Determining The Mood
The art of design can often be boiled down to a simple premise; to visually communicate a message or an objective to the end user through the use of basic design principles: Emphasis, contrast, balance, alignment, repetition and flow. The challenge of design is to logically and eloquently articulate the importance of these principles and how they affect the end product to a client.
Establishing a visual vocabulary as a basis for communication is paramount in determining a project’s message, goals and tone. The difficulty resides in the fact that the client may not know (or have invested limited consideration in) the best approach to convey their message visually. This often results in a fallback response to make decisions based on personal preferences or emotional responses that are in contrast to the end product’s goals.
The way we interpret art or design is a subjective matter and defined individually. Often, what we visualize in our mind is inaccurate or misleading when produced in a visual medium. As a painter or illustrator begins a composition with gesture and tonal block-ins, Moodboards are the foundation of developing solid basis for visual communication. They help us understand the look and feel the design is aiming to accomplish and open channels of communication based on tangible elements that can be referenced, discussed and revisited.
A Moodboard is exactly what it sounds like, a tool to establish an overall mood or tone, in a visual medium, that will aid in fulfilling a projects goals. One can be made for interior design (paint colors, flooring, architectural layout), clothing design (long sleeve, color schemes, textures, etc.), and many other things. Obviously, our primary focus with a Moodboard is establishing the look and feel of a website. Utilizing the principles of design, our design team determines the color scheme, font types, texture preferences, image recommendations and overall layout for the site. A Moodboard helps display all of these preferences to the client in one clean, organized avenue, therefore, giving a solid basis for discussion during a consultation.
Our process with the Moodboard sounds basic, yet this process allows our design team to involve the client at an early stage and establish a basis of objective communication to meet design requirements. It all starts off with research from the designers themselves about the client’s business. They also research other types of similar businesses, including the industry, competitors, and what seems to be out there. They then use their knowledge of color schemes and the client’s current colors (based off logo, main colors, primary colors, etc.) to create a pallet of suggested color schemes. Underneath the pallet of colors is an accommodation of other website layouts that are recommended as a general influence which will be dissected and analyzed to create a unique and custom experience. These are not for the client to say “I want my site exactly like that one”, but more to give the client a chance to express to the designer what style, look and feel they are aiming to accomplish for the website and how it will aid in conveying the final message.
Whether or not the client realizes it, the designer learns a lot about the client’s likes and preferences from this exercise. Which font styles do they like? Which layout and why? Do they like a more modern style or tend to favor accented, whimsical feel? Does the site need to display an array of content or a more simplistic approach? What kind of banners and navigation schemes do you prefer? From this information, our designers can make informed decisions by balancing the client’s preferences and the project’s goals.
With all of the above information from the Moodboard combined with the designer’s suggestions, knowledge, and skills of designing a website, the designer now has a blueprint to make a website that not only displays the creative direction of the client, but is also appealing to the client. After all, this is the client’s custom tailored website.
