# Mood Boards The Hamilton and Alexandra College · Year 12 · 2026 A **mood board** is one of the four ideation tools in your [C4-1 design pack](/sd/C04/C4-1%20Checkpoint%20-%20Design%20Pack). If you've never made one, start here. --- ## What is a mood board? A mood board is a **visual collage** that captures the *look and feel* of your software — *before* you design any real screens.  *An example board for "StudyStreak" (a focus & wellbeing tracker). Notice how every colour, font and image points at **one feeling**: calm and focused.* 🔗 **View it live:** [open the interactive board in your browser](https://link.excalidraw.com/l/5CLtbQDvBQT/9YfBULXeu1u) — click **Join as a guest** for a read-only view (nothing to install). 📂 **Want to take it apart?** [Download the `.excalidraw` starter](Mood%20Boards/studystreak.excalidraw), open it in Excalidraw (Obsidian), and see how it's built — then adapt it for your own project. It gathers the things that set a creative direction: - **Colours** — a small palette (3–5 colours) - **Typography** — 1–2 fonts you'd use - **Imagery & texture** — photos, icons, UI patterns, screenshots of apps that inspire you - **Keywords** — a few words for the feeling you want (e.g. *calm, playful, trustworthy*) It is **not** a layout or a wireframe — it doesn't show where buttons go. It answers a different question: *"What should this app **feel** like?"* ## Why bother? - It **sets the direction early**, so your later sketches and detailed designs are consistent instead of random. - It's a fast way to **explore and compare** visual ideas before committing. - It gives you **reusable assets** — the colours and fonts you choose here carry straight into C5. --- ## Watch and build alongside (10 min) Don't just watch — **build your own board as you go.** Copy the designer's *thinking*, not his tool. Watch for the **four boards** he creates (you'll make the same four), and notice he starts each by naming the *mood* — exactly like the StudyStreak example below. {{Video|src=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsPKDV7ozfI}} *How To Create a Mood Board — Design Process for App UI (NAM Design)* The video builds the board in Miro; you can use **Excalidraw, Canva, Obsidian, or even a Google Slide** instead — the thinking is the same. > [!NOTE] > **In this class, build your board with Excalidraw in Obsidian.** If it isn't installed on your machine, see IT to install the app. ### ⏸ Pause and build Pause at each point and do the step for *your own* project before you resume: | Pause at | Do this for your project | |---|---| | **0:58** | Answer the two prep questions: *what* app are you making, and on *what device*? Write them at the top of your canvas. | | **1:00–4:00** | *Skip — this part is just a tour of Miro's buttons. Open Excalidraw in Obsidian instead.* | | **5:00** | **Board 1 — Design Style:** collect 6–8 inspiration images and write 3–4 **mood adjectives**. (Gathering more than a couple lets you see the *differences* and choose deliberately.) | | **5:58** | **Board 2 — Type:** pick **two fonts that pair** ([Google Fonts](https://fonts.google.com) is free). | | **7:15** | **Colour palette:** build a primary + secondary + accent palette ([coolors.co](https://coolors.co) helps). | | **8:10** | **Board 3 — Imagery:** add 3–4 images that fit your feeling (try [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com)). | | **9:05** | **Board 4 — Interface patterns:** find 2–3 *real* UI examples of parts you'll need (e.g. a card, a button). | **What each board looks like** — the StudyStreak example, board by board (the video groups *type · colour · icons* together as Board 2):     ### Check Your Understanding 1. The designer builds **four boards** — what are they? >| ### Answer >| Design Style · UI Style Guide (type + colour + icons) · Imagery & Graphics · Interface Patterns. 