I used to think my mood board process was fine, but a chat with my friend's kid made me feel old

I was showing my friend some layout ideas for a project, and her 12-year-old was looking over my shoulder. She pointed at my screen and said, 'Why do you have so many pictures of the same thing?' I had like six shots of the same color palette from different sites, all saved in a folder. She just pulled out her phone, opened an app, and showed me this one page where she had the color, a font, a texture, and a photo that all worked together. It was all in one spot. She said, 'I just look at this when I need an idea.' I've been collecting stuff for years but never really putting it together in a way that makes sense to start. Now I'm trying to make single-page boards for each project instead of my messy folders. How do you guys organize your starting points so they actually help you begin?

2 comments

2 Comments

shane_reed4d ago

That "single-page board" idea hits hard. My whole system was just a graveyard of bookmarked articles. Like 50 tabs on "modern farmhouse kitchens" but zero plan. Now I force myself to make one slide per client. One main photo, the paint swatch, maybe a fabric scrap pic. If it doesn't fit there, it's clutter. Stops the endless search.

faith_price74d ago

Man, I read something similar about that exact problem. It was talking about how our brains trick us into thinking more options mean better work, but really it just freezes you up. Having that one slide rule forces you to make actual choices instead of just collecting stuff forever. It turns a pile of maybes into a real direction. Your method cuts through the noise so you can just start doing the work.