How to make a vision board to reach your goals

You've probably heard of vision boards from celebrities like Oprah (one of the biggest advocates of vision boards) or spiritual leaders like Deepak Chopra. But more and more creatives are also finding ways to use them to create new projects or grow personally.

In this tutorial, we'll deep-dive into the definition and purpose of vision boards, answer your burning questions about them, and help you create your own using Linearity Curve's mood board templates. 

What’s a vision board?

A vision board is a powerful visualization tool to help you define and solidify your goals. It's a great way to physically map out the plans for achieving those goals and give yourself tangible reminders of what you are working towards—a vision of your preferred future. 

With a vision board, it becomes easier to focus on creating the life you want—a constant reminder to stop wasting energy on things that don't serve your mission. A well-crafted personal vision board can act as a catalyst to achieving your personal goals, sparking new ideas, and making an inspiration board of potential opportunities.

Creating your vision board doesn"t have to be complicated or expensive. Making a beautiful vision board should be fun and creative and hopefully kickstart your creative process.

The journey starts by writing down all your life goals, personal goals, dream job, or financial goals in one place and then breaking them down into smaller achievable goals over time.

From there, you"ll gather motivational materials like a collection of images, inspiring quotes, postcards—anything that’s

a visual representation of your dream life—and arrange them into a collage of images onto a digital board.

Using our easy step-by-step guide on the vision board process, you can create a visual reminder of who you want to become and stay focused on the end goal.

5 steps to create a vision board that works

Set your intentions

Before diving into the creative process, define your intentions. Ask yourself, "What do I want to achieve?" Are you aiming for personal growth, career advancement, or a specific project outcome? Clear goals will guide your vision board's content and ensure it serves its purpose effectively.

When considering what matters most, we should begin with self-reflection and figuring out what we really want. Thinking about the one or two areas in our lives that we want to change can be very helpful in discovering what is most important.

This step will allow us to associate certain words with aspects of our lives that we want to improve. After understanding what these moments signify for us, deciding whether our vision board should represent short-term or long-term goals is important and will help you structure the flow of your board later on.

Image source: Katie Crenshaw

Having smaller targets along this intended path can be more motivating, breaking big dreams into smaller steps and showing you real-time evidence of your development progress rather than waiting for complex life transformations that may take years to show themselves. It's essential to narrow down precisely what matters most when formulating this plan. 

Create a new document in Curve

In Linearity Curve, start a new project, and select the Artboard size that suits your vision board. Remember, the digital format allows for flexibility in layout and design, so feel free to experiment.

We selected a Standard size resolution for good shape and form. You can add a colored background by selecting the Layer in the Layers tab and adding a Fill to it.

We chose a shade of sage green—something calming and uplifting. You can learn more about color theory in this Linearity tutorial on the psychology of color. 

Stuck staring at a blank canvas? Need some layout inspiration? Jumpstart your ideas and bring them to life in seconds by exploring the Linearity Curve Templates Hub.

This powerful tool offers a variety of ready-made templates, making the design process easier and more efficient.

Take a look at two presentation templates below that will work great as the base for your vision board design:

Get this template

Get this template

You can make a vision board on paper using scraps of magazine clippings, art supplies, sticky notes, or other craft supplies and pasting them together. It’s like an inspiration wall to build your life on.

But virtual vision boards are easier to keep on hand. With the incredible amount of online resources for gathering motivational material, creating a vision board that tells the story you want to express is now easier than ever. You can take it with you wherever you go with your mobile device.

We'll use Linearity Curve, our intuitive design software, for this tutorial. It's an ideal choice for creating a visually stunning online vision board. With so many easy-to-use, customizable templates full of vision board ideas, you’re already halfway to dreaming up a vision for your future or project.

Check out some Curve templates below to get you started on your vision boarding process.

Get this template

Get this template

Collect your materials and add them to your Artboard

Now, let's get to the fun part—gathering content that resonates with the goals and aspirations you set in Step 1.

Put together all the images, inspirational quotes, and graphics that inspire you and that align with your vision. Consider the overall look and feel of your board at this stage, and do some research on vision board examples.

Make sure the look and feel of your board is cohesive and, above all, inspirational for your daily life.

Image source: Unsplash

Navigate to the Library Tab and locate the Unsplash option in the lower right corner. Type your search query in the search bar to find the image you need.

Browse the options and select the image that best suits your vision board.

Click on the image to seamlessly add it to the center of your canvas. You can also drag and drop it to position your image exactly where you want.

Curate and annotate

Place your collected content on the Artboard strategically, establishing a hierarchy and flow of ideas that relate to the priorities and flow of your goals and intentions that we set in Step 1.

Group related elements together and arrange them creatively, taking inspiration from the art of photo collage to place your favorite images.

Don't forget to include annotations or notes alongside your visuals for an effective vision board. Explain why each element is significant to your vision and how it relates to your goals.

This will help you stay focused and motivated as you work towards your objectives. These can also be quotes that reflect the feelings connected to each one of your goals.

Customize and export

Experiment with Linearity Curve's design tools to customize your vision board further. Adjust colors, fonts, and layout to create a cohesive and visually appealing board that reflects your unique style.

Once your online vision board is complete, save it in a format that suits your needs. You can download it for personal use or share it with your team for collaborative inspiration. Linearity Curve makes sharing and collaboration easy.

In a nutshell

Online vision boards are an excellent way for illustrators, designers, and marketers to stay motivated and focused. Our user-friendly software makes it easy to bring your vision to life.

From over 2,000 inspiring templates, 1 million royalty-free images, and hundreds of tutorials and inspirational blog stories—there’s never been a better or more inspirational base upon which to build your future. 

Put your vision board to work today and watch your success soar.

If you haven't tried Linearity Curve yet, remember that it's free for individual users. So, you don't have to worry about entering credit card details upfront.

Frequently asked questions