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Skeptical about client mood boards, now I build one for every project
I used to think mood boards were just fluff that clients ignored, so I skipped them for like 2 years. Then a branding gig in Portland went sideways because the client kept saying my colors felt 'off' but couldnt explain why. I finally made a simple mood board with textures, type samples, and 3 palettes before starting the real work. That same client approved the first round of designs in one meeting, which never happened before. Now I spend 30 minutes on a board even for small logo jobs, and it cuts revision cycles by half easily. Has anyone else found that a quick visual reference beats a whole page of written specs?
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caseyward6d ago
Mood boards can actually make things worse when the client falls in love with a texture or a type sample that has nothing to do with the final piece, then you spend two calls explaining why the logo cant look like that watercolor. I've also had boards lock me into a direction way too early, before I even understood their market or what their competitors look like. Thirty minutes a project sounds cheap until you multiply it across every small job and realize you just added hours of unpaid work to stuff that used to be a one round fix. Writing down three clear specs takes ten minutes and gives you something to point at when they start drifting, no pretty pictures needed.
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