Fall mood boards
Although climate change is throwing us off with high temperatures practically across the planet, there are already signs that summer is over in the northern hemisphere; the days are getting shorter and it’s starting to feel nice to put on some extra clothes. We are suddenly becoming homebodies, eager to stare out the window with a hot cup of coffee or tea, looking up at the trees to see how they are blossoming or how their leaves are falling, and on many couches, there are already fluffy blankets to make the evenings warmer and cozier and hundreds of mood boards appear on our screens.
Arid colors, browns, and muted tones are starting to look better than ever; we’ve become tired of loud colors and the most vibrant colors are starting to hurt our eyes. These are all signs that fall has begun and it has taken a hold over us, prompting us to make certain changes to our lifestyle: our clothes, our home, and even the way we work in the world of graphic design.
For a graphic designer, inspiration is a key part of the workflow. Nobody can sit in front of the computer to perform a creative task without letting their imagination run wild for a few minutes. The creative process requires inspiration just as much as the job requires dedication and discipline. The question is, where do we find that inspiration? What inspires us? This question cannot be answered in general terms, as each person finds inspiration in different manners and in different places. From a stroll down the street to a visit to a museum. A book, a song, a smell, a memory, or any experience can inspire us and give our brain ideas to develop a creative task.
Although we cannot define the stages of the process involved in the search for inspiration, we do have the tools to help find it. Tools that are used by the majority of designers and that are highly recommended. Mood boards are one of these essential tools; but what is a mood board exactly? Grab your blanket and keep reading because we’re going to try to inspire you in this post. Discover how to create the best mood board.
What is a fall mood board?
A mood board is a concept made up of two different terms, mood and board.
It is a collection of different visual elements organized within a single space, a personal space based on ideas and concepts. These elements are used to create a board in the form of a collage, seeking an individual look and feel. This board will help us define the visual style that will subsequently be given to our creative project.
Mood boards act as a source of inspiration, and they are not only developed in the world of graphic design, but also in other disciplines such as photography, interior design, architecture, and painting… In short, any job with a high creative component.
A mood board can contain elements such as images and photos, illustrations, textures, colors, fonts, phrases, and objects. They are not only useful for working independently; they are also of great help when working as part of a team or with freelance professionals, providing them with context and a guide to our visual references. Freepik offers a large number of editable mood board templates. If you want more information on this topic, here you’ll find some tips on how to create a good mood board.
What is the purpose of a fall Mood Board?
Benefits to creating a fall mood board
1. Save time and effort
It doesn’t take long to make a mood board, and you can save many hours by creating a visual guide to present different concepts to the customer.
2. Get inspired
Mood boards help you organize the resources that inspire you, placing them all in a single space. They are a useful tool before tackling each project.
3. Find a suitable color palette
By combining different objects, designs, and fonts, you can find a combination of images, icons, vectors, and illustrations that suggest the use of a harmonious color palette.
4. Improve communication with the customer
Mood boards help sell your project to the customer. They reflect your ideas in an easy-to-understand space, ensuring you are both on the same page.
How can you create a fall mood board for free?
In addition to the tools offered by Freepik, there are dozens of online editors, including:
Wepik
Our favorite online editor has several photo collage templates, including example mood boards. You can edit each of the elements and adapt them to your needs. It is totally free of charge and includes very useful and powerful tools such as the removal of backgrounds, searches by artificial intelligence, etc…
Adobe Express
Adobe Express offers a series of customization options to ensure that you can create something that truly reflects your ideas and your way of thinking. You can change the text size, move it around the page, add special effect filters, make the elements transparent or change the configuration of borders. A free version is available with limited features, as well as another, more comprehensive, paid version.
Pinterest
This is the favorite tool for creating inspiration boards in general, and particularly mood boards. You could say that Pinterest is a global mood board that you can customize with folders and ideas.
This tool contains A4 mood board templates to use as inspiration, which can be customized according to your commercial or personal needs. You can add text, logos, and objects that define your brand. Once complete, you can download them for free in high resolution.
Niice
This tool has a very simple drag-and-drop interface. You can explore the sample boards available and easily find visual elements that fit in well with your project. Once you’ve added the images and photos that best adapt to your design, you can play around with color effects, add text and change the size of the images. With Niice you can share your images and mood boards with the rest of your team. The first 3 boards are free.
Now that we’ve explored the elements that make a good mood board, we can examine each of the components that will provide a guideline for your fall inspiration, step by step, to ensure success in all your projects. We’ll give you some tips on photography and original color palettes so that you can enjoy this fall.
Fall mood board in photography
Fall in photography is like poetry in literature. Wistful images full of beauty, browns, yellows, ochers… the transition towards the predominantly cold colors of winter. Photographers search incessantly and schedule their sessions for the fleeting time sequence known as the golden hour, instants of sunlight at dawn and dusk with a soft and translucent glow, adding textures, shadows, and heightened colors.
The need for fall textures is always on the rise, along with images of leaves, branches, trees, wooded areas, and rustic scenes of families walking or playing in the leaves. What’s more, fall leads to mysterious and misty scenes. These textures are often used as natural frames. Try using tree branches or even fallen leaves as a photo frame, so that these elements draw attention to what is inside. On Freepik you’ll find countless special photography resources for fall.
Another of the essential elements of fall in photography are circular polarizing filters. These elements reduce glare from reflected surfaces and increase the contrast and saturation of colors. They also enable a slower shutter speed, helping us photograph rivers and streams. Furthermore, this speed allows us to photograph the evocative movement of falling leaves, the perfect metaphor for a season in transition. These resources are ideal for any design, particularly fall wallpaper.
Besides photography, we must not neglect the audiovisual aspect. Today, all projects include an important section that requires videos for our social media, presentations, etc.… On Videvo you can find resources for any need: from fall clips with falling leaves, streams, rivers, rain… even sound effects that will give your creations a special touch.
The fall mood borad color palette
When we think about color palettes, browns, yellows, and ochers come to mind, drawing inspiration from the reality that surrounds us, from nature. But, if we always use the same palette, our designs will fail to impress, so it’s a good idea to draw inspiration from other colors, being edgy and going against the trend without fear. Experiment with cheerful and bright colors combined with typical fall colors with the aim of lifting spirits.
Soft olive-green colors, elegant colors that conjure up fall, but with an up-to-date feel.
Daring and innovative forbidden color combinations such as navy blue and black, mixed with fall colors such as light brown and beige.
Now that you’re fully familiar with all the fall concepts, let your imagination run wild until inspiration falls just like the leaves from the trees. Meanwhile, Freepik offers countless resources to modify and adapt your designs. The most in-demand elements include versatile fall backgrounds for designs, tree drawings, patterns, and fun clip art, with which you can make all types of creations such as flyers, wallpapers, invitations, etc. We also have very useful resources such as fall coloring page to entertain children.
Finally, fall is the season of important celebrations such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, Diwali, and the Day of the Dead. With these fall images, you can add a wide range of pumpkin resources to your collection, including drawings, backgrounds, patterns and dozens more resources listed in this monographic Halloween article with free Premium resources.
Now that you have plenty of quality resources, you simply have to search for inspiration. We recommend that you grab some between-season clothes, go out and have a walk and observe the magic of nature. All the resources are available for you to enjoy before the cold winter is upon us.
