A recent article from AIGA Eye on Design asked "Are mockup designers the most influential designers of our era?" And we here at House of Mockups think they are onto something...
It comes as no surprise to most designers—that mockups are now considered essential—not just when presenting to clients, but as part of the prototyping and testing phase of their design process. A design presented in mockup form to a creative director has a much higher chance of approval than when a flat piece of art is presented.
Mockups have become a field of graphic design in their own right, with characteristic styles, mainstream norms, trends and even left field newcomers—George Kafka
Mockups have traditionally been seen as serving a practical function, designed to be somewhat invisible to allow the graphic work to be the hero. But that has directly resulted in a lot of mockups being pretty bland, and not contributing to the overall brand personality.
At House of Mockups, we take inspiration from the incredible designers, stylists and photographers out there presenting their work in inspiring ways. Take the design for a non-alcoholic drink Mary Mary designed by Universal Favourite for example.
The mockup stops being just a background, it becomes part of the brand essence. Lush velvet and hyper rich colours indicate the not-so-average beverage.
House of Mockups own Sylvan Hillebrand, a Dutch Designer brings this same personality in his Found Tapes mockups. He incorporates an ethereal feeling to his mockups with the use of smoke and lighting. Although quite specific in nature, the mockups can be customized with different colour overlays and incorporating your own art work.
So are mockup designers the most influential designers of our era? Well we certainly think so, and will continue to infuse our creativity into our mockups of the future.
House of Mockups A4 Book Mockup