(pronounced müd bord)

What mood are you in today” Not sure, then create a mood board and find out! All kidding aside, mood boards have to do with the “mood” (i.e., vision / concepts / ideas) that you foresee for a project rather than whether you’re cranky or peppy that day. As you can imagine, mood boards vary as much as the people who craft them. All sorts of creative types use this method to explore designs in their heads to communicate not only with their peers, but with clients as well. Depending on what you are using it for – mental gymnastics versus client confab – a mood board can be neatly organized or messily random and made up of anything from photos out of magazines and product catalogues, snapshots, textile, materials samples, color chips, etc. The images don’t even have to have anything to do with the project directly – just that they evoke a “mood” that you ultimately want the space to convey. As the concepting evolves into more practical application, it’s best to try to arrange the items in some semblance of how the project will work – i.e., flooring near the bottom, ceiling materials lighting ideas near the top, etc. As the design comes together, then the mood board should morph into a presentation board, which is more definitively put together and suitable for formal client presentations or “coming soon” on-site type displays to the public. Those boards will show actual selections – fabric and finish samples, photos of fixtures and furniture – all arranged in a manner proportional to how they will appear in the final installation. [Note: What’s shown below are more of the "mood" variety, not presentation.]