Mood boards a go-go

When I was starting out in advertising, almost nothing gave me more pleasure than making mood boards. Whether it was to research a tricky-to-articulate concept, or to sell a bold visual idea in to the client, there was something satisfying about collecting scraps and bits and putting together a collage.

In the last few weeks, it's been difficult not to trip over articles about Pinterest - the newish social networking site that's all about "self-expression through curation". Like Facebook, with its analogue in Friendship or Year Books, the appeal of Pinterest can be traced back to behaviours like the student's pin board, or children swopping stamps or Panini cards in the playground. If gaming appeals to the hunter in us, then Pinterest is there for the gatherer.

I've tentatively joined up and, despite the oddities of being forced in via Facebook and being provided with "ready-made" people to follow, the correspondence from Pinterest (or at least from a friendly-sounding guy called Ben) is reassuring. As well as providing me with a new language about pins and pinning, Ben assures me that there will be no nudity.

That's good, as the combination of pins and naked flesh is a painful one.