Roughly translated into Serbian, mockup means “mockup”, but in graphic and web design, the English expression has mainly been retained. It was initially designed to make it easier for clients to visualize specific graphic projects in terms of textures, shapes and dimensions. However, as designers began to share their work on the Internet, the mockup became much more than that, so we can safely say that the presentation of design solutions is unthinkable without it.

What is a mockup in graphic design?

The aim has always been to present clients with as clear a picture as possible of how, for example, their logo will look once they start applying it on business cards, letterheads, products or advertisements. Such an approach helps clients to be more decisive when choosing the graphic solution that suits them best. That is why making a sample or prototype is an integral part of the design from the very beginning.

However, as the production of test specimens is a real logistical undertaking, often unprofitable in terms of time and money, the designers came up with a mockup as an alternative solution. A graphic representation of what the final product will look like after applying your design. This method proved to be quite effective, mockup continued to develop as an independent field of design with distinctive styles, trends and norms. The expansion of mockup design was further facilitated by the use of Adobe applications , the Internet and easy sharing of files, so the target group also changed. In addition to presentation to clients, the target group has become the designers themselves, so mockups are also offered on specialized sites for finding photos and other graphic elements.

This thesis is additionally confirmed by the fact that more and more companies are appearing on the market that hire entire teams of designers to create exclusively mockups .

According to the purpose and needs, we distinguish several types of mockup designs.

Texture

Mockup should be a simple graphic solution that is completely different from the project itself. That is why simple solutions are often used, i.e. textures of paper, wood, leather, metal or concrete with the application of effects on the design that simulate printing, blind printing or engraving. Such solutions are most often used for the presentation of logos, business cards, etc.

Photo

On the other hand, a mockup can also be a lifestyle scene, which, in addition to the graphic representation of the design solution, also has props or people who additionally explain or emphasize the activity to which the product or service refers. You can also create a scene that clearly addresses a certain target group.

For example, if your client is a company that deals with products or services related to coffee, in addition to the design itself, you will incorporate coffee beans, cups, coffee or people happily chatting and drinking coffee.

Mockup scenes are created for most graphic products, from logos to posters and billboards, all the way to packaging design. Such graphic solutions can simply carry much more information, so they also influence the creation of an atmosphere around the brand or product itself. Therefore, it is not surprising that they are often used for visuals on social networks.

3D model

These Mockups are mainly used for packaging design. In addition to the aesthetics and presentation of the finished product, you may also notice defects that you may not have anticipated when creating on a flat surface, so your design will require corrections in the form of changing the position or dimensions of graphic elements.

Typography

Typography trends and styles for creating posters, banners, social media visuals or videos are different from those we encounter with logos and business cards. Applying shadows, textures, 3D text or parterre to basic typography will make certain text more noticeable and effective for your customers. For this reason, you can find ready-made mockups for text on the Internet and thus shorten the design process. You should be careful not to overdo the effects, otherwise your text will not be readable and may look “cheap”.

There is no rule that you have to stick to only one of the mentioned mockup design types. Very often you will be in a situation where you combine two or more of them.

As for UX and UI design, mockup was quite important for creating websites and applications, but now it has been surpassed with the development of tools such as Figma , Adobe XD or Sketch , we already wrote about them in more detail here .

They are certainly among the best sites for mockup downloads Freepik, Graphicbuger, Mockupworld, Pixeden, Placeit , Mockupcloud and others, but it is constantly changing.

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