Ever felt that instant connection to a brand, where it’s not just about what you see but what you feel? That’s the magic of a well-crafted mood board – a visual storyteller that speaks volumes about your brand, effortlessly connecting with potential clients on a deeper level.
Sure, creating a mood board can be a bit of a hassle. Digital ones take time, and physical ones? Well, they come with their fair share of printing-induced chaos. And hiring a Graphic Designer? It’s effective but can dig into your pockets.
But hold on, there’s another way…
Ever felt that instant connection to a brand, where it’s not just about what you see but what you feel? That’s the magic of a well-crafted mood board – a visual storyteller that speaks volumes about your brand, effortlessly connecting with potential clients on a deeper level.
Create your own mood board
Ok so let’s back up a bit…. maybe you don’t even know what a mood board is. Isn’t that like a creative brand identity that only the big guys use?
Yes, and NO !
Most mood boards are old-school physical “boards” you hang on the wall – #nojudgement I have them in my own house for all my 2024 house design goals.
But when you’re building your website – a better and more sustainable option is the digital “page”. This virtual mood board is a valuable tool used to translate an idea or concept visually to an audience.
Advertising agencies and graphic designers will create a mood board to provide an overview of their inspiration, research and design process from execution through to final implementation.
These mood boards from the big guys take some time to get together – a lot of time and planning and researching and strategising.
The agency/designers can spend a lot of time getting to know what you want to put out into the world. They’ll spend a lot of time asking you questions about the design elements that you engage with, what is your brand story, why a definitive colour palette appeals to the senses, what are your visual metaphors, what does your avatar feel, need and want etc etc…
Don’t get me wrong, this is awesome AND you can get an amazing result – but it does come at a price – time and money!
And if your business is just starting out – maybe it’s not the right fit for right now. Maybe the high-end designer solution branding process is for down the track…
FOR RIGHT NOW, LET’S MAKE THIS A BIT EASIER…
Because after all, you know what you want.
You know what your coaching business looks like, you’ve been dreaming of it – for ever!
That’s not the problem.
The problem is you just can’t get it out of your head and into an eBook, an online recipe Book or best of all, even a website right this minute.
You’re not really sure how to start this creative project of yours.
You can do this though – there’s a shortcut.
And I’m going to show you how.
you start with a mood board template
But what exactly is a template?
A template is a pattern – or an outline.
Think of it as a blueprint, a structured outline waiting to come to life. Essentially, a template is a carefully curated grid of images and inspiration strategically crafted to elicit an emotional response from your potential clients.
This grid isn’t just a random assortment; it’s a design in itself—a foundation from which your creative journey takes flight.
The groundwork is done for you, providing a solid starting point.
So, armed with this mood board template, we’re set to bring your vision to life – your very own personalized mood board.
It’s a creative endeavor, a canvas to materialize your ideas, taking them from the recesses of your mind and shaping them into a tangible design. This mood board becomes more than just a visual; it forms the cornerstone of your marketing materials, guiding decisions throughout your entire coaching business journey.
It’s the foundation of your success !
then it’s all about the imagery…
Why are images so important?
Images resonate with you and – just as important – they resonate with your dream client.
Your mood board images tap into the brain’s emotional processing centres to bring feelings of positivity, calm, joyfulness and possibility to your potential client and help contribute to the relationship you want to create with them.
A picture paints a 1000 words :
In scientific terms : “A recent MIT neuroscience study found that the human brain can process images seen for as little as 13 milliseconds — thats just over 1/100th of a second. The fact that the brain can do that at these high speeds indicates to us what vision does is find concepts. That’s what the brain is doing all day long — trying to understand what we’re looking at.” from : Is a picture worth a 1,000 words or 60,000 words?
What else is included in a mood board?
Creating a mood board can be as complicated as you like.
Personally, I prefer the simple + effective approach.
That way, we can get you and your brand up and running this weekend.
So when creating mood boards, I like to consider including the following elements:
- colour
- images
- textures
- words
- fonts
But before you get overwhelmed, let’s download our mood board template and get started – remember the simple + effective approach will get you signing up more clients quickly.
Download a Canva template with the work already done for you…
Download it here and let’s start creating your mood board.
Once you’ve clicked the link in the PDF, click through to the size that works best for you and create a copy of your own Canva Mood Board template.
PRO TIP: You could actually use this Mood Board templates just as is… the photos in all of these mood boards are royalty-free from Unsplash.
But to bring your brand alive, I absolutely recommend you make this mood board using your own images.
