Individual outfit designs: Expanding idea development using shared mood boards

Earlier studies have indicated that mood boards have notable potential. The impact of collectively created mood boards on individual ideation, however, has not been thoroughly studied. This article demonstrates how to bring together collaborative and individual elements in design education. We analysed the role of specific, collectively created, mood boards in student-level conceptual design and how students describe this role. We asked the eleven craft education students participating in this study to develop shared mood boards in team design sessions, and to individually design an outfit utilizing a mood board. The data (i.e. video-recorded interviews, students’ visual and material artefacts, notes) were analysed qualitatively. The results indicated that the shared mood boards played an active role in the students’ processes by expanding their creative idea space and providing a context for their idea development. Our findings could be beneficial for developing craft education by combining collaborative and individual efforts.