Ideate Community Update #10
Shaping the future of design—one moodboard, partnership, and pitch at a time.
TL;DR
The public beta for MoodBoard Studio—the first mood boarding tool built specifically for designers is only a week or two away. It’s fast, clean, and packed with features like reference aggregation, auto-formatting, drag-and-drop boards, in-line commenting, and feedback translation.
In other big news:
We were named “Best in Show” at the Phorum Technology Conference, earning a fast track to pitch at PACT in October.
We’ve secured an official partnership with DesignPhilly, a huge vote of confidence from Philly’s design leadership.
We spoke to students at Parkway CC Middle College, encouraging the next-gen of creatives who are graduating high school with associate degrees (!!!).
And we were tapped to speak at Philly Tech Week about leveling up your startup pitch.
What’s next? Dev team is sprinting, fundraising is ongoing, and we’re on the hunt for designers to help us test our Feedback Translator.
Be the first to try MoodBoard Studio by joining our waitlist now: https://ideatebetter.com/waitlist
Know a designer or investor? Send this update their way or email me at rahmi@ideatebetter.com!
MoodBoard Studio Is Almost Here
We’re just a couple of weeks away from unveiling something we’ve been quietly perfecting: MoodBoard Studio—the first mood boarding tool built specifically for the way designers think, work, and create.
As we inch closer to launch, we wanted to give you a glimpse of what’s coming and why we’re so excited about it. MoodBoard Studio is the second piece of our larger vision: a fully integrated, end-to-end platform for operational design tasks. But even on its own, it’s a game-changer for your creative concepting work.
Here’s what’s inside:
Creative Concepting Aggregator
Pull in inspiration from multiple platforms and file types into one clean, cohesive space—no more tab overload.
Auto-Formatting Tools
Generate beautiful, client-ready concept boards instantly, without wasting hours on layout.
Smart Organization
Tag, categorize, and search your references like a pro—everything stays organized, even when your ideas aren’t.
Drag-and-Drop Simplicity
Rearrange and update your boards in seconds without having to rebuild them from scratch.
In-Line Commenting
Add feedback directly onto boards to keep collaboration fluid, contextual, and on point.
Feedback Translator
Turn raw, chaotic feedback into structured, actionable design tasks—automatically.
MoodBoard Studio is fast, focused, and built to make the earliest stage of the creative process feel just as inspiring as your big ideas. We can’t wait to share it with you.
Get ready. MoodBoard Studio launches soon.
Phorum Technology Conference
We were honored and hype to be selected as 1 of 5 early stage startups to present at the Phorum Technology Conference. This year’s conference was titled, “The Enterprise Evolution: AI, Efficiency, and Workforce 4.0,” and focused on the transformative power of emerging technologies within the enterprise sector.
Just to be selected to present in this room of a couple hundred attendees was an honor, but we also walked away with the recognition of “Best in Show”, as decided on by a panel of investors and AI advocates. The “Best in Show” selection earned us a fast track pass to present at the PACT Mid Atlantic Capital Conference in October!
We were an alternate last year and are relieved to have secured a spot early this year!
DesignPhilly Partnership Secured
We’re proud to share that Ideate will be partnering with DesignPhiladelphia—Philly’s flagship design organization and a cornerstone of our city’s creative community. It’s a meaningful milestone for us to have the support and backing of such a respected institution, especially one so deeply embedded in shaping the local design landscape. This partnership is a strong signal that what we’re building resonates with the broader creative ecosystem—and we can’t wait to share what’s next.
TALKING TO THE YOUUTTS at Parkway CC Middle College
Last week, I had the opportunity to speak to students at Parkway Center City Middle College about design, branding, and the future of creativity. As someone building tools to reshape the design industry, it’s incredibly important to me that we invest in the next generation of designers—especially those with the drive and vision to push boundaries.
I was blown away by the students’ curiosity, talent, and ambition—and even more impressed by the fact that they’ll graduate high school with an associate’s degree already under their belts. The future of design (and just the future) is in good hands.
Level Up Your Pitch Event at Philly Tech Week
If you’ve been following along for a little while, you may recall our participation last Fall in the Regional Startup World Cup Pitch Competition. We were the only pre product company to be selected as a top 10 finalist and we ended up a runner up at the final pitch event (check out this article for a refresher). Fast forward a couple months to Philly Tech Week. We were honored to be asked by Philadelphia’s Department of Commerce to speak to this year’s potential participants on ways to level up their pitch! Look forward to checking out this year’s competition!
What’s Next?
Kyle and Pedro (our devs) are heads down coding their little buts off to get Ideate in to the hands of designers ASAP. We are continuing our fundraising outreach, as well as progressing through the accelerator interview selection process (just completed our Gener8tor Milwaukee interview!).
How Can You Be of Help?
We’re looking to connect with designers, art directors, creative directors, and studio owners interested in testing our feedback translator.
Funding Sources : In the coming months, we are increasing investor engagement sginificantly to get our pre-seed round closed! If you know someone we should talk to, please share this substack or connect us!
Thank you for joining us in our journey to create a world where designers can just design.
Feel free to reach out directly at rahmi@ideatebetter.com
Thanks,
Rahmi Halaby