What's the Time Where You Are?
Fall is here, and some thoughts about mood boards and inspiration
And just like that, fall has fell here in Barcelona. Two weeks ago I was sitting at the beach having a picnic with Kyle and a friend, eating cheese and figs, staring at the sea. Now, it’s gray and overcast with a bit of rain here and there, and looking at the weather forecast, the clouds and rain are here to stay. I’m not the best with fall and winter. I love the sun and the heat, I think it’s a part of my Leo/Year of the Dog constitution. I may start taking Vitamin D to get ahead of any seasonal funk that might come my way. What do you do when it’s gray and rainy? I would love to know what helps to get you through if you’re similar to me.
This week I was putting together some concepts for a few client projects and it had me thinking about about inspiration. I saw someone on Twitter recently who had put together a mood board of contemporary food branding, feawturing brands like Graza, Dirtbag, or Gigantic. And for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out the point. It was well organized, aesthetically pleasing, though I couldn’t see a through-line. It felt to me like the point of the mood board was the mood board itself. “I can curate and organize well-designed things, thus by proxy, I have taste and a point of view.”
The way I see it, mood boards are used for world building. You’re looking to create a vibe or a mood, exploring different ways of approaching your problem, with different possibilities and paths you could take. The two mood boards above I put together for a celebrity client I was working with, the goal was trying to decide a look and feel for her Instagram feed. The first board was a very minimal, airy, kind of ethereal direction, while the second was earthy and natural with bright pops of color. There was never any intention to use these image as-is, it would give us a direction to work toward together, with the same destination in mind, that would end up being distinctly, her.
So not only how you utilize a mood board, but where you pull your inspiration from, I think are equally important. Going back to my previous example of the food mood board, pulling ideas from super contemporary sources feels like a mistake, like it’s never sat right with me. Trends come and go which, why follow one for a quick win?
This is why I love certain Tumblrs so much, places like General Office or Downloads Folder. They both have that sense of discovery and unknown, pulling together scraps and bits of this and that, all of which somehow are able to scratch at your brain in different ways. When you look at the inspiration of a fashion designer, for example, they’re pulling from all sorts of places. Their lives, their experiences, they aren’t stuck in this microcosm of trends. Or I think of Antoni Gaudí and all of his incredible architecture here in Barcelona, where his inspiration came from nature and his god.
We’re at such an interesting point where ouróboros (LOL) is clearly eating it’s own tail. Trends absorb trends, the cycle between trends is getting so much shorter, and honestly, it’s exhausting. For me, I’m going to do my best to create good work that can stand the test of time.
Many thoughts...First of all, Vitamin D is a winner. We also have a small „sun light“ that we have on when we drink our morning coffee. I don’t remember where we got ours, but it‘s not a fancy one.
Re moodboards, it reminds me of this essay:
https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/all-advertising-looks-the-same-these-days-blame-the-moodboard/
One quote I‘ve pulled from it (among several) that seems to echo your point, „...leading with aesthetic influences as opposed to meaningful connections further propels the cycle of sameness.“
And of course the article that introduced me to the concept of „Blanding“:
https://www.alexmurrell.co.uk/articles/the-age-of-average
Quoting, „This kind of visual homogeneity is a common occurrence in the art direction world, where ubiquitous styles operate less like trends and more like memes; remixed and diluted until they become a single visual mass. *In today’s extremely-online world, the vast availability of reference imagery has, perhaps counterintuitively, led to narrower thinking and shallower visual ideation.* It’s a product of what I like to call the “moodboard effect.”
Lastly, you‘re of the era to remember the amazing „Them Thangs“ right?
http://www.them-thangs.com/
Hope all‘s great. Holler if you guys make to Berlin anytime soon.