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Choosing the Right Theme for Your Mural: A Step-by-Step Guide

ankitaroohja

Updated: Jun 18, 2024

Selecting the right theme is a critical step that can significantly impact the overall success of the mural. There are various things to keep in mind. If you come across any beautiful mural on social media, chances are that it might not be the right choice for your space. So, how do we choose it ? In this step-by-step guide, we'll explore the key considerations to help you choose the perfect theme for your mural, ensuring that it not only reflects your vision but also resonates with the audience interacting with the space. We will understand all these steps with an example.


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Step 1: Define Your Purpose and Message

Before diving into themes, clarify the purpose of your mural. Are you aiming to inspire, inform, or evoke specific emotions? Define the message you want to convey through your artwork. This foundational step will guide your theme selection and ensure that the mural aligns with your intended impact. This is a big step for murals in commercial spaces. Generally, in a residential space, the murals do not have a message to convey. I will take the example of a mural I designed for a government school. I ask for the pictures of all spaces along with what is the location of the wall. We will only concentrate on a wall outside the washroom. We had two purposes. One was to define the male and female washroom and other was to have some message or information related to sanitation or handwashing.


Step 2: Consider the Space

Take a close look at the environment where the mural will reside. Consider the architecture, lighting, and overall ambiance. A theme that complements the existing elements of the space will create a harmonious and visually pleasing result. Pay attention to the size and shape of the wall, as this can influence the composition of your mural. The mural will significantly impact the overall ambiance of the space and thus paying close attention to all the surrounding factors is important. As an artist, it is achieved by a physical site visit. If that is not possible due to certain reasons, make sure to get good pictures and videos of the space, to avoid missing out anything. The wall in our example was divided into two sections. So, apart from two figures of a school girl and boy, we needed two murals to utilize the complete space on both sides.


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Step 3: Understand Your Audience

Who will be interacting with the mural? Whether it's clients in a business setting, family members at home, or the general public in a community space, understanding your audience is crucial. Tailor your theme to resonate with the interests and preferences of those who will be experiencing the mural. The target audience changes as per the location and purpose of the mural. The target audience also needs to be defined as per the age groups. Since our target audience were kids who were comfortable in Hindi language, the mural design had to be kids centric and message was to be conveyed in Hindi.


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Step 4: Explore Your Personal Style

Consider your own artistic style and preferences. Your mural is an expression of your creativity, so choose a theme that aligns with your passion and skills. Whether you lean towards realism, abstraction, or something in between, your personal touch will add authenticity to the mural. This point applies to the client and the artist both. From a client's point of view, the mural should be something that aligns with their vision and style because at the end, they will have to live with that mural. As an artist, choosing the mural with your artist styles ensures that you give your best. A new art form or an art form you are not confident in, will lead to low quality mural. Here I chose to go ahead with simple illustrations.


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Step 5: Draw Inspiration from Surroundings

Look to your surroundings for inspiration. Consider the local culture, history, or natural elements. Integrating familiar elements into your mural can create a sense of connection and relevance. This is especially effective for community-based projects or murals in public spaces. Imagine making a modern or city themed mural in a rural space. People will never relate to it or accept it. Since the mural space in our example was a wall inside the school, the kids used had to be in their uniforms, to make them more relatable.


Step 6: Brainstorm Themes

Take the time to brainstorm a variety of themes. Consider themes that reflect your values, tell a story, or evoke specific emotions. Experiment with combinations of colors, shapes, and subject matter. Don't be afraid to think outside the box; the more diverse your ideas, the better chance you have of finding the perfect theme. This is achieved with a detailed discussion between the artist and the client. Upon my discussion, we came up with a bunch of ideas and the client also shared some sample pictures.


Step 7: Seek Feedback

Once you've narrowed down your theme options, seek feedback from others. This could be friends, family, colleagues, or even potential viewers of the mural. Their input can provide valuable perspectives and help you refine your theme to ensure it has broad appeal. Seeking feedback can be helpful or confusing, based on your approach. Make sure to filter the feedback into the ones that need to be ignored and the ones that need to be implemented. I came up with some designs which were rejected because of various reasons and that helped me understand better, what exactly they are looking for.



Step 8: Finalize and Plan

Based on the feedback received, finalize your theme. Consider how the chosen theme will be executed, the color palette, and any additional elements you want to incorporate. Create a detailed plan that includes a rough sketch or digital mockup of the mural to guide the execution phase. A digital mockup is one of the most important steps to give the artist and the client, an idea about the final outcome. This gives a good visualization of how the art will look on the wall. After the design was finalized, I shared the images, along with mockups.

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And here are the images after the murals were completed.


Here I have taken the example this washroom wall, but the steps and concepts apply to any and every wall in question.

Choosing the right theme for your mural is a thoughtful and creative process that involves careful consideration of purpose, space, audience, and personal style. By following this step-by-step guide, you'll be well-equipped to select a theme that not only aligns with your vision but also captivates and resonates with those who experience your mural. Remember, a well-chosen theme sets the foundation for a truly impactful and memorable work of art.


If you are an artist and want to learn Mural painting and all its steps in detail, click the link below.


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