Why we started Mockup.Maison

Let us tell you how we started this “little” project called Mockup.Maison—and how it almost never launched.

When COVID hit Switzerland in 2020, we—Michael and Kevin—had some time to think about a new project as client work slowed down. Kevin had already created a few mockups for himself because he was constantly looking for contemporary mockups to present his work, but finding assets that matched his style wasn’t always easy. So we grabbed a camera and spent a few sunny afternoons on a rooftop in Zurich shooting new mockups. Michael was, and still is, a master at getting his head around new technologies and problems, and started building a small online shop for the new mockups.

Once life slowly returned to normal, the project moved into the background again, and we enjoyed the Swiss summer without a lockdown. The website was nearly finished, but we were busy with client work. Then one day, we noticed that a few mockups we had uploaded as a test had actually sold. That was all the motivation we needed to finish the project and see where it would take us.

In the beginning, everything was done by us and was very much a process of learning by doing. We photographed every collection ourselves, rebuilt the website more than a few times, and figured out licensing, subscriptions, downloads, merchandise, advertising, and everything else along the way.

Today, Mockup.Maison has grown to more than 3500 premium digital assets, including PSD mockups, video mockups, motion templates, stock images, and typefaces. We now collaborate with photographers around the world while continuing to create many collections ourselves.

What hasn’t changed is why we do it. We still create the kind of resources we would want to use in our own design projects.