Explore

Inspiration board

An inspiration board is where a project's direction starts: the websites, images, type and colour you collect before designing anything. Here's what goes on one, how it becomes a mood board, and real examples.

Start a boardSee examples

What goes on one

Anything that points the way: whole websites and single sections, typefaces, colour, photography, motion, and notes on what you like about each. For web work, live websites beat screenshots, because you can see how a layout behaves and moves.

Collect widely at first. The board is a sketchbook, not a deliverable, and the references that seem least related often end up defining the direction.

What to collect, by project

Start with the parts the project depends on.

  • A website redesign

    Start with the parts visitors judge first: the hero, the navigation and the footer. Collect a few of each, and note what the current site gets wrong that the reference gets right.

  • A portfolio or studio site

    The work has to carry it, so collect how others pace a case study, lay out a grid of projects and set the name in type that has a point of view.

  • A product or SaaS landing page

    Collect heroes that explain the product in one line, feature sections that show rather than list, pricing tables, and the proof underneath: logos and testimonials.

  • A brand or campaign

    Here the feel comes before the layout: a palette, two or three typefaces, textures, and the one interaction people will remember. Whole boards in a style are a fast way in.

From inspiration to mood board

When it's time to hand the direction to someone, edit. Cut to about twelve references, group them into a few titled frames, write the brief on the board, and label what to take from each. That edited board is a mood board.

The full method, with a template: how to make a mood board.

Examples

Boards built from real websites in the save.design library.

All 20 in mood board examples.

Answers

What is an inspiration board?+

A collection of references, such as images, websites, type and colour, gathered in one place to set the direction for a project before the real design work starts.

Is an inspiration board the same as a mood board?+

Mostly. An inspiration board is often looser, a place to collect anything that sparks an idea. A mood board is the edited version: fewer references, grouped, with notes on what to take from each, so someone else can work from it.

What app can I use to make an inspiration board?+

Any board tool works. save.design lets you save websites, sections and screen recordings from any page with its extension, then arrange them on an infinite canvas and share it with one link.

Collect everything, then edit.

Save from any page with the extension, drop it on an infinite canvas, and share the board with one link.

Create a canvas