A mockup lets us see a design in its real setting. On a dieline or a flat screen design it is hard to imagine how the box will look on the shelf, or how the website will look on a phone. In a mockup the artwork goes onto a three-dimensional box or a phone screen, and it becomes clear straight away whether it works.
Some mockups are ready-made templates into which the design can be placed, and some are made specifically, for example when the shape of the box is unusual. For a custom shape we build a three-dimensional model that can be shown from several angles.
A visual also makes decisions easier. In a management presentation or an investor deck a realistic image says much more than a flat drawing, and the feedback becomes more concrete too.
What to keep in mind
A mockup shows the mood and the proportions, while it only approximates the colours and materials. On a screen the board may look glossier and the colours more vivid than in print, so final decisions need a print proof or a physical prototype.
- When you have to choose between several directions and want to see them as they would look in reality
- When the product is still being made and the webshop or the campaign already needs an image
- When you present a product to investors or retailers
- When you want to see a product family side by side on the shelf
A good mockup also matches the setting to the target audience. A premium product looks good on a different shelf and in different light than an everyday one, and that matters in the presentation too. We hand over the visuals in high resolution, so they can be used in printed materials as well.
For packaging, mockups are often the first product images in the webshop as well. If there is no product to photograph yet, a good-quality visual can be used until the real photos are made. In that case we match the mockup to the real dimensions of the product.
For digital products a mockup places the screens of the website or app on a phone and a laptop, which is useful for presentations and the portfolio. The clickable behaviour, however, is shown by a prototype.
