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MOLLYSL's avatar

Love this, and maybe silly q- but is everyone just printing up a storm? Do I need to get a printer again?? Thought ink was a cost I could cut out but alassss

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Dianna Cohen's avatar

Hi! Not a silly question at all :) I have a printer at home but I mostly use it for work or essential docs vs printing full-bleed color image. I'll do that from time to time, but for this mood board project, I went to Staples and had about 300 images printed. It was around $70 but the quality was much nicer than my at-home printer and the amount of time saved was worth it! You can send yourself a zip folder they'll open and print there on their industrial printers or you can go in with a USB too.

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Cindy Syracuse's avatar

GREAT question!

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Cindy Syracuse's avatar

Total brilliance to have Staples print it! I had no idea how I was ever going to print that all out.

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Mia Nguyen's avatar

What a pleasure to read, Dianna! Love the thoughtfulness that went into this post. Moodboarding is part of a life well lived.

Edward Ruscha's retrospective is coming to LACMA: April 7-October 6. You'll have to visit the next time you're here!!

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Dianna Cohen's avatar

yes! Thank you for the reminder :) I'm so excited to see Ruscha's retrospective at LACMA as well. I always enjoy experiencing the "same" show with different curatorial layouts and interior architecture. Excited to see how they execute it!! Thank you for reading!

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Lauren Neufeld's avatar

So good! I am a mood board gal too. Once when I was about 14 I collaged the entire ceiling of my bedroom (I stapled all the art to hold it in place!). My poor father had to help remove thousands and thousands of staples to uninstall that mood board when I moved out. 🙈 Loved this article! xx

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Dianna Cohen's avatar

This is too good!! Mood board gals forever. The ceiling is so fun but the take-down is no joke after (go dad for helping)!!

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Lauren Neufeld's avatar

Also! What type of push pins do you use? I like that they aren't catching my attention in your photos. Looking for something super minimal and it looks like you have a good source.

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Dianna Cohen's avatar

I use these clear ones from amazon: https://a.co/d/3r1Y4ce

They're the best clear ones I could find! I've used smaller black pins before for the black foam boards which I like given the size of the foam board: https://a.co/d/dvLzQNi but I couldn't find them in clear, so I went with the first ones!

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Lauren Neufeld's avatar

Amazing, thank you!

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Anna's avatar

i think this is one of my fav substack posts ever. i still cut pics out of magazines and put them everywhere!!!!! also… need that fascia roller… any tips on how to best use it?

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Dianna Cohen's avatar

Thank you for reading :) same, cutting out magazines can feel so cathartic in our digital world now! and yes, I use the fascia roller all over my legs and arms in the morning when I wake up and before I go to sleep. I go over similar zones as dry brushing or a lymphatic drainage wood tool if you find those tutorials online!

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Serena Dayal's avatar

Love this 💚

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Alli Cernoch's avatar

I loved this and I’m saving it - thank you! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve googled “bulletin board” trying to find a good looking one. The one for your Miami office is a dream. Thanks for sharing your process 🙏🏼

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Dianna Cohen's avatar

Thank you for this note and for reading! :)

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Jenny Xie's avatar

Dianna, thanks so much for taking the time to put this together and sharing your moodboarding secrets. It's great to know that it's perfectly cool to start with a small foam board!

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Dianna Cohen's avatar

Of course! and yes, it's perfectly cool to start with a small foam board. Starting small and moving forward consistently is how things get done :)

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Laura Nuyen's avatar

This is so good, and perfectly timed for something I’m working on–hoarding some foam boards, stat! 🙏🏻

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Dianna Cohen's avatar

I'm so happy it was well-timed. Thank you for reading :)

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Sarah Shapiro's avatar

You are a pro at this! Thanks for inspiring with your inspiration.

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Dianna Cohen's avatar

Thank you for this note and for reading :) x

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garyn turbach's avatar

Can't wait to do some mood boarding in my new NYC apt!!!! Thx for the tips <3

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Dianna Cohen's avatar

yes!!! Always <3

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Katie Stone's avatar

Absolutely loved this! Now I know what I'm doing this weekend... :)

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Dianna Cohen's avatar

thank you!! have fun this weekend :)

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Rebecca Deczynski's avatar

I always love seeing how much your art history background has informed Crown Affair’s branding and your overall sensibilities !!

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Dianna Cohen's avatar

it's such a core part of who I am :) Thank you for taking the time to read it! x

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Camilla's avatar

Fellow art historian 👋🏼 turn fashion stylist turn startup buyer turn substacker hopeful to have a brand one day ♥️

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Ana Lander's avatar

I know DC, this was written to and for me <3 THANK YOUUUUU

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Dianna Cohen's avatar

:) thank you for inspiring this post!!

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Sandra Grahame's avatar

Dianna - I love this so much. I run the Etsy shop you linked here and I just wanted to say thank you so much! Making beautiful pinboards for creators creating beauty is my love language so this is all just so beautiful!

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streetscout's avatar

Dianna, what size images do you print? And are they all the same size or varied for visual interest?

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streetscout's avatar

This is so inspiring. I just bought a couple boards to create a DIY version (with the help of the tutorial you linked). I’m a super visual person so I’m excited to bring this to life!🪄

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