2. Why gather 6–8 styles *before* choosing one? >| ### Answer >| So you can see the differences and choose deliberately, instead of locking onto your first idea. 3. He insists on finding **real examples** of interface patterns. Why? >| ### Answer >| Real examples are proven — they show patterns that already work, which beats inventing one from scratch. --- ## Worked example — "StudyStreak" > **The project:** a focus-and-wellbeing tracker that helps VCE students log study sessions and protect their downtime. > **The audience:** stressed senior students. > **The one feeling:** *calm, focused, encouraging* — **not** hyped-up or gamified. Everything on the board ladders up to that one feeling: | Element | Choice | Why it supports *calm & focused* | |---|---|---| | 🟦 Deep teal | `#1F6F78` | Focus and trust; reads as grown-up, not childish | | 🟩 Soft sage | `#A8C3A0` | Calm and growth — used to show progress | | ⬜ Warm sand | `#F4EDE4` | A light background = breathing space, low stress | | 🟧 Muted coral | `#E8845E` | A *single* warm accent for streak highlights — used sparingly | | **Type — headings** | Nunito (rounded sans) | Friendly and approachable, not corporate | | **Type — body** | Inter (clean sans) | Easy to read for tired eyes | | **Imagery** | tidy desks, morning light, plants, journaling | Quiet, hopeful, real — not stocky or busy | | **UI patterns** | rounded cards, lots of whitespace, a *growing plant* for streaks | Gentle encouragement instead of aggressive scores | | **Keywords** | calm · focus · steady · encouraging · uncluttered | The feeling in words | ### What we deliberately *avoided* — and why This is what lifts a mood board from "nice pictures" to a real design decision: - ❌ **Neon, high-saturation "gamer" colours** — senior students read these as childish and over-stimulating. - ❌ **Leaderboards and confetti badges** — competition raises stress; StudyStreak is about *your own* steady progress. - ❌ **Dense, data-heavy dashboards** — clutter is the opposite of calm. > [!TIP] > **The coherence test:** pick **one** feeling, then check every colour, font and image against it. If something doesn't support that feeling, it doesn't belong on the board. A mood board that "feels like five different apps" hasn't done its job. --- ## Your turn You've already built a first draft alongside the video. Now **finish and check it**: 1. Make sure it names your **one feeling** and includes at least **5 images**, **3 colours** (each with its feeling), **2 fonts**, and a few **keywords**. 2. **Coherence check:** test every element against that one feeling — cut anything that doesn't fit. 3. Be ready to **explain your choices** — *why* this colour, font, image. That's exactly what your C4-1 annotations need. 4. **Credit every asset** — add a *Credits* note with the source, creator and licence of each image, font or icon you didn't make yourself. > [!IMPORTANT] > **Crediting your assets is compulsory.** Every image, font or icon you didn't create yourself must be credited — *even free ones*. Record the title/source, the creator, and the licence (e.g. CC0, Unsplash, SIL OFL). Using an asset without credit is an academic-integrity breach, the same as using someone's words without a reference. See the **Credits** section at the bottom of this page for the format. Commit it to GitHub and add it to your printed design pack. --- ## Credits — this page's example board Crediting assets is compulsory — so here are the credits for the StudyStreak example above. Use this as the format for your own board. **Photos** — all CC0 1.0 (public domain), found via [Openverse](https://openverse.org): - "Laptop Apple" — JESHOOTS.com (StockSnap) — [source](https://stocksnap.io/photo/laptop-apple-N6NK9J8V0A) - "Writing Hand" — Kristin Hardwick (StockSnap) — [source](https://stocksnap.io/photo/writing-hand-2FRRD2PUVA) - "Tea on the countertop" — freestocks.org (Flickr) — [source](https://www.flickr.com/photos/135396164@N05/34419804081) - "a cup of coffee, a flower and a laptop" — freestocks.org (Flickr) — [source](https://www.flickr.com/photos/135396164@N05/31512220131) **Fonts** — [SIL Open Font License](https://openfontlicense.org), via Google Fonts: - [Nunito](https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Nunito) (headings) · [Inter](https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Inter) (body) --- ## See also - [C4-1 Checkpoint — Your Design Pack](/sd/C04/C4-1%20Checkpoint%20-%20Design%20Pack) — where the mood board fits among the four ideation tools - [C4 Design Ideas and Evaluation Explained](/sd/C4%20Design%20Ideas%20and%20Evaluation%20Explained) — the C4 walkthrough videos --- ← Back to [C04 Home](/sd/C04/C04-home) · [VCE Software Development Hub](/sd/VCE%20Software%20Development%20Hub)