It can be difficult to know where to start with a brand identity. There is more to visual identity than just a logo. The goal is to create a brand that you, and more importantly your audience, feels good about. The process of building a brand is a multi-step one. Recently I watched a video by a designer named Hank Washington that was an excellent representation of birthing a brand.
In the video, Hank’s design brief was randomly generated from a website called goodbrief. And fun enough, the idea it spit out was counter to his norm. The instructions were to create a brand identity for a gluten-free toddler treat. And I couldn’t agree more with his very first step; creating a mood board.
A mood board is a visual brainstorm of trendy colors, fonts, and imagery you wish to evoke in your project. Creating a mood board is almost like trying on a whole new wardrobe; time consuming, but rewarding in the end. And just like your wardrobe, your moodboard is a harmonious group of many tinier pieces.
So how do you go about creating a mood board? In the video, Hank demos through his process by gathering sources. Hank used a variety of keywords on different sites to hunt for inspiration. Anything that really struck him, (and fit the audience), he would bring into his mood board. First he searched Pinterest, with keywords such as kid desserts:
Not much on there really spoke to the brand he wished to create. He continued his search on BEHANCE, a treasure-trove of great design! Behance is almost like Pinterest but specifically for designers to share and appreciate each other’s work. He took inspiration from pre-existing branding for toddler diapers, toys, clothes, decor and snacks.
Next he changed his keywords to desserts and bakeries. The results turned up a lot of good brand build outs and packaging designs.
And finally he hit up Adobe stock for dessert imagery.
I LOVE this step when it comes to designing. A mood board can be key to keep a designer and client on the same page. It also continues to anchor the design process to a concept. The video example was about an hour of work. His final mood board looked like this:
How inspiring! This was before he even thought about a name for the product, the logos, the fonts, etc. FIRST he laid out imagery from keywords into this collage. This also does not mean he intended to copy things he found line-for-line, or stroke-for-stroke. Big no-no my friends! The intention is to evoke the mood of your budding brand.
Getting an identity right the first time is really rewarding. This is your foundation. Planning prevents frequent re-branding. Don’t get me wrong, re-brands are enjoyable to look at and reflect on. But too revisions to your identity in too short a period can be less cost efficient and confusingly inconsistent for consumers.
Practice this step on your big idea today. Or better yet, reach out to your friendly designer, and mood board pro, Penny Doodles. We will go through the process together. Not scary…. totally fun I promise. AND In the end, you will most definitely have an identity as unique as yourself.
I’m a total design nerd and would love to continue to share the creative process with you. Comment and let me know if you would like to see more content like this on the blog. Big thanks to Hank Washington Designs for creating the video. To watch PART 1 or even more in the series, check out the LIVES on his Behance page!
Penny Doodles 