While writing this, I realize that for others creating a moodboard is fairly straightforward. For me, who is technologically challenged at unexpected moments, it wasn’t straightforward. But I successfully created one and want to share my experience.

I’ve seen moodboards posted in relation to book concepts, and this is what drew me to the project. But moodboards can be used for other purposes as well. In short, they are a collection of images, words, phrases, textures, patterns and colors which can give a sense of a brand, project, book, and so much more.

Moodboards caught my eye when folks were pitching their books during the preliminaries to the editor contest (#RevPit) on Twitter. These moodboards revealed setting, clothing, emotions, theme, etc. I loved them immediately and wanted to create one for the book I’m currently querying, A Wolf’s Labyrinth.

I was given a lead to try the Layout app to create the board. Now here’ s where my tech challenge began. I have a PC and when I tried to download the app from Google Play, I wasn’t able to. Perhaps I did something wrong. Who knows? I downloaded a different app from Microsoft, marketed as PC-friendly. It is called Photo Collage Maker. Now, this app did allow me to create my collage/moodboard. There were more distinct borders between the photos than I’d seen in other moodboards, but this didn’t bother me as much as the ad on the bottom of the collage. It was small ad for the app but noticeable when I posted this moodboard on Twitter.

So, I scrapped that and downloaded the Layout app on my daughter’s chromebook. Again, tech challenges which were probably user-related: I struggled to work the app on her chromebook. The screen settings made it challenging to navigate and every time I attempted to adjust the photos, they zoomed in and became worse.

Twenty minutes later through gritted teeth, I managed to produce an adequate moodboard. However, the photo sizes were much larger and when I posted it, it just didn’t look right.

Next, I moved to my phone. I tried two free collage apps which I soon discovered also had ads and limitations to adjusting the photos.

Finally, I found the Layout app and downloaded it onto my phone. I certainly wished I had done this from the beginning. On the phone, the app was much easier to navigate. I was able to quickly add my photos and organize them. I easily adjusted them. The border between the photos was seamless, and the effect was beautiful. This was the five minute process I’d been hoping for and succeeded in having…three hours later.

What about content? The two main resources I used for photos were pexels.com and pixabay.com. I imagine there are many other resources, and I am interested in learning about them. Feel free to comment if you know of any.

Below is my final moodboard:

Thoughts? Questions? Your experience creating a moodboard? I’d love to hear.

Thanks for reading!