Mood board

A form of visual stimulus material, usually comprising large boards covered with images (often cut from magazines) and designed to represent a mood, atmosphere or feeling. They might be used as enabling materials, to explore respondents' experience of an activity or brand. They can also be used to represent the 'feel' of an intended advertisement, or to explore a number of alternatives (for example bright, sharp and fresh, or slow and sultry). These are part of the repertoire of materials often necessary to research ideas for advertisements which are not yet made, but which will rely on their finished form for their effect.

A specialised form of collage or mood board may be used within a semiotic framework to explore key aspects of a brand or cultural issue (such as 'carnival' or 'danger').

Related Terms

• Stimulus material
• Projective and enabling techniques
• Advertising research
• Execution
• Semiotics