Apparel and Textile Production II
How to Make a Fashion Mood Board
Every design begins with a mood board, which is basically a collage used in the design
industry to get the designer's ideas organized. A designer will be told to make a mood
board with certain colors or a specific theme, and the designer creates the line around
the board. Fashion magazines use mood boards to convey the next season's colors or
display cutting-edge design elements. Magazine editors also use mood boards to pitch
story ideas for upcoming issues. Making a mood board is a great way to discover your
personal design aesthetic or get your ideas organized for presentation.
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Magazines
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Paint Swatch
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Fabric Swatches
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Large sheet of card stock/board
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Scissors
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Glue
Instructions
1. Flip through magazines quickly, tearing out images that catch your eye right away.
Don't stop and stare. If you look at anything too long you can convince yourself you
like it.
2. Take the images you collected and begin sorting them by color and feelings. Dark
colors can mean a fall collection, while soft pinks and white are spring. Figure out
what kind of a collection you want to design by letting the images lead you. If you
pulled out mostly sunny, bright images, it's time to design a summer collection.
3. Place images on the card stock and begin playing with them. Move them around,
cut them out, play with the negative space. A dynamic layout is one that keeps the
eye moving. If you have a pop of red on the left, compliment it with a splash of red
on the right; this keeps the eye moving back and forth across the page. Arrange
powerful images in triangular positions, this also keeps the eye moving.
4. Use a glue stick to attach your images to the card stock. You can also use rubber
cement.
5. Use the mood board as personal reference for later in the unit.
Apparel and Textile Production II
Summer 2014
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