From Concept to Visuals - Brainstorming and Moodboard

Think together - Brainstorming

Brainstorming may sound old school but it is still commonly used in organizations. People love it because when everything goes right you can gather brilliant ideas during limited time. On the other hand, it can be just a waste of time if the meeting doesn’t go smoothly. Don’t get frustrated no matter you are the project leaders or team members. First let’s review the four principles of brainstorming.

1. Go for quantity\
2. Withhold criticism\
3. Welcome wild ideas\
4. Combine and improve ideas

Apart from the four principles, we strongly suggest you to design your brainstorming meeting based on the characteristics of your companies, projects and team members. And that’s the key to a successful brainstorming meeting.Take think™ as an example. On the day before meeting, project leader should send related information to team members such as brand statement, target customers, consumer behaviors… so that your team would have some ideas before hand.

Process of Brainstorming

On the day of meeting:
Time: In the morning and try to finish in one hour
Tools: Related information, pens, post-it notes, dot stickers

① Recap\

• Review the key information and the goal of the meeting

② Extension \

• Each member writes any keywords in mind on post-it notes

③ Focus\

• Post all notes on a wall, overlap the sam ones and categorize them (such as colors)\
• Vote by putting dot stickers on the notes you like ( Dots hold by one person = numbers of members)\
• Remove notes that are not overlapped or not voted

④ Conclusion\

• Choose suitable keywords and develop two to three concepts by the designer in charge

Building Consensus by Brianstorming

Q: Why thinkers write down ideas instead of discussing together?
A: It is argued that whether “group discussion” or “ individual thinking” would achieve greater efficiency. We believe that thinkers possess outstanding individual thinking abilities, therefore we leave time for them to think by themselves and discuss afterwards.

Q: Are clients involved in brainstorming meetings?
A: When it comes to rebranding, think™ invites our clients to join brainstorming meetings because we want to make sure the valuable brand history and spirits are inherited to the new brand vision and future!

Visualization - Moodbaord

fter the ideas are wrapped, our graphic designers will visualize them with the so called “moodboard.” Moldboard is like a collage of pictures to deliver a complete concept. A moodboard usually requires following components:

1. Concept

The whole image that a brand wants to deliver, like tough, light or fun.

2. Shape

Square, triangle, sharped, or rounded…details tell a lot about a brand.

3. Typography

Among hundreds of fonts available, which one best suites your brand image?

4. People

Try to portray the image of product users and service providers. This may benefit the future marketing strategies.

5. Product

To depict products, packaging, and user interface will unify the brand as a whole.

6. Environment

You can never overlook user experience so do draw a picture of five senses in your moodboard.

Moodboard is an essential tool to play as a bridge between designers and clients for it constructs the common language. The clients will choose one concept and both parties will modify its details which will be extended to brand identity design.

Quite a huge effort before project proposal, isn’t it! think™ believes a “wow” piece dose not only come from the eureka moment but also based on concert research and bold creativity. Thinkers actively attend exhibitions and events to sharpen our critical minds which will be applied in brainstorming meetings, designing moldboard and project proposals. By doing so we will assist brand owners to find the right path to successful brands that we will be crafting carefully and proud of.