Moodboards, why do you need them? Well, a picture says more than a 1000 words, so why struggle writing a short story on each picture you’d like to make during a photoshoot, when you can also show your photographer what your ideas are? But what makes a good moodboard? Let me share some tips and examples!
When I make a moodboard, I will always include the character’s name, version and series. That way, anyone who sees the moodboard and likes it, can search for more images of that character and see if there is more art with their vibe. It also helps when I have multiple cosplays of a character. Then it is harder to send the wrong moodboard!
“But Amirine, don’t you put art of said character on the moodboard? You can see it then, right?” Well, that would work. But sometimes I don’t want to waste space on a generic concept art image, when I have so many other things to share. A moodboard is not to show a collage of images of your current fav to people. It is about communicating your ideas. So character art is not a must!
I rather work with fan art. Zerochan.net is a very helpful website for finding anime fan art and thus setting the vibes I’m looking for. Or! I try to find pictures of photoshoots with results that I would like to replicate. Never to copy, but to be inspired!
If you’re looking for examples of moodboards, I have included some here as .pdf’s.
Picture by Evenfall cosplay