MAKE THIS TEMPLATE YOUR OWN…
1. Decide on a colour palette or colour theme :
Ok, here comes the fun part. You make a list of colours that you like – colours that you want to represent your brand story.
But rather than be specific about each individual colour you like… try and describe the colours, rather than naming them. You’re going for a feeling or a vibe… again the feeling is the big thing here. Try not to be too literal.
For example, rather than choosing literal colours – orange, yellow and green. Think of a theme or a vibe that incorporates these colours. For this combo of colours, it might be “tropical paradise” or a feeling of “energy and vibrancy” – a perfect combination for a health and wellness juice bar.
Again try and come up with feeling or emotive phrases, rather than individual colours.
Examples of colour palettes and themes:
yellow + blue – makes me think of a beachy, sunshine vibe
whites, grey, ochre + black muted tones – creates a minimalist and clean feel
bold pink, yellow + lime – a bold retro, funky feel
soft pink, beige + lavender – might bring a feminine vibe to mind
2. Make a list of “words” you think represent your business :
These are words that mean something to you for your Health and Wellness business – they can be either nouns or verbs.
At this stage, you’re not necessarily picking the exact images you need, you’re just picking words that align with your business.
Again think of the feeling you want to create.
You might start with words like :
yoga
smoothies
movement / running, walking,
mindfulness
coffee / tea / matcha
relationship
balance + relaxation
forest bathing
3. Now it’s time to get busy with our images:
Now it’s time to start collecting inspiration for your mood board.
Finding images and photos that reflect you and bring about all the client feels for your brand – that’s a whole lot of fun right there.
So now you keep your “colour list” and your “word list” handy.
Login into Unsplash or Canva and use a word from your colour list as your first search topic – let’s say you choose “beach sunshine vibe”. Unsplash will give you a whole lotta pics that might work for you…
As you scroll through the list, you favourite or “heart” ❤️ all the images and photos that you like and fit into your colour theme.
Don’t overthink this bit – just pick everything that visually appeals to you.
The main objective here is to build a bank of images and photos that will fit nicely into your colour palette and ultimately your digital mood board – at least 12-20 images.
Now let’s go through your “word” list… let’s choose “balance“…
And you might get a list in Unsplash that looks similar to this :
It’s not quite working yet… so maybe add a colour to it – search for “balance yellow“…. you might be some images that fit a little better… like to top left image… #cute
Next try picking 3-5 textured images.. images that appeal to you with a texture, that create a mood – the sand on the beach, a textured stucco wall or a palm leaf shadow. These textured images are great to use as backgrounds in your marketing Ebook or social media pins. They don’t need to be “of” anything – the more random the better.
Maybe your list might look like this for “texture beach yellow“:
So now, keep searching a combination of all your words and colours and scroll through and favourite or “heart” ❤️ all the images that just appeal to you.
Now you have a list of favourited images – that might be 20-40 images. My inspiration list for my Katie Grace website template looks like this :
Good job…
Next scroll through this list and get a bit more selective – narrow it down to around 10-20.
Again yon’t need to be too literal. By that I mean, each photo doesn’t need to be a mindful yoga guru drinking a matcha tea in your pink floral boho theme. Just choose images that evoke the emotion you’re looking for…
Remember the neuroscience : it’s the images that make you FEEL something that are the best.
Download these images :
You now have 10-20 images that speak to you – these are now the visual assets for your mood board template. If your shortlist of images is in Unsplash or another image site, go ahead and download these images to your computer’s drive.
Update the MOOD board template with your images :
Then upload these same images into Canva.
Now drag and drop the images you have just uploaded onto the Canva mood board template… Keep placing them and moving them around until you get a final board that looks exactly the way you want.
Also resize the images – you might only like the left 2/3 of the image. Resize the images on the Canva frames until you’re really happy with them.
Create your brand colour palette from these photos :
Now you have you images in place, you will be able to see the “look” you wanted to create, the picture of exactly how your business in going to look.
From here, choose the predominant colours in the image – using Canva “like photo” option.
Update the logo design to your business name…
Simply type your own name into the “text placeholder” that looks like a logo.
And you have your own logo… 🙌 🙌 🙌
AND THERE YOU GO… YOU JUST CREATED YOUR OWN BRAND
There you have it – your own unique brand board ready to start your coaching business today.
Your Coaching business has its foundation sorted. You now can see how all your marketing materials are going to roll out now.
This is the foundation.
This will make all the others steps so much easier and quicker.
So remember… when you’ve nailed your first year – you might be able to go back to that Design Agency and upgrade then to a full custom brand…
Although to be honest, I think time spent with your clients will make your heart happier ❤️
Good luck with your dream business – you’ve got this…