- the enchandress
Getting Into The Mindset Of A Designer - Mind-maps & Mood boards
MIND-MAPS
A mindmap is a highly useful process with the help of which designers can organise ideas in important categories such as -
Concept Title
Season
Inspiration
Materials
colours
Research
A mindmap allows for the designer to see their thoughts clearly on a page. It enables them to find their niche for the collection. It can be best created by taking a piece of A3 paper and starting in your inspiration and then branch out from that. It can include pictures if you like!

MOOD BOARD (Story board for the concept)
- Is a powerful visual that will enable your target client to understand what your concept is about. - Has a story throughout the collection.
- Is a more formal statement of your concept and helps establish the feeling of the collection.
- Expresses the essence of your ideas , sums up the themes and reflects the seasons.
- Helps to focus and crystallise your ideas , whilst assisting you towards design solutions.
How to create a mood board ?
To ensure the flow of design , you can Check the mood board whilst designing as it can be a reference point of your Collection
Motifs are very important through out the collection- this is what ties everything together.
It could be a print, a piece of embroidery, the way things are cut. This can be emulated on your mood board.
Creating mood board at this stage entails arranging images and ideas from your research on an A3 sheet.
It aims to give an indication of how your design work will evolve.
The sheet you are creating should relate to the rest of your presentation and should be collated as if for a magazine page, forming a visual representation of your concept/ theme.
Try to make your collage of images as harmonious as possible.
Using only coloured images or using images of the same tone might add effect.
The most successful mood boards have a focal point. So play with the scale of the images you choose.
Make the images visually stimulating.
Make the board stylistically cohesive and harmonious.
Avoid using only fashion images.
Work on a professional, clean presentation.

