How (and why!) to Make a Mood Board
Man, has it been a while or has it been a while? Here at Four Course, we’ve been busier than we ever hoped we’d be, and we are so stinkin’ happy about that! Between all of our shoots and client on-boarding calls and coffee breaks, we wanted to pop on here and talk about one of our favorite aspects of preparing for a shoot: making the mood boards.
Making mood boards is a hot topic in the photography industry. Mood boards are an amazing tool to prepare for a shoot and help make sure that photographers and brand teams are aligned, but they’re also a breeding ground for borderline plagiarism and straight-up theft. Since we’ve been making more mood boards than we can count lately (!), we wanted to sketch out our guidelines for what you need to include, how to seek inspiration without stealing work, and why mood boards are so important. Let’s dive in!
Why Mood Boards are Important
Mood boards are key for laying a good foundation for photography. Having a mood board that was created with input from both teams ensures that everyone is aligned in terms of visual branding before anyone picks up a camera. Considering that a mood board is one of the only chances that a brand has to tangentially communicate what aesthetic they’re going for with their photos, it’s important to have all stakeholders weigh in.
Mood boards help us create mouthwatering images like this one!
What to Include on a Mood Board
Here’s a list of things to think about finding to put on your mood board for your brand:
Color pairings you like
Set-ups that catch your eye
Layouts that help show off products
Posts on social media that have stopped your scroll
Anything else that inspires you and your brand!
What NOT to Include on a Mood Board
As photographers, we love when brands send over all of the above as inspiration. One thing we don’t love? Seeing competitor’s work pop up on mood boards. Here’s why: we work hard to create completely customized shoot lists and photos for each brand. The reason we do that is to help you and your brand get a completely customized visual brand that stands out from what everyone else is doing. If you send us photos of what your competitors are doing or ask us to recreate photos you saw while scoping out the competition, that’s not fair to that brand OR to the photographer who worked for them. Having those types of shots on mood boards tends more towards plagiarism — even unintentionally! — and less towards inspiration.
It can be hard to find photographs for the ideals you’re seeking outside of your industry. Here are some of our favorite places to look.
Where to Seek Inspiration
Rylee: One of my favorite outside of the box inspiration hacks is looking through any interior design magazines and websites. I think interior design can tie really closely to food specifically. For me, I am able to imagine people living in a space and what their community and conversation might be like. What their kitchen island looks like filled with beautiful food for a party, and what a seated and totally designed dinner table might look like. It really helps me tie food to colors, props, and different styling methods.
Need help making a mood board? Book a consultation with us below!