What a retail mood board is
A retail mood board is a single sheet that shows how a store should feel before anything is drawn: images, a colour palette and the main materials. The most useful ones are made per zone, such as the entrance, the main floor and the checkout, because each area of a store has a different job.
The Mood Board tool builds those boards for you. You describe the store and pick up to four zones, and it makes one board per zone, ready to download or export as a deck. There is more about the tool on our Mood Board page.
Benefits
- One board per zone. You get separate boards for areas like the Entrance and the Checkout counter, each tied to what that zone is for, instead of one board that tries to cover everything.
- A complete board, not loose images. Each one has a hero image, supporting images, a colour palette with names and hex codes, a materials list and a short design intent.
- The brief is short. Only the space is required. Style, colour mood, materials, zones and the extra details all have defaults or are optional.
- The zones stay coherent. The boards are generated together from one brief, so the palette and materials read as one store, not four.
- It is client-ready. Download a board as a PNG, or export a PowerPoint deck with a cover slide and one slide per zone.
- You can redo one zone. If the checkout board is wrong, regenerate that one without touching the rest. The earlier images stay in your gallery.
How to use the Mood Board tool
- Say what the space is. Type it in What's the space? (“Sneaker store in a mall”) or tap a chip: Fashion boutique, Café, Restaurant, Jewellery store, Beauty store, Showroom, Hotel lobby or Office reception. This is the only required field.
- Pick a style: Minimal, Contemporary, Industrial, Biophilic, Luxury, Rustic or Futuristic.
- Pick a colour mood: Warm, Cool, Neutral or Bold.
- Choose materials if you have a view: Wood, Stone, Metal, Glass, Fabric, Terrazzo or Concrete.
- Choose your boards. Select up to four zones from Main floor, Entrance, Feature display, Checkout counter, Seating / lounge and Fitting rooms, or add your own.
- Add details if you want to under More details: project name, brand, a “feel in three words”, location, budget (Value, Mid or Premium) and anything else, such as “no brass, lots of daylight”.
- Press Generate mood board. It takes about a minute, or one to two minutes with more than two zones.
Try this: Space: Jewellery store. Style: Luxury. Colour mood: Neutral. Materials: Stone and Metal. Boards: Entrance and Feature display. Feel in three words: calm, precious, tactile. Two zones means a two-board result, and you can compare the entrance and the feature display side by side to see whether the palette holds.
What is on each board
Every board is laid out like a designer's concept sheet. It has a main view as the hero image, an atmosphere image for the light, a close-up of a material and a styled corner or feature. Beside them are a colour palette of three to five swatches, each with a name and hex code, a short design intent of two to three sentences and a numbered materials list with a note on how each material is used. Design keywords run along the bottom.
That is four generated images per zone. Under each board there are buttons to Regenerate that zone or save it as a PNG, and at the top you can Export deck (PPTX) for the whole set. Boards are saved to your gallery, or to the project's gallery if you opened the tool from inside a project.
The board shows the feel. For the layout of each zone, read our retail store layout guide.
Plan and credit cost
Multi-zone mood boards are on the Pro and Studio plans. Credit packs do not unlock them, so you need one of those subscriptions. Check pricing for what your plan includes today.
| What you run | Credits |
|---|---|
| One image | 25 |
| One zone (4 images) | 100 |
| Four zones (16 images) | 400 |
| Regenerate one zone | 100 |
The credits are reserved for the worst case up front. If some images fail, the unused ones are refunded. The Generate button shows the cost for your account before you press it.
Tips
- Start with fewer zones. If the first board is off, a one-zone run is cheaper to fix than four.
- Name your own zones precisely. “Perfume bar” gives the tool more to work with than “Zone 3”.
- Use the three-word feel. It is passed through as the mood for each zone, so use words you would say to a client.
- Pair it with a story. A board shows the feel, and a concept statement explains it. Together they make a pitch.
Limits
The images are AI inspiration, not a design. They show a direction, not buildable fixtures, and the materials list describes the intent rather than a specification or a supplier. Check the images and the materials before you show them to a client, and do not present them as a finished scheme. The board will not know your floor plan, so use Design Studio when you need real dimensions.
Ready to make one? Open the Mood Board tool and describe the space.
FAQ
What is a mood board in retail design?
It is a single board that shows the feel of a space before it is designed in detail: images, a colour palette and the main materials. For a store, designers often make one per zone, such as the entrance, the main floor and the checkout, so each area has its own direction.
How many zones can I make in one go?
Up to four. Pick from Main floor, Entrance, Feature display, Checkout counter, Seating / lounge and Fitting rooms, or type your own zone name. You get one board per zone.
What does a mood board cost in credits?
A board is four images, at 25 credits each, so 100 credits per zone and 400 for four zones. If some images fail, the unused ones are refunded. Regenerating one zone later costs 100 credits. The button shows the cost on your account before you press it.
Which plan do I need for Mood Board?
Multi-zone mood boards are on the Pro and Studio plans. Free and entry plans do not include them, and credit packs do not unlock them. Check the pricing page for what your plan includes today.
