New Year, new feed: Creating your own social media mood board
New year, new feed: Creating your own social media mood board
Do you ever get the motivation to completely overhaul your social media look, but become overwhelmed with possibilities and give up before ever really getting started? Listen, we’ve been there and have felt that feeling when it comes to social media design, but luckily we’ve learned how to push past that wall and start making the changes we wanted.
Re-branding your image on social media doesn’t have to be hard or expensive. The change can flow naturally and easily when you take time to create a plan and break down the steps you need to follow. Don’t worry, I’ve gone ahead and done that part for you! Here are the steps I take when I want to put my dream feed into action:
1. Gather inspiration
Jumping into social media design without gathering inspiration is like trying to build a house without first looking into what tools you need to get the job done – you need to know what you are drawn to and what makes you “oo” and “awe” when you see other feeds. This is where it is definitely okay to start creeping on other business pages!
Pinterest is a great way to start collecting your inspiration, as well. On Pinterest, a simple search will lead you to thousands of photos that are meant to spark inspiration. Try looking for images from businesses you admire and look up too, as well as graphics from graphic designers you love.
2. Choose your color palette and take notes
Now that you’ve gathered photos that inspire you, begin looking for common colors among them. Maybe you are drawn to photos that consist of neutral tones and textures, or maybe you notice a lot of greenery and bright pops of color? These little details will be key to creating a mood board that guides your feed.
Make sure you write down what you notice. You can even write down things about the photos you’ve collected that you don’t love. Critiquing your own inspiration is a great way to differentiate yourself from the accounts you have seen before and develop your own unique feed. Your business is unique itself and your social media should reflect that!
Finally, pull 3 or 4 of the colors you see most prominently in your inspiration photos. The tones of the colors are important! Once you have your colors, find shades of those colors that coordinate best.
3. Look for inspiration…again!
Now, using those specific notes and colors you have chosen, go back and look for more specific photos that align with what you have decided on. Some of the inspiration photos you’ve already found will fit in perfectly with the look color palette you’ve come up with.
4. Create your mood board
Back to the drawing board we go, but this time I recommend using a free design service called Canva. Canva allows you to upload and arrange photos onto a blank surface, so you can completely customize your mood board.
Upload your photos and begin grouping them together in a way that is easy for you to understand and follow in the future. Maybe you need each photo to be a uniform square that reflects how your social media feed will look, or maybe you feel more inspired looking at a collage of different sized photos – choose whichever format your future self will be able to look at and best interpret for future posts.
And voila! You’ve done it, you’ve created your very own social media mood board. Now you can use your board to determine what type of posts will look best on your future feed. Sometimes, I even hold up a photo I’ve taken next to my mood board to see if it will match the look I am striving for or if it will clash and ruin the design!
If you still feel like creating a mood board is confusing or too much to take on with your business, we’ve got you covered. Our social media experts at Hello Social Co. are happy to help guide you in the right direction in a One-Hour Strategy Session. Don’t hesitate to reach out – it never hurts to ask for help when it comes to marketing your own business!
Tags: aesthetics, canva, design, graphic design, mood board, social media marketing, social media mood board