Mood boards went from analog to virtual cutting, clipping, and pasting with the help of the mobile app Morpholio Board (macOS and iOS, free with in-app purchases), released originally in 2014. Today, the app's namesake creator, a New York–based team of designers-turned-software developers, announced a new version of Board for the desktop—specifically, Mac computers running MacOS Catalina.
Board for Mac shares the same “key features of its app,” according to Morpholio’s press release. Users can comb through virtual libraries containing thousands of furnishings and products to aggregate on virtual pin-up boards. Supplied in collaboration with major manufacturers, such as Herman Miller and Porcelanosa, and with emerging and boutique companies, such as Uhuru Design and Wallshoppe, the selected product and accessory images can then be arranged on boards and silhouetted with a magic wand tool that eliminates white backdrops.
Like its app counterpart, Board for Mac includes the digital assistant Ava, which compiles cut sheets and furniture lists from any mood board. Users can export Board data and finished boards to common file formats, product shopping lists, and furniture books for sharing. Morpholio co-founder Anna Kenoff tells ARCHITECT that collaborators can also share entire Board projects and product-library favorites via Dropbox, a Pinterest portal, and Apple’s Files app across devices.
One new feature seems promising for designers searching for products that align with their vision or complement a particular color or piece. Users can drag an inspirational product into the center of Board’s Color or Shape seeds and instantly see other products of a similar color, form, shape, and style. Culled using Apple’s Core ML (machine-learning) framework and color match technology, search results will comprise “both the reliably expected and delightfully unexpected,” according to the press release.
With people regularly working across devices and platforms these days, “[b]ringing Board to MacOS has been one of the most widespread requests by the Morpholio community,” said Morpholio community director Joseph Swerdlin in the press release.
“A designer may work with Morpholio Board and Trace on the go,” Kenoff tells ARCHITECT, “but sometimes it's nice to settle into the desktop and really develop a design, or dive into creating a larger presentation.” By working on a machine equipped with full versions of Autodesk and Adobe software, designers can directly overlay AutoCAD floor plans or Illustrator diagrams with furniture and product images from Board. “You can really tell your story in a new way and help [clients] better understand your design,” she says.
Beyond design professionals, the Morpholio team hopes that Board for Mac will appeal to homeowners interested in interior design. The app also enters Apple's Dark Mode in low-light conditions—a feature that may be useful for presentations and for night owls.
