From Pinterest to Canva: How to Build a Cohesive Brand Identity

Building a brand isn’t just about choosing a logo and some colors, it’s about creating a cohesive identity that tells your story and attracts the right audience. One of the best ways to start this process is by using a mood board to collect inspiration, refine your vision, and transform it into a professional brand identity using Pinterest and Canva.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps of creating a brand mood board using Pinterest, translating that inspiration into a structured brand identity, and using Canva to bring it all together into a polished and professional look.

Step 1: The Power of Mood Boards

A mood board is a curated collection of images, colors, fonts, and textures that visually represent the feeling and style of your brand. It serves as the foundation for your branding decisions and helps maintain consistency across all marketing materials.

A mood board is a great starting point to help establish:

• Clarity & Direction – It helps you define your brand’s aesthetic before designing anything.
  
• Consistency – Ensures all visual elements align with your brand story.
  
• Inspiration – Keeps you focused and prevents scattered design choices.
  
• Collaboration – Provides a reference for designers, marketers, and team members.
  
  

Step 2: Collecting Pinterest Inspiration

Pinterest is a goldmine for brand inspiration! Follow these steps to create a powerful inspiration board:

How to Use Pinterest for Branding

1. Create a Secret Board – Keep your brand inspirations organized by creating a private board just for branding ideas.
   
2. Search with Keywords – Use terms like “modern brand identity,” “luxury branding,” “boho color palettes,” or “bold logo designs.”
   
3. Pin with Purpose – Collect images that represent your brand’s colors, typography, photography style, and overall aesthetic.
   
4. Refine Your Vision – After pinning for a while, review your board and remove anything that doesn’t fit the overall theme.
   
   

Key Elements to Pin

• Logos & Icons – Styles that resonate with your brand’s personality.
  
• Color Palettes – Combinations that evoke the right emotions for your audience.
  
• Typography – Fonts that align with your brand’s message (elegant, playful, bold, minimal, etc.).
  
• Photography & Textures – Backgrounds, patterns, and lifestyle shots that match your brand’s essence.
  
  

Step 3: Translating Pinterest Inspiration into a Brand Identity

Once you’ve gathered inspiration, it’s time to analyze and refine your board into a structured brand identity.

Narrow Down Your Choices

• Pick a Primary Color Palette – Choose 3-5 main colors that represent your brand. Learn more about color psychology before solidifying your brand colors here.
  
• Select Your Fonts – Identify one main font for headlines and one for body text. Looking for a deep dive into fonts and why they are important for your brand? Read our blog post on the "Rules of Graphic Design" here.
  
• Define Your Visual Style – Is it modern, feminine, bold, minimalist, or vintage, etc.?
  
  

Document Your Brand Identity

Use these choices to create a Brand Style Guide, which should include:

• Logo variations (primary, secondary, and icon-only versions)
  
• Brand colors with hex codes
  
• Font pairings
  
• Imagery & texture guidelines
  
• Brand tone & voice
  

Step 4: Fine-Tune Your Pinterest Inspo in Canva

Now that you have your logo, colors, and visuals collected for your brand inspiration, it’s time to refine them using Canva.

Use Our Free Website Mockup + Brand Guide Template & Training

We’ve created a free Website Mockup + Brand Guide Template & Training to help you bring your Pinterest inspiration to life.

This tool allows you to:

• Collect and arrange your colors and inspirational photos in one place.
• Quickly test out your chosen colors on a website layout mockup to see if they work well together.
• Ensure your visual brand elements feel cohesive before making them final.

This process will give you clarity on whether your branding choices align and feel unified across platforms.

Step 5: Bring It All Together

Once you’ve fine-tuned your colors and brand elements, it’s time to finalize your brand identity.

Create Your Logo in Canva

If you still need inspiration or a starting point for your logo, Canva has a variety of logo templates you can explore. Simply search “logo” in the Canva search bar to find options that fit your brand style.

Make sure you use this as an inspirational starting point and then make your logo your own to help with authenticity in your brand. For more guidance, watch this 10-minute training where Claire walks you through how to make a logo in Canva, or check out our more detailed discussion and breakdown on how to create a logo from scratch - and interview we recorded together!

Set Up Your Brand Kit in Canva

1. Open Canva Pro - the Brand Kit feature is best used in the Pro version, the free version will be limited.
2. Go to "Brand Kit" - Upload your logo, choose your color palette, add your brand fonts, upload any brand photography/headshots you may already have, and add any other components you want to easily access in the future.
3. Create Templates - If you are feeling inspired, this is where you can save branded social media posts, business cards, presentations, and website elements to use over and over again.
4. Save & Stay Consistent - Every time you create a new design, use your brand kit to keep everything on-brand.

Use Our Brand Book Canva Template to Finalize Your Identity

Once your logo is finalized and your colors are refined from the Website Mockup & Brand Guide, it’s time to organize everything in one place. We’ve created a Brand Book Template to bring it all together and help you:

• Document your color hex codes
• Establish your fonts
•  Define your brand voice and tone with your mission and vision 
• Fine-tune your brand identity and aesthetic guidelines 

This Brand Book Template ensures that all elements of your branding are clear, organized, and ready to use for future marketing and design projects. Grab your Brand Book Template here.

Final Thoughts: Your Brand, Your Story

A strong brand identity is the key to attracting your ideal audience and standing out in your industry. By starting with a mood board, refining your vision through Pinterest, and bringing it to life with Canva, you can create a cohesive and professional brand that reflects your unique style and values.

Ready to take your branding to the next level? 

If you need expert help with your branding and website design, check out our Done-for-You Website Services or One-Page Website in a Day offer to launch your brand quickly and effectively.