Last updated on May 1, 2024

What are some tools or apps that can help you create and share mood boards?

Mood boards are visual collections of images, colors, fonts, textures, and other elements that convey the style, tone, and mood of a creative project. They are useful for commercial photographers who want to communicate their ideas and vision to clients, collaborators, or themselves. In this article, you will learn about some tools or apps that can help you create and share mood boards easily and efficiently.

1 Why use mood boards?

Mood boards can help you define your creative direction, inspire your work, and showcase your skills. They can also help you align your expectations with your clients, avoid misunderstandings, and get feedback. By using mood boards, you can demonstrate your understanding of the brief, the target audience, and the desired outcome. Mood boards can also help you save time and money by reducing revisions and changes.

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2 How to create mood boards?

There are different ways to create mood boards, depending on your preference and purpose. You can use physical materials, such as magazines, fabrics, or objects, and arrange them on a board or a wall. You can also use digital tools, such as software, apps, or websites, and drag and drop images, colors, or text. You can create mood boards from scratch, or use templates, examples, or online sources for inspiration.

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3 What are some tools or apps?

There are many tools or apps that can help create and share mood boards, such as Pinterest, Adobe Spark, and Milanote. Pinterest is a social media platform that allows you to create boards of images, videos, or links from the web or your own uploads. Adobe Spark is a web-based or mobile app that lets you create mood boards, graphics, videos, or web pages with ease. Milanote is a web-based app that helps you organize your creative projects with boards, cards, notes, and lists. All of these tools provide features such as organizing and editing boards, adding images and assets, collaborating with others, and exporting projects as PDF or JPG.

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Ela Fraczkowska - Personal Brand Photographer
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Pinterest is a great tool for creating mood boards as you can 'pin' the photos you choose on different 'boards'. Equally, Pinterest can be used for inspiration. Additionally, Canva can be utilised for mood board making, too.

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Tom Crowl

Visual Content That Sets Your Brand Apart in a Crowded Market
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As mentioned Pinterest is one of the easiest and best for me. I’ve also started using Dalle AI and getting some tailored images to share. In certain cases I have templates that can help me quickly create a PDF mood board in Photoshop or as a private page on my website. The website option also allows me to embed a quick, personalized video to pull things together.

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Lana Jutrzenka
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A great feature to utilise on social media is the ability to save posts. Categorising images within social apps keeps banks of inspiration you can add to and draw from over time

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Ondosan S.

(Photo/Video) Grapher & Editor Freelance • Jr. Graphic Designer • IT Support • Customer Service
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Based on my experience, I get some inspiration/moods from Pinterest. It's an amazing site, but when doing mood board networking I still choose Notion.

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4 How to share mood boards?

Once you have created your mood boards, you need to share them with your clients, collaborators, or audience. You can send your mood boards as attachments, links, or embed codes to your recipients via email. This is a simple and direct way to communicate your ideas and get feedback. Additionally, you can post your mood boards on social media platforms and tag or mention your clients or collaborators. This is a good way to showcase your work, reach a wider audience, and generate engagement. Furthermore, you can include your mood boards in your online portfolio or website and link them to your finished projects or case studies. This is an effective way to demonstrate your process, style, and skills to potential clients or employers.

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Lana Jutrzenka
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I’ve found the best way to save moodboards being sent online is via PDF. This keeps it easily accessible by anyone who needs to view it

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5 Tips and best practices

For optimal results, there are several tips and best practices to consider when creating mood boards. Start by having a clear goal and brief in mind, as this will help guide your project. Additionally, ensure your mood boards reflect the style, tone, and mood of your project and match your brand identity and voice. To keep your mood boards simple and focused, use only the essential elements that convey your message and vision, avoiding any unnecessary distractions or details. Furthermore, it is important to get feedback from clients, collaborators, or peers to refine and improve your work. Be open to suggestions, critiques, and changes for the most successful outcome.

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Lana Jutrzenka
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Always be on the lookout for inspiration, things you can save from social media or web, or even physical references from magazines. Have somewhere you can keep this so that when you go to make a moodboard you have an array of starting points

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Laura Barisonzi

Photographer / Director Laura Barisonzi Two Oceans Productions
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If possible, get on a call with the art director and or creative director to learn about their inspiration and goals for the project. It's one thing to see a mood board, it's another thing to hear about the visual inspiration for the project. I highly recommend making the time to converse and brainstorm about how to execute the brief off the rest of the creative team. It makes your execution of the brief more accurate, and helps them to participate on the shoot day.

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Commercial Photography

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What are some tools or apps that can help you create and share mood boards?

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1 Why use mood boards?

2 How to create mood boards?

3 What are some tools or apps?

4 How to share mood boards?

5 Tips and best practices

6 Here’s what else to consider

Commercial Photography

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