Bad-Mood Boards

Do you have a love/hate relationship with mood boards for exhibition projects? I do. Because usually, we only use them halfway.

You’ve either made one or seen one. It’s a visual collection of precedents. In the dawn of time, people had to make actual boards, with photographs pinned on them. But now there’s Pinterest, the infinite version.

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SPECIAL NOTE:
Let's meet at AAM 2024 this week! Are you heading to the American Alliance of Museums Annual Meeting 2024 in Baltimore, May 16-19? I'll be there and I'd love to connect with any MtM readers or listeners who'd like to meet IRL. Hit REPLY to this message and LMK!

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Mood boards are a good way to start, but not to finish — unless we add a simple second step. Because if our mood board becomes our design, we are repeating history. Past images are past images. Shouldn’t our job be making something new?

So I prefer a bad-mood board.

It’s identical to a normal one, except for that one extra word in the title, and the way you use it. Collect all the visual precedent you can. Present it to the entire team.

Then tell everyone to make something that is not on it.

Here’s the thing:
A mood board is a recipe for imitation. Call it a bad-mood board instead, and add that second step. Now it will guide you somewhere new.

Warmly,
Jonathan

P.S. Here’s that special note again:

Let's meet at AAM 2024 this week! Are you heading to the American Alliance of Museums Annual Meeting 2024 in Baltimore, May 16-19? I'll be there and I'd love to connect with any MtM readers or listeners who'd like to meet IRL. Hit REPLY to this message and LMK!