How to Make a Moodboard For Your Blog {Printable}

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Sometimes you can't put your brand into words...that's where a mood board comes in handy. It's a behind-the-scenes tool, but the work you put into it can inspire incredible developments to your blog and business branding. Making a mood board will help you nail down the vibe, colors, style, and overall feeling of your brand and it will massively 1) help you professionally and beautifully customize a blog template or 2) help me (your designer) when we are collaborating on your custom site design. Nailing down your mood board will not only help your visitors understand who you are when your website publishes, but it will also help you stand out as a professional, trusty-worthy blog. (Psssst... there are 30+ million active blogs out there!)

This post is all about how to make a mood board for your blog.

As a web designer, I eat, sleep, and breathe mood boards. They are my language, my logic, my blueprint. Truth: I've been making them since 2003. (That's seven years pre-Pinterest!)

For most people I've worked with, mood boards feel very foreign and they are afraid they'll put something "wrong" on theirs. The beauty is, there is no right or wrong with mood boards.

But still, that much creative possibility can feel overwhelming, so I've put together a guide, to help inspire the creation of your next mood board. Go through the list and ask yourself each question. Look for the visual answer and save it to your (secret) branding mood board on Pinterest. Try to save several pins for each prompt.

Answer these Questions (& Download the Printable)

1. FIND ANSWERS TO THESE Mood Board Prompts

If your brand was a person, what would they look like?
If your brand was an item of clothing, what would it look like?
If your brand was a house, what would it look like?
If your brand was a font, what would it look like?
If your brand was a quote, what would it say?
If your brand was a flower arrangement, what would it look like?
If your brand was an animal, which animal would it be?
If your brand was a texture, what would it look like?
If your brand was a dessert, what would it look like?
If your brand was a door, what would it look like?
If your brand was a pattern what would it look like?
If your brand was a color, what would it be? (Take the color quiz!)
If your brand was wallpaper, what would it look like?
If your brand was a landscape, what would it look like?
If your brand was art, what would it look like?

2. SAVE YOUR VISUAL ANSWERS TO A SECRET PINTEREST BOARD

Yes, it's as easy as that--save all your visuals to one board. Don't rush the process, take several days (or weeks?) to find things that bring you so much joy. I'd rather you save MORE inspiration than less. At the end of the exercise I'll have you pull out your absolute favorites. So don't hold back during this part of the process, save everything that makes your heart sing!

3. Now take a break

This is always a crucial step for me--to take some time away from all the inspiration I've found, and come back to it refreshed and with new eyes. I find when I take a break, and return to my mood board, it becomes very clear to me the things I really love, and the things I've saved that are just ok.

4. Look for patterns IN YOUR INSPIRATION

Now that you've taken a break, return to your board and take it all in. Fully ingest what you've pinned. Study it. Look for colors that keep repeat. Look for patterns in style, emotion, textures, patterns. If you don't see any repetition or themes, you might go back to step #1 and find more visual answers and add more to the board. The more inspiration you initially collect in the first step, the more powerful mood board results you'll get.

4. CULL YOUR PINS

Start a new section of your board and name it something like "best of" or "mood board selections". Move any pins from step #4 that have consistency, or show cohesive, or start to tell a story with the other best pins.

4. Star your absolute top 10-12 favorites

There is a feature on Pinterest that allows you to star each pin. Just click the star and it will automatically save as a dark star (instead of a blank one). This is how I mark my absolute favorite things I've found that reflect my ultimate creative vision. Star just 10-12 top pins. Aim to have a balance of pins that are images, textures, graphics or illustrations, patterns, and font styles.

5. Use the PINTEREST Board as Your Mood Board, or import into canva

You can bookmark the link to the board with your top 10-12 pins and use that as your mood board. You can even invite people to the board to view or collaborate. The other option is to save the top pin images from Pinterest so you can upload them into Canva and then create a collage that you can print and take with you. Remember, there is no wrong way to do a mood board!

How to Make a Moodboard For Your Blog {Printable}

This post is all about how to make a mood board for your blog.

Answer these Questions (& Download the Printable)

1. FIND ANSWERS TO THESE Mood Board Prompts