---
title: "Moodboard – setting direction before design | Sweet Lava"
description: "A moodboard collects images, colours and typography to agree a project's aesthetic direction early. See how it saves rounds of revisions."
url: https://sweetlava.eu/en/glossary/moodboard/
lang: en
alternate_pl: https://sweetlava.eu/pl/slownik/moodboard/
---

Design & branding 

# What is Moodboard?

A moodboard is an inspiration board – a curated set of images, colours, typography and textures that establishes the aesthetic direction of a project before actual design work begins.

A moodboard is a conversation tool between designer and client: it lets you agree on mood and character ("premium and restrained" or "energetic and bold"?) without the cost of designing blind.

In the design process the moodboard appears early – after the brief, before first concepts. A well-built one contains not just pretty pictures but considered references: typography, photography, composition and details that will genuinely translate into the design.

**Tip for clients:** when reacting to a moodboard, talk about feelings ("this is too cold"), not solutions – solutions come later, in the design itself.

## Related services

- [ Brand identity design & design systems → ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/services/branding-design-systems/)
- [ UX audits & UX/UI design → ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/services/ux-ui-ax/)

## Related terms

- [Key visual](https://sweetlava.eu/en/glossary/key-visual/)
- [Visual identity](https://sweetlava.eu/en/glossary/visual-identity/)

## A new brand identity ahead, or a clean-up of the current one?

We design marks, brand books and design systems, and deliver the guidelines in a format AI tools understand. Scope and quote within a few days.

[ Get in touch ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/contact/?source=glossary-moodboard)