As part of a branding project I ask my clients to get on pinterest and create a board. I find it's the best way to understand their aesthetics.
Why it's useful
When I was working on narrowing down and defining my own brand, creating a Pinterest mood board was a really helpful part of the process for me.
Conceiving your brand’s aesthetic using visuals, instead of just words, thoughts, or feelings, can help you figure out exactly what you want people to associate your brand with, and cement your brand’s core themes and style in your mind. Crucially it can help communicate it to others.
I created my brand’s Pinterest mood board before creating anything else, and I constantly go back to it. It’s a really great visual reminder of exactly what my brand is, and the kind of feelings and associations that I should be striving to create for my audience with everything that I do. With my clients I do this as part of the discovery process so ideally we have already figured out what we want to say (the messaging) and how we want to come across.
Making that Pinterest mood board for my brand was one of the most fun parts of starting my business, and although it can kind of seem like a silly exercise to go through for some (not me.. I 💓 Pinterest), it’s actually been helpful to me time and time again, and I make them all the time for my clients!
How to Create a Pinterest Moodboard
If you don’t already have a Pinterest account, You should make one ASAP.
Create a board and get to work!
Step One
Start filling your Pinterest mood board with images that inspire you, or that you find aesthetically pleasing. Keep in mind the words, colours, and images that you might already commonly associate with your brand.
When you’re done, you should have somewhere between 20–50 images that “speak to you,” and/or which you feel represent your brand.
If you need an example, you can check out my Sample Mood Board. Or check out my design crush board to get you started.
Some Tips to Get You Started:
Try searching Pinterest with some key words, like “classy logo” or “pretty design”
If you have specific colours in mind, try searching them in combination with one another. For example 'black + yellow'. Some other good words to use when you’re searching are“decor,” “inspiration,” “artwork,” “fashion,” etc.
Step Two
Now that you’ve finished creating the board, let’s step back and take a look at it.
The first thing we’re going to look for is anything that jumps out to you as being “out of place.” Did you pin a few things that maybe don’t quite fit with your brand as much as you originally thought they did? Delete those pins!
We want to make sure that your board is truly an accurate reflection of your brand. Now, let’s take another scan through.
As you’re scrolling through your pins, are you starting to notice common themes between the images? Have you added images that include the same colours, patterns, or overall style? Maybe there are lots of gold accents or bold lines and shapes. That’s great!
Finding patterns within your board means that, subconsciously, your brain already has a good idea of what your brand should look like. You just need to keep listening to that little voice inside your head!
Go back to the Pinterest homepage and start searching for pins that specifically match those common themes you found in your board. Add10+ more pins that fit within that style, and then go back to your board, step back and edit again. Go through this process more than once.
Keep curating your pins. Your board should be filled with images that are each connected in some way, and they should collectively remind you of your brand, and how you want your audience to envision it.
Step Three
How to Use Your Pinterest Moodboard You now have a helpful visual reference for yourself and anyone you work with (graphic designers, brand specialists, coaches, and virtual assistants.) If your working with me, share your moodboard with me so that I can get inside your head and I will use it as inspiration when designing (i.e.your logo, blog header, sidebar images, or social media graphics).
If your using it to inspire your own design efforts it will help keep your design decisions consistent with your vision and give you ideas that fit in with your brand.
Already have a brand mood board? Share it with me. Follow me on Pinterest It's my most used social media platform.
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