I had never worked in April already on a Christmas 2016 mood board. Until now. But you make a little exception if you’re asked to spend a couple of days with the creative team of IKEA Spain. I have been lucky enough to work with a very motivated group of visual merchandisers, carpenters, interior&graphic designers on two creative sessions where I showed when and how to use a mood board for company objectives. This is a different program to my on-site courses since these requests always come with a tailor-made course depending on objectives we want to achieve.
IKEA has within its general guidelines coming for Sweden, some freedom to make local driven choices depending on the client’s profile of their stores.
The request I received was to teach a technique they could use for internal purposes. Their main goal was to be able to communicate to other departments the ideas they had when it comes to decorate certain themes throughout the different areas of the particular store in Barcelona. And the mood board is just the perfect tool to pre-visualize immediately an intention, open up a dialogue getting this themes involved right in front of you and discuss possible modifications on the spot when presenting your board.
On the other hand, they would gain clarity as well during the process and work in a much more focussed way when implementing campaigns. That’s another benefit they found interesting when discussing the results at the end of the two days.
The task for all participants was to work on a Christmas theme they personally would like to work on. It was not about any IKEA style to translate, but let creativity flow with a topic they had a preference for. Here go some of the fab results:
Marc Brugues
Estefania Robles
Sheila Peña
Erlantz Garcia
Miguel A. Calvo
Alba Molina
I’d love to share the comments the team made at the end of the two days clearly structured in three groups:
CLARITY
- they learned how to implement different techniques on the board to convey a coherent message
- a mind-mapping process helps to break information down to the basics and translate these into the right images and materials
- improvising on the spot will be reduced (less time-consuming decorations)
- how to present a mood board to third parties is a technique you can learn and gives confidence
CREATIVITY DRIVER
- it’s a tool that stimulates your creativity in a different way
- they loved spending some time away from the screen and get out of their daily routine
- it’s interesting to see how many structuring and displaying techniques a mood board allows
- it’s a lot of FUN
VERSATILITY
- it’s been interesting to see how many different proposals can be made on the same topic with one tool
- this technique allows to make shine very personal styles
- creating a mood board is an alternative (and much more motivating) to the usual ppt presentations
- the idea of working with a tactile technique allows different kind of dialogues (it’s not about sending a digital collage to someone without seeing a reaction)
I have been surprised with that many different outcomes on one topic and truly enjoyed the time spent with the team. Company workshops are one of my favorite services I offer since you learn from all attendees a lot about the brand’s philosophy, the way they work, internal structures and guidelines.
An interesting side effect has been thinking and discussing how physical mood boards could be used throughout the store in a future. Can’t wait to see a few installed soon. That would be amazing! G, x
2 Responses
Oh Gudy-how fabulous to work with Ikea-well done you! xx
Thanks, lovely, it was indeed a fab day. So much insights! G, x