Blog
Notes from building a mockup studio: what the pixels actually measure, what App Store reviewers look at, and where a fake screen stops being fair game.
Looking for the measured figures instead? Read the reference.
App Store listing: what actually moves installs
The four things seen before anyone reads a word, and the character limits that decide what fits in them.
What resolution should App Store screenshots be?
Apple specifies screenshots in pixels, not DPI. Here are the numbers, where they come from, and the format rules that fail an upload before a human ever sees it.
How to show a crypto portfolio in a pitch deck
A portfolio screen in a deck is a product illustration, not evidence. Here is how to make it legible at slide scale, and where the real numbers actually go.
Crypto wallet UI design: what the good ones have in common
Six patterns repeat across every wallet worth copying. Here they are, with the measurements and the thresholds behind them.
Designing for dark mode: contrast rules that hold up
The thresholds that apply, what changes when the background is near-black, and the measured ratios of a real dark palette.
Figma mockup vs real screenshot for a product demo
Both produce an image at the same pixel size. They fail in opposite ways, and the failure mode is what should decide.
iPhone mockup generator vs screenshot: which to use when
Two tools that produce the same-looking file for very different jobs. The choice comes down to whether the screen exists yet — and whether the audience will read the image as evidence.
How to make app screenshots before you have any users
The screenshot takes ten minutes. Deciding what should be on the screen is the actual work — and it starts with writing a fixture, not opening a design tool.
Token icons: sizes, shapes and the traps
What size to draw them, why the circle is not really negotiable, and the four things that break a token icon on a dark screen.
Why app screenshots get rejected by the App Store
Two entirely different failure modes wear the same word. One is caught by a file checker in seconds, the other by a reviewer days later — and only one of them costs you a release.
Compose the screen instead of describing it
My Larp Wallet lays out a wallet screen in the browser and exports it at 1179 × 2556 px, the native resolution of an iPhone 14 Pro. What comes out is a mockup, and it says so. One plan, $19/month.
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