What is Digg?35 Comments
- Kronich, on 12/31/2008, -0/+18Brilliant - I used to work as an account manager in an ad agency and always ended up as the 'meat in the sandwhich' between the creatives and the client. Anything that can resolve constant changes/amends/reworks would be a godsend..
- smartcause, on 12/31/2008, -0/+13True story! It's way better to make the client get a feel for colors and styles before you spend countless hours perfecting something that will never see the light of day.
- twiztidsinz, on 12/31/2008, -0/+12Or.. you could, ya know... RTFA!
FTA: What exactly is a mood board?
Mood boards (sometimes called inspiration boards) are used in a variety of disciplines. You’ve no doubt seen them used for Interior Design, where fabric swatches and paint chip samples are grouped together on a poster to show a homeowner what type of atmosphere the new decor will create. They are also used frequently in Fashion to highlight trends and styles. In essence they are a compilation of inspirational elements used by designers to flesh out ideas at the beginning of a design project. - friday04, on 12/31/2008, -1/+7In my 12 years as a professional graphic designer, I find mood boards to be completely useless. The client doesn't understand what you're showing them even though you've explained it very clearly. They get so hung up on the fonts/colors/images that they can't do anything else. Paralysis by analysis. Too much time and energy is spent trying to "guide" the client toward a design so you don't have to spend a lot of time and energy on comps. Your time is better spent just designing a few comps and start narrowing it down from there.
- nesagwa, on 12/31/2008, -0/+6Can you guys like, you know JAZZ it up?! Make it POP off the page! NEW LOOK! (with no explanation of what they want)
I hate working in production sometimes. - artfiend77, on 12/31/2008, -0/+6Seriously? Was reading the article *that* hard?
- lenapple, on 12/31/2008, -0/+6Great stuff! One of my clients got a complete image/branding makeover. What the agency did was use the mood board for colors, styles, imagery, layout and powerful iconic words... Mood boarding is a brilliant concept!
- AmazingSteve, on 12/31/2008, -0/+6When you get those "Ill know it when I see it" clients, you're in for a loooooong day.
- gobbleplex, on 12/31/2008, -0/+5Until they decide they want the entire app to do something dramatically different. Then you'll probably have to change several aspects of the way you did it. ;)
- tschau, on 12/31/2008, -1/+6You seem to be talking about a different type of mood board than what is shown here. A photo of a woman wearing red does not come close to qualifying. Among other things, a mood board should include strong elements of type and design style.
- scoot2006, on 12/31/2008, -0/+5I know exactly what you mean. I love it when they say they want me to "take it to the next level," or, "give it that extra oomph."
Being vague is about as cool as that other thing! - scoot2006, on 12/31/2008, -0/+5http://tinyurl.com/9mxcg5
Glad I could help. - lenapple, on 12/31/2008, -0/+4From Wikipedia - Mood boards are often used by graphic designers to enable a person to illustrate visually the direction of style which they are pursuing. However, mood boards can also be used to visually explain a certain style of writing, or an imaginary setting for a storyline. In short, mood boards are not limited to visual subjects, but serve as a visual tool to quickly inform others of the overall 'feel' (or 'flow') that a designer is trying to achieve. Creating mood boards in a digital form may be easier and quicker, but physical objects often tend to have a higher impact on people because of the more complete palette of sensations physical mood boards offer, in contrast with black & white or color-prints of a digital mood board.
- Nurjle, on 12/31/2008, -0/+4Rather than spending 'countless hours producing a beautiful, pixel-perfect comp', why not spend four or eight hours producing a variety of roughs that work with the client's brand, and go from there? If a client has skipped branding and gone straight to a website...a moodboard isn't going to help at all. In such a case, the client is just never gonna get it.
- friday04, on 01/02/2009, -0/+3It means you're an idiot.
God forbid people have interests outside of your narrow view. - evilEL, on 12/31/2008, -2/+5I had a mood board up until last week where my company is pulling this 5 S *****. White and grey cube walls, that is all I have now.
- BillDauterive, on 12/31/2008, -3/+6Thank goodness I am a programmer instead of a graphic designer. The clien't isn't normally smart enough to understand my code let along want it changed from the way I do it.
- GeneralFailure0, on 12/31/2008, -1/+4Let's be honest. It wasn't "A LOT" easier.
