In collecting for my personal mood boards, I tapped into some past brainstorming that I kept in mind (exercises to discover my personal style, 1’st year yearbook, and brief brainstorms). To start collecting images, I did a mindmap on the topics for the mood boards (work, play, taste, smell, sights, sounds, textures, brands, design, illustration) and then searched based on that list. I also kept in mind the keywords identified from the personal ad exercise.

Example of brainstorming for my personal mood board.

This process was great as I could finally see things put together visually in the mood boards. I could see some constant themes in the collections and during critique got a few more descriptors about myself & likes (eg. nostalgic, vintage, soulful, calm). A lot of my personal collection revolves around my connection to the earth. While I love rustic things, I like them with more quality and experiences, appreciating their function, form, and tactility.

Personal Moodboards including the senses, personal brands, design, and illustration.

I found the exercise collecting design I like a little more difficult because it was harder to condense all the work I admire and form as much as a consistent visual palate. I learned/reiterated that jumping from years of no art to 100% art/design, I’m still discovering a personal style. This is quite exciting for me to keep building my personal style and admiring others work. I did find I liked more folksy, whimsical, conceptual designs so I’m hoping to apply this into the next phase of logo sketches! I would give myself a 9/10 for this exercise.