Tools to use

Blue-sky thinking - a group of individuals get together with an empty piece of paper or a whiteboard. Having read the brief, any thoughts, words and colours are written down. No ideas are discounted or criticised at this stage. 

Mind Map - a document used during the initial phase of planning, where thoughts and ideas can be linked together and ideas can be linked off a central hub.

Mood board - a collection of images, materials, words, fonts and objects used to create a 'feel' for the project. This is used to show possible colour schemes for a project.

SWOT Analysis stands for 'Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats'. Using these four headings you can reduce your initial ideas down to one idea that you can take forward.