We're building a tool for art directors and visual creatives. Help us understand your real workflow — takes about 4 minutes.
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Who you are
How would you describe your role?
Select the one that fits best.
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Art Director — In-house
Full-time at a fashion house, brand or studio
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Art Director — Freelance
Work with multiple clients simultaneously
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Art Director — Agency
Based at a creative or production agency
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Creative Director
Lead creative direction across teams
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Stylist / Fashion Editor
Visual and editorial direction for shoots and stories
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Photographer
Research visual references for lighting, composition, mood
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Other visual creative role
Visual editor, art buyer, social media director…
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Who you are
What industry do you work in primarily?
Select all that apply.
Fashion
Beauty / Cosmetics
Lifestyle / Home
Editorial / Magazine
Advertising
Music / Entertainment
Architecture / Interior
Food & Beverage
Social media / Content
Other
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Finding references
Where do you actually find visual references?
Select all that apply — where the discovery happens, not where you store.
Instagram
Pinterest
Are.na
Cosmos
Google Images
Getty / Shutterstock
Vogue / editorial archive
Tumblr
Books / physical archives
TikTok / Reels
Photographers' websites
Other creatives' work
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Saving references
Where do you currently save and organize visual references?
Select all that apply.
Pinterest boards
Instagram saved posts
Are.na channels
Screenshots folder
Google Drive / Photos
Dropbox / WeTransfer
Notion
Miro / FigJam
Physical mood board / magazine clippings
No real system — it's messy
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Instagram specifically
When you save something on Instagram, what usually happens to it?
Be honest — this is exactly what we're trying to understand.
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It gets lost in my saved folder
I can never find it again when I actually need it
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I screenshot it immediately
So I have it somewhere else, outside Instagram
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I use Instagram Collections to organize
It works, but only inside Instagram
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I share it to another app immediately
Notion, Notes, Dropbox, or similar
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I barely use Instagram for references
Not really my main source
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Building moodboards
What tool do you use to actually build a moodboard?
The tool where images end up composed together.
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Keynote
Drag images into slides, present or export as PDF
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Google Slides
Easy to share a link with the team or client
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Figma / Adobe XD
Design tool used for layout and composition
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InDesign / Photoshop
Full production control, polished output
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Milanote
Visual canvas built for creative work
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Miro / FigJam
Infinite canvas for collaborative boards
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Canva
Quick templates, easy export
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Pinterest itself
Just share a Pinterest board with the client
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No fixed tool
I share folders, links, or WeTransfer zips
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Friction
What are your biggest frustrations with your current visual workflow?
Select your top 2–3 pain points.
Can't find references I saved months ago
Lose the author credit / source
References scattered across too many apps
Moodboard assembly takes too long
Hard to share or present to clients
Team can't collaborate on the same board
No way to search by visual — only by filename or tag
Pinterest algorithm pollutes my feed
Instagram saved posts have no organization
Wasting time lost in the algorithm instead of finding what I need
No tool feels made for my industry
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Credit & attribution
When you share a moodboard with a client, do you include the image credits?
Who made the photos, illustrations, or references you're showing.
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Always — it's part of my professional standard
I take time to track and include every source
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Sometimes — when I remember or when it matters
I try but it's not systematic
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Rarely — it's too much work to track
I'd do it if it were easier
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No — clients don't ask for it
Not standard practice in my context
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Delivering to clients
How do you share a moodboard with a client?
Select all that apply.
PDF by email
Shared Figma / Milanote link
WeTransfer / Dropbox zip
Google Slides link
Keynote presented live
Pinterest board link
Printed physical board
In a meeting — screen share only
Varies per client
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AI in your workflow
How open are you to AI features in your visual workflow?
Think about: auto-tagging images, grouping by mood or color, suggesting similar references, or auto-composing a moodboard from your archive.
No interestVery interested
Which AI features would actually be useful to you?
Select all that would genuinely save you time.
Auto-tag images by theme & mood
Group references by color palette
Semantic search — "minimalist winter editorial"
Auto-compose a moodboard from my archive
Suggest similar images I might not have found
Remove people or distractions from a reference photo
AI-written description to send with moodboard
None of these feel useful
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Value
If a tool solved all of this perfectly — what would you pay per month?
A dedicated app: visual archive + AI organization + moodboard builder + client export, all in one.
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Nothing — I'd only use it if it's free
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Up to €5 / month
Coffee money
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Up to €10 / month
About the same as Spotify or Notion
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Up to €20 / month
If it genuinely saves time on every project
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More than €20 / month
For a professional tool that earns its place
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The idea
Imagine one tool that brought everything together.
Instagram saves, Pinterest boards, screenshots, Are.na — all in one place, organized automatically by AI. You search by mood, theme or color. Credits are saved automatically. You export a client-ready moodboard in one click.
How much would that change your workflow?
Wouldn't change muchGame changer
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Your words
Describe your ideal reference tool in one sentence.
We'll read every single answer. No right or wrong — your exact words matter most.
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Thank you.
Your answers help us build something that actually fits how DAs and creative directors work — not how we imagine they do.
We'll share our findings with everyone who participated. A Mesa is being built by a small team of two — a photographer and a developer — who share the exact same frustrations you just described. We're building the tool we always wished existed.