The growth of virtual representations is part of a profound, almost philosophical shift in how we document and place value on design work. Historically, making a case study entailed capturing still images of tangible objects within the physical world. But as more companies operate primarily online, fewer actual objects exist to be documented in the first place. Design studios end up creating fake merchandise just to showcase parts of a brand system that didn’t make it beyond conceptual stages, or to paint a project as more far-reaching than it was in reality; an image is worth a thousand words and a brand only exists if it’s on a tote bag. Even purely digital creations, like websites, are frequently presented in mockups that simulate real-world interactions, like a laptop on a kitchen table or a phone in someone’s outstretched hand. Despite the value of these products lying in their digital manifestation, there remains an enduring perceived value in presenting them within tangible contexts. Of course, the shift towards showcasing digital products in real-life scenarios only reveals a deeper layer of semiotic complexity, given that these “IRL mockups” are themselves entirely virtual constructions.
In recent years, flatbed scanning has emerged as a foil to the boon of digital mockups – seeing a designed project documented via scanner seemed to be undeniable proof that an object was really produced. According to Elaine, “scanning is the most honest, it gets the realness of a thing, plus you don’t need to have any special knowledge about cameras or lighting to do it” (this combination of grit and ease might be the same reason brands have started using scanners to make ads, too). But nothing gold can stay: Bendito Mockup’s 2024 “Objets Trouvés” collection includes PSDs of just about every object you could ever want to include in a brand identity project – socks, ID cards, matches, T-shirts – pressed against glass. