How to create a brand mood board & why you need one
Table of contents
What is a brand mood board?
Why you need one
How to create one
Examples of mood boards in action
A brand mood board is the bridge between your brand strategy and your visual identity.
It takes the key strategic elements of your brand—such as your values, personality, and positioning—and translates them into a cohesive visual direction.
If you’ve ever struggled to turn your vision into a clear visual identity or felt lost when trying to define the look and feel of your brand, a mood board helps bridge that gap. It provides a strong creative foundation that makes the next steps—like designing your logo, selecting brand colors, and defining typography—much easier.
But while a mood board is an essential part of the brand-building process, it’s not what guides branding decisions long-term. Once your visual identity is finalized, your brand guidelines document becomes your main reference for consistency across platforms.
In this blog, I’ll break down what a brand mood board is, why it’s an essential step in your branding journey, and how to create one that aligns with your brand strategy.
Let’s dive in.
What is a brand mood board?
A brand mood board is a curated collection of images, colors, typography, and textures that visually express the core essence of your brand. It helps bridge the gap between your brand strategy and your visual identity, making it easier to translate abstract concepts into concrete design choices.
It typically includes:
Brand colors – The primary and secondary colors that will define your visual identity.
Typography – The typefaces and font styles that represent the image you want to convey to your audience (e.g., bold sans-serif, elegant serif, handwritten).
Imagery & Photography – The style of visuals that align with your brand strategy, whether editorial, lifestyle, or minimalistic.
Textures & Patterns – Graphic elements that bring depth and dimension to your branding.
Aesthetic Inspiration – Anything from architecture, nature, fashion, or pop culture references that reflect your brand’s world.
By pulling all of these elements together, a mood board creates a visual roadmap that helps shape your brand’s overall look before diving into the design phase.
Why your small business needs a mood board
You might be wondering, Do I really need a mood board? If you want a clear and cohesive visual identity, the answer is yes. Here’s why:
It makes design decisions easier
A mood board clarifies the creative direction of your brand, making it easier to choose your final typography, color palette, and logo style. Instead of starting from scratch, you have a visual reference that ensures all elements work together harmoniously.
It helps you stay focused
Without a clear aesthetic vision, it’s easy to fall into trends that don’t actually align with your brand. A well-crafted mood board acts as an anchor, ensuring that your branding decisions remain intentional rather than impulsive.
It bridges the gap between ideas and execution
You might have a strong brand strategy, but translating that into visuals can feel overwhelming. A mood board helps bring your brand to life by making abstract concepts tangible and concrete.
Once your visual identity is finalized, your brand guidelines document will take over as the primary tool for maintaining consistency across all platforms. But until then, your mood board serves as a creative foundation that helps you bring your vision to life.
How to create a mood board for your brand
Step 1—Define your brand personality and values
Before you start looking for visuals, you need a clear brand strategy—defining your brand personality and values are a good start. These are key elements that shape how your brand will be visually expressed.
While brand strategy includes other components like target audience, positioning, and brand story, your personality and values are a strong foundation for creating a mood board.
To determine your brand personality, here are some questions you can ask yourself:
Is my brand playful or sophisticated?
Bold and dynamic or calm and minimalistic?
Trend-driven or timeless?
To determine your brand values, here are some questions you can ask yourself:
What does my brand stand for?
What emotions do I want to evoke?
How do I want my audience to feel when they engage with my brand?
🔗 Want to learn how to create a full brand strategy? Read my blog on How to build a brand strategy & visual identity for your small business
Step 2—Collect visual inspiration
Once you’ve defined your brand personality and values, you can start curating images that align with your vision.
Where to find inspiration:
📌 Pinterest – A great tool for collecting images and refining mood boards.
📌 Fashion & lifestyle brands – Check out the online platforms of businesses in industries where visual communication and aesthetics are important for images that feel aligned with your vision.
📌 Photography & design references – Explore the web and social media for colors, layouts, and compositions that feel inspiring and aligned.
Your goal is to gather inspiration that reflects the world your brand belongs in and create a cohesive visual narrative that aligns with your brand strategy.
Step 3—Organize & refine your mood board
Once you’ve gathered inspiration, it’s time to curate the final selection. Your mood board should be balanced, cohesive, and visually aligned with the personality and values you defined in step one.
A few things to keep in mind:
Keep it focused – Too many elements can dilute the mood board’s impact. 9 to 12 images is enough.
Keep tweaking until it feels right – Every image should add to the story you’re telling.
Look for patterns – Notice recurring themes in color, texture, and typography.
Once your mood board is finalized, you’ll have a strong creative direction to guide the development of your visual identity (logo, typography, colors, and beyond).
Examples of mood boards in action
To bring this concept to life, here are 3 examples of brand mood boards I’ve shared before:
A vitamins brand
The brand personality can be summarised as fun, dynamic, bold, young, and energetic.
These personality keywords translate to: bold sans-serif fonts, bright colors, and round shapes.
2. A skincare brand
The brand personality can be summarised as elegant, minimalist, basic, and feminine.
These personality keywords translate to: tall serif fonts, muted colors, and minimalist layouts
3. A flower shop brand
The brand personality can be summarised as understated, luxury-leaning, and fashionable
These personality keywords translate to: display fonts, rich colors, and lots of white space
Creating a mood board is just one step in the brand-building process. To develop a strategic and cohesive brand, you need a full roadmap—from defining your brand strategy to executing your marketing plan.
Inside The Streamlined Guide to Branding & Social Media Marketing, you’ll learn to:
Build a brand strategy – From defining brand pillars to positioning your brand in the market.
Develop a cohesive visual identity – Learn how to translate your strategy into visuals that resonate.
Create a content & marketing strategy that drives results – Go beyond aesthetics and craft a brand that sells.
And as a bonus, you’ll get access to Emma, your AI brand strategist, to help you implement everything smarter and faster.
Conclusion
A brand mood board is an essential step in bridging the gap between strategy and visuals. It helps you clarify your brand’s aesthetic, stay focused, and make informed design choices before finalizing your visual identity.
But branding doesn’t stop at a mood board. If you’re ready to build a strategic, recognizable brand that stands out, grab The Streamlined Guide to Branding and Social Media Marketing. It’s packed with everything you need to build your brand and market it with confidence, from strategy to visuals to content creation.
