Mood boarding. We love it, our clients love us for it (part 2)

Startups. Ask me what we like to do with startups during the mood boarding process. Come on, ask me.

Ok, if you insist.

Most of the startups Caxiam works with typically fall within our Web Application Development services. An idea is born, capital is raised, and our team is brought in to help the idea come to fruition on the Web. Most of the time the client has also engaged our Discovery Phase to generate detailed requirements and construct a framework for strategy & execution. Basically, by the time mood boarding kicks off, we have a great understanding of who the customer is, how they think, and what their needs are.

I’ll get to your eagerly asked question in a second, but first, remember if you will the old Atari game Asteroids (gamer or not, you have to appreciate this classic that helped spawn video games for decades to come!)

Remember how berserk it was to have all those asteroids coming at you? From multiple angles, various speeds & of different sizes. It seemed to be pure chaos in the moment – until you started eliminating asteroids with your little spaceship. One at a time, away they go. 1 down. 2 down. 5 down. The process of elimination was not only required, but very rewarding (especially for a country boy who could only play the Atari at his Aunt’s house!)

To answer your question (finally), I pretty much like to throw everything but the kitchen sink at them. That’s what I like to do with startups during our mood boarding process.

Client = “Spaceship”
Caxiam’s mood board options = “Asteroids”

This analogy may be a bit corny for you, but here’s what’s certainly not. From our experience, clients hiring us to build startup applications feel really good about eliminating numerous concepts during our mood boarding. The business idea was born, its purpose easily understood, but visually they need options and careful guidance throughout the creative process.

Take a New Dirt for example, a startup client of Caxiam’s with a unique idea for a custom web application for the commercial real estate industry. With a full branding effort needed, we set our sights on locking down a color palette (that would appeal to their target audience) and an adjective cloud (that would help guide our logo design). We also spent numerous hours clicking through existing websites (in & out of their industry) to get grip on specific aesthetics that the client found appealing.

After throwing 12+ color palettes at the client (Adobe Kuler is a tool we use routinely) we finally discovered that New Dirt carried some green initiatives and was searching for a fresh, vibrant & modern palette to appeal to their target audience. The asteroids were destroyed and we triumphantly moved on (ok, I’ll stop with the analogy now).

A parallel step in the mood boarding process that helps shape our color choices is the Adjective Cloud. Though this step doesn’t require heavy lifting, it may be the most important (and a personal favorite of mine). Our job is to help examine & extract words that describe the solution and its value to its audience.

• What associations will the Brand itself carry? (e.g. It’s a Targeted application)
• How will we shape the User Experience? (e.g. Encourage users to feel Connected & create tools that are Easy within a Trustworthy online environment)
• How will existing customers speak of the solution? (i.e. Viral & Word of Mouth marketing)

With a solidified color palette & adjective cloud, we can than proceed into the highly anticipated logo development phase. As you can observe below, options are plentiful and the client continues to feel heavily involved.

With sign-off on a selected logo, we’re then full steam ahead with a typography mood board. Sticking with the three pillars of web typography (Legibility, Hierarchy & Expression) it made sense to stick to a clean, san-serif font (we chose Vegur).

With these carefully orchestrated mood boards, we have now laid the creative force behind the project and setup our designers for success. In a collaborative effort with our UI developers, the visual design should (and was) a home run.

In reference to my (Mood boarding Part 1 post), the mood boards for New Dirt vs. The Foundation for SCPS took on different meanings to the client. New Dirt entered our world ready to focus on the areas that would shape their application’s value, marketing efforts & overall perception. A refined adjective cloud, spot on color palette, and logo design was delivered to a hands on client. Contrarily, The Foundation was a casual mood boarder that presented a brand new set of challenges. Their branding was cemented, and vision/purpose heavily exposed to the community already. Their focus was encouraging website users to take action and facilitate understanding in a easily digestible format. Different high level mission statements, similar solution oriented activities within the mood boards.

To persistently remain agile to the diverse clientele Caxiam serves, it’s crucial for our team to understand which mood boards are valuable to the project. We strive to collaborate within a general framework, and then provide a little wiggle room for further exploration & massaging of the overall process. Give us a holler today if you would like further information. We can promise you solutions to your creative challenges, but not without some corny analogies along the way!