When establishing your business’s brand, sometimes more than just words or colors are needed to properly convey it. Social media sites like Instagram require a visual representation of your brand’s look and feel, photos that speak directly to your target audience and evoke emotion. But how do you select which photos to use and stay on brand? You refer to your brand mood board as a guide.

A brand mood board is a collage of images, sayings, colors and patterns that are meant to provide photo inspiration for your brand. The board should follow the company’s color scheme and should properly convey what your brand stands for and represents. Follow these steps to develop or refine your brand mood board.

Step 1: Create a Color Scheme

This is the heart and soul of your businesses’ look and feel and should include 3-5 colors. If you are unsure which colors look good together try using Adobe Color Wheel’s Explore tab. Once your colors are selected save them and record their RGB and HEX codes.

Step 2: Come up with Words that Represent Your Business

Who’s your target audience? What are you selling? What are some adjectives you would use to describe your brand? Think of your audience’s interests that can relate to your business and come up with 5-10 words that speak to what your brand believes in and represents.

Ex. Brave, Elegant, Feminine, Strong

Step 3: Find a Photo Platform to Compile Images

Pinterest is an awesome platform to easily compile images for a brand mood board. Create a dedicated board and search the words that represent your company. Then pin the ones that match your color scheme. You can also search by color.

Step 4: Transfer Images into a Board

The final piece of the puzzle is transferring your best photos, words and colors into a board that you can easily access via image file or PDF. Canva is a great tool to create this. Search ‘Mood Board Photo Collage’ for templates already designed for customization.

If you are interested in creating your own brand mood board, download our free brand style guide template which includes a section for photo inspiration! We are also available to create your brand mood board with our brand design package, click here to learn more.