Fashionable Vision Board
“It’s that time again! Time to make a cute, fashionable and aesthetically pleasing vision board for 2020…”
That’s what I would have said had this post been written at the top of the year. But now, in the second half of the year and still at home because of Rona and all the time we have to think about the person we want to become, it’s as great a time as any to create a vision board!
If you remember, the first time I made a fashionable vision board, it was way back in 2018, which kind of seems forever ago now. You can find that video by clicking here.
At the time, I thought I was making a vision board for the 2018 year but it turned out to be the vision for life long goals instead. Things like having my own studio, finding balance, being healthy and traveling to Europe and New York. These are all things that I still want to do but it’s not likely everything will come to pass within a year. With this board, after watching Erin on Demands’s vision board video, I’ve taken a different approach.
Traditional Vision Boarding
The typical way of vision boarding requires you to look through magazines and cut photos and titles from them that touch your soul, then you glue them onto a poster board. Now, that’s all fine and good, but I don’t like doing it that way because:
Looking through a bunch of magazines in hopes that you’ll find the right pictures isn’t a good use of my time.
There’s too much left to chance, not knowing if you’ll ever come across a photo that represents the vacation you want to take or the goal you want to hit.
Anything you come across is random and will be taken from different magazines that have different moods and aesthetics, so creating a cohesive board that’s pleasing to the eye will be a challenge in itself.
You want to feel inspired when you look at your vision board, not like it’s a hodgepodge of different ideas thrown together. So, low key shade aside, how do I make my fashionable vision board?
How Do I Make a Fashionable Vision Board?
Making a vision board that you can be proud of isn’t difficult at all. I mean, it still has the frame work of the OG vision board, you just have more control over the outcome. So here’s what you’ll want to do:
Get clear on your goals.
You’ll want to do your best to get crystal clear on your goals, your ambitions and how you’d like for your year to go. These can be personal, for business, your relationships, whatever what have you, just know what they are. And you aren’t just calling out your dream, you’re doing the work to figuring out how you’ll be getting there. For instance, one of my goals is to grow awareness to my personal brand. To do that, I set a goal to get 1000 subs on my YouTube channel and in order to do that, I set a goal to post a video at least once a week in the year of 2020. The more detailed you are in this part of the process, the more prepared you’ll be to accomplish your goal.
Gather the Pictures
This is the fun and creative part. The world is honestly your oyster at this point. What you put on your vision board isn’t limited to what’s readily available. Yes, that is always an option, but you can get creative too. Here’s a few things to consider when you’re gathering your photos and your choice of medium:
Choose Your Mood
What mood or energy do you want to convey for your year? If you wanted to feel relaxed, calming colors, like green or blue should be used. If you want a lot of energy, try red and a lot of action poses. What decor will your board need to flow with? The point is for your board to be aesthetically pleasing, so you’ll want it to sit well with everything else in the room. Again, the point is for your board not to be an eyesore.
My board has an editorial, high fashion vibe that’s a little dark and edgy. I don’t want my year to be dark, (Lord, please don’t have my year be dark) but I know I’ll have to grind it out as I manage to stay disciplined throughout the year. There’s also going to be some high energetic notes, shown by adding the pops of red, and the creative output will be magical, pictured through lighter neutral tones and intricate detailing in interiors and architecture.
Show The Goal
Like the OG vision board, you’ll want to gather photos that represent your goals. You’ll want to gather more pictures than you’ll actually need and in different variations so you’ll have options as you put your 2020 vision board together. You can pull from magazines if you’d like or you can save and print photos from Pinterest and good ol’ Google.
As a designer, I’ve made goals for projects I want to make this year. One project being my version of Christian Dior’s New Look Bar Coat. I added Dior’s illustration of the iconic look, as well as John Galliano’s updated version of the red coat from the brand’s Fall 2009 couture show to serve as a reminder that that’s something I want to complete in 2020.
Another way to show your goals on your board is by creating the visual itself as if it’s already happened. This is the tip that I picked up from Erin on Demand. For her vision, one of her goals was to write an ebook and another was for someone like Issa Rae to wear her brands t-shirts. To represent these goals, she made cover art for the ebook she had yet to write photoshopped her tee onto a pre-existing photo of Issa. This technique follows the, “act as if it’s already happened” idea but visually. You’re seeing your goal as a success already.
For my board, I chose to do the same. I made a book cover for the style ebook I intend to write this year and I photoshopped my YouTube subscriber number to show that I have 1,000 subscribers. At the time of writing this, I have 50 subs.
Stay Inspired
Beyond goals, you’ll want to find images of things that inspire and motivate you to keep going. This can be your purpose, something that generally makes you happy or something that makes you want to do and be better. Do you feel the most productive when you’re outside? Is there a specific color that charges you up? Is there something specific that needs to be done? Whatever, what have you, find a way to represent your inspirations and motivations on your vision board. You’ll want to picture things that will give you a second wind when you don’t feel like showing up for yourself.
There’s a few women I look to as an inspiration as they make their way through their respective industries. They are Issa Rae, Serena Williams, Rihanna, Beyonce and Tracee Ellis Ross. Each show up on my board as a reminder for me to keep going, progress in my lane and branch out when the time comes. Each photo I chose of them represents some portion of my goals, from making blazers similar to the one Issa Rae is wearing, to producing high fashion editorial moods, like Serena and Tracee, or a major long term goal I want to accomplish, like having my own streetwear fashion brand, like Beyonce in her IvyPark X Adidas collab and Rihanna on the carpet in her custom Fenty organza hoodie. Just in case I start to doubt myself, I have reminders that all of this is possible.
Words Mean Things, Too
Your vision board doesn’t have to be all pictures, it can also include words and text. No lie, sometimes thinking abstractly can take too much work. You have to remember what the photo was supposed to represent after gluing it down months ago… Sometimes we just don’t have the energy to do all of that and using words makes it easier. You simply read the word and go on about your business.
The words I’ve chosen have to do with staying consistent and staying focused since that’s my intention for the year; to be disciplined and uplevel my craft. I pulled quotes from industry leaders that I respect and I typed others out myself, playing around with different fonts.
What do you want to focus on this year? If you plan to work on your body and appearance you may want to include some encouraging, body positive words like beautiful or curvalicious. If spending more time with your family is a priority, you may want to include the word family, support or love on your board.
Put It All Together
Once you print and cut out all your photos and words, it’s time to play. You’ll need a picture frame, scissors and glue or tape. Start laying out all your gathered photos on the back of the stock photo that comes with the picture frame. You’ll want to pick up and move things around as necessary to make sure your final composition stays balanced and accurately shows your vision for 2020.
Once you’re satisfied with the layout, you can tape or glue everything down to the stock photo. It’s okay if photos fall off the edge of the paper, you can cut the excess off when done.
Put your vision board in the picture frame, and hang it in a space you can see everyday and regularly check in with your goals to make sure you’re on the right path. Don’t stress them or think you have to do everything thing now in order for them to work, just stay familiar with them.
If you remember nothing else, the one thing I want you to take from this is that there isn’t a right or wrong way to do this or to make any vision board. The goal should be to make something that inspires you and empowers you throughout the year as you design your best life.
