A Designing Mockup Tool helps you see how a design or image will look on an object: a billboard on the street, a phone screen, a notepad, socks, mugs. Thanks to it, you show the customer a clear and realistic view of the future product.
Imagine for yourself what is better: make a logo and send it as a file, or place it on a “finished” product and show what it will be like in life?
This saves your budget and gives you freedom. Instead of hiring a photographer and retouched, paying a model to shoot a whole collection of products, and starting all over again if you suddenly want to change something, it’s enough to get one universal model of an abstract thing, which you can put different prints on and publish immediately on the website.
A mockup is a pre-created image, a layout, where you may place your design. You’ve probably seen clothes of the same style with different prints or lips with different lipstick colors on websites?
These are mockups, where different fonts, logos, and backgrounds are placed on one object (it can be anything: a T-shirt, a mug, a business card, lips, a book cover, a coffee cup).
Image acquisition methods
How you make a mockup depends on your design skills and the time you have. There are two main ways:
- Use free mockups from a special library. The main advantage is the speed of preparation. Today there are many resources with free mockups on a variety of topics. You can work with them online and download for free.
- This is the least labor-intensive method, but it is not always possible to find what you need, or the suitable template is too often used by everyone;
- Create it yourself. To develop a three-dimensional model or render, you will need skills in 3ds Max. In Photoshop you will apply the design you want. Your mockup will be unique and exactly the way you need it.
- You can make a mockup of anything yourself, from a business card to packaging. The method is suitable only for those who know how to work in 3D graphic editors and have enough time.
Mockups as visualization tools help:
- Simplify communication with the client. For example, a designer can clearly show the customer that an additional detail will make his product stand out from others;
- Check your ideas for reality and evaluate how workable they are;
- Double-check the product prototype before going into production and see how the design looks on objects of different sizes. For example, preliminary work with mockups will show that on a corporate form the brand name is clearly visible and easy to read, but for branded packaging the design still needs to be finalized;
- Speed up template work. For example, mockups allow you to quickly create unified product cards for marketplaces: you don’t have to photograph each T-shirt again, but only change the fabric colour and print in the layout;
- Try on corporate style on items and show them in a special section of the brand book. For example, using mockups, you can create a catalogue of branded products.
Common features of designing mockup tools include the ability to create wireframes, prototype interactive user interfaces, add placeholders for text and images, and simulate user interactions.
Some mockup tools are specialized for specific design tasks, such as wireframing, while others offer a broader range of design and prototyping capabilities.
Conclusion
Mockups are a powerful tool for visualizing and demonstrating a product. They help designers and clients better understand the concept and appearance of a product, as well as test and improve the design. Whether it’s websites, mobile apps, or packaging, mockups can be an indispensable tool for a designer.
When ordering a design, it is important for a client to cast aside all doubts to approve the final version. Presenting a realistic image with the applied design eliminates many questions.
Having seen how a sign on a building, a package of cookies or a logo on a set of branded goods looks, it will be much easier for the customer to understand whether he is satisfied with everything and what needs to be changed. In addition, mockups allow you to save money and avoid producing test samples.
