# What is a moodboard?

A moodboard gathers images, colours and references to show the look and feel a project aims for, before the work is made.

Updated on 22 October 2026.

## How it works

Designers, art directors and filmmakers gather pictures, textures, type and colour that capture a feeling, then use the board to agree on a direction with the team or a client.

A moodboard works when each reference says why it is there and where it came from: the light in this one, the material in that one, and whether it is approved or set aside.

## An example

For a coastal game, the art director gathers eight paintings of tidal flats and old lighthouses, notes the light and materials in each, approves six and keeps two marked rejected so nobody reuses them.

## Common mistakes

- References with no source or credit.
- A board that never becomes decisions: approved, rejected, or still open.
- Keeping the board in one tool and the brief it serves in another.

## In Nodary

A Nodary moodboard is a block inside a document: each reference keeps its source, credit, note, status and tags, and a palette can be pulled from the references. The board sits next to the brief it serves, and pictures can be reviewed and decided like any deliverable.

**What Nodary does not do:** it holds the pictures you add; it does not search the web or generate images for the board.

- [Art review and feedback tool](https://nodary.ai/art-review)

Try it on your own documents. The Free plan needs no card. [Create a free workspace](https://nodary.ai/sign-up)

## Sources

- [Mood board, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mood_board)

## Related terms

- [Art bible](https://nodary.ai/glossary/art-bible): An art bible is the visual style guide of a game or production: the palette, shapes, light and references every artist follows.
- [Game design document (GDD)](https://nodary.ai/glossary/game-design-document): A game design document (GDD) describes a game’s vision, rules, systems and content for the team that builds it.
- [Linked documents](https://nodary.ai/glossary/linked-documents): Linked documents point to each other, so each idea is written once and other documents link to it instead of copying it.

https://nodary.ai/glossary/moodboard