- chthonic, on 12/31/2008, -0/+3This isn't concerned with UX or IA however, it's purely for aesthetics and design. Clients more often get hung up on colors, treatments, and buttons ("make it glossy!") than they do on architecture and user interaction. Personally I think the collage idea is bad and likely to get a client hung up on things that you won't be able to deliver without plagiarism. However, the last example they showed which features adjectives, palettes, and treatments is a very sound idea. If you lock a client into a wireframe, then lock them into a treatment, there is no "I'm not feeling it" when it comes to assembling the actual designs. It's much quicker to stamp out 3-4 of these templates than to fully flesh out 2 design concepts (and potentially have both nixed).
- LOCK3D, on 12/31/2008, -0/+3While this may be beneficial advice, all I could think of while reading the article was this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo - scoobycarolan, on 01/02/2009, -0/+3One time I was asked by a design client to move an item a half pixel to the left. ugh.....
- sensibledriver, on 12/31/2008, -1/+3If you have a solid UX methodology, you'll have a concrete IA wireframe to snap to that is backed up with concept models and documentation. Take the creative strategy (culled from competitive analysis, SWOT, brand position, etc.) and execute against it. With that, there is no "I'm not feeling it" from the client; you are the professional and this is what they hired you for. You DO have a master service agreement and your contract allows for 2 design concepts with 2 rounds of revisions w/ extra rounds being line items, right? If not, you are allowing this to happen, plain and simple.
UX design !== interior design - WriterSD, on 12/31/2008, -0/+2Wow, that brought back memories. And now nightmares. :(
- prosayik, on 12/31/2008, -2/+4In my experience, mood boards cause even more "I'll know it when I see it."
An architecture firm I worked at used them extensively. People would spend hours trying to design something that related to a photo the partner found in a magazine of a woman wearing red. Somehow that picture was supposed to relate to what a buidling would look like. Not in color or shape but in "feel." Things would have to be done ad nauseum until someone "got" what they had in mind but could only express in a seemingly unrelated photograph. It just seemed people were doing things over and over and when the partner liked it they thought the designer had finally grasped what the photo meant. Oh, and they were a genius for cutting it out. More of a genius than people who actually did work.
The other problem with mood boards I have found is then the client wants a logo, website design, or print materials that look exactly like what's on the mood board. As in plagiary. I find presenting color schemes and type is the best way. That way a client understands this is something that will be developed, not copied. - PabloIV, on 12/31/2008, -2/+3I own a small Web Dev firm, and although we rarely get reworks these would definitely be a godsend helping us move in the right direction. Especially if you make a PShop template and just change the fonts, images and colors. You could in theory churn out a bunch of these within a day, give the impression that a lot of thought is going into the project and involve the client a whole lot more.
- inactive, on 12/31/2008, -1/+2This is graphic design 101. Is this the ***** that passes for articles now? I hate self-proclaimed professionals who didn't go to school, and when they "discover" something as fundamental as this, it's inspirational.
- decker12, on 12/31/2008, -2/+3Ugh, I am so glad I got out of the advertising business. Reading this brings back unimaginable pain fueled by dopey clients, unrealistic budgets, artist and creative designer egos, and long hours for ***** pay.
- CoD4, on 12/31/2008, -2/+2google it n00b
- NJank, on 12/31/2008, -3/+3actually, it was A LOT easier for me to read it from your comments. Thanks for falling on the grenade there drmobutu. We all owe you one.
- moothemagiccow, on 12/31/2008, -3/+2Sounds like your job was pointless. Designers can't answer a phone or an email?
- D3ADBOLT, on 12/31/2008, -4/+3Mood boards? Is this what they're calling waterboards now?
- Talphin, on 12/31/2008, -4/+3I send those kind of people to monster templates and make them buy what they were imagining. Then I charge them extra to put it together.
- tombest, on 12/31/2008, -4/+2How do I filter out this kind of junk articles? I don't know what a "comp" is, or what a mood board is. I like tech. what is this? "design". what does that mean?
- DocHoliday22, on 12/31/2008, -8/+3The designs on that site were all lame and we're lucky as consumers that designers don't hold all the cards. Granted the site has to look decent but I would much rather have content, consistency and usability over style. Ikea is a good example, they focus on style and forgot to add links to the furniture they are selling.
- drmobutu, on 12/31/2008, -10/+4What is a mood board?
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