Most fashion students will be familiar with the term presentation
boards as they are frequently used when working on projects and
preparing a portfolio. The term is also used in the fashion industry
to refer to a variety of boards that communicate and sell ideas or
designs for commercial objectives.
Presentation boards are primarily concerned with presenting
ideas and designs to a defined audience with an appropriate
level of clarity, visual flair and professionalism. They serve different
complementary functions and, when considered within a project
or specific presentation, they should be visually linked. This might
include, for example, working across a template and colour code
style and using the same board dimensions within a presentation.
Strong compositional skills, and the ability to clearly communicate
information, are a distinct advantage when preparing a presentation
board. Presentation boards that are executed with clarity also convey
a student or designer’s organisational skills (and this is important for
working in fashion). Presentation boards should not blur into each
other or repeat the same information as the viewer or audience will
One of the most frequently used
boards, and one that most fashion
students are introduced to first, is a
mood board. As its name suggests,
the purpose of this board is to set
the mood or tone for the design
boards or project work that follows.
The process of preparing a mood
board also enables a designer to
collect visual information from a
variety of sources and to organise
their inspirations and ideas into a
composed visual display. These
boards can vary considerably from
intense photomontages or composite
collages to rather spare visual
compositions that convey an ethereal
quality. Some mood boards are
tactile, others may be digitally
formatted. Depending on the
guidance provided by tutors or
professors, either type may be
acceptable but it is still important
that the board is planned, arranged
and edited into a coherent visual
composition.