in Canva
1. You will open your Canva account and create a new board using the “Use Custom Demensions” in the upper right side of the screen. I like to make my canvases about 1000x1000 px.
2. Go to “Layout” on the left side of the screen and click “Grid”.
3. Find a grid that you like and click on that. It will populate into the blank canvas.
4. Upload all of your saved inspiration images to your account by clicking on the “upload” button on the left side of the screen.
5. Now you can fill the board with your images! Click an inspiration image, drag it to the desired grid spot you would like it, and let go of the cursor… this will place the image into that desired space.
6. Play around with these images and get them in the exact spaces you like them. This takes a lot of trial and error… keep trying until you find something you love! (watch the video above for a detailed tutorial on this).
7. Add words if you would like. I always recommend that you come up with your 3-5 brand words before this step. You need to know what your brand position and message is all about BEFORE you begin creating the visuals for your brand.
I like to add some of my main brand words to the mood board as well.
Step 5: Save & Download
Your mood board is a great way to remember the overall look and feel you want your brand to have, so you can keep referencing this file as you build your logo, website, social media presence, etc.
You can also share this mood board with designers down the road so they can quickly get an idea of what your brand is all about!
There you have it! That is a quick, easy, and FREE way to create your own mood board! I hope this post was helpful for you and gets you thinking about your brand in a new way! Let me know your thoughts below!
I would love to help you craft your own mood board that is genuine and authentic to who you are and that tells YOUR brand story!! Reach out any time and let’s schedule a time to chat.
Always cheering you on,
Sandra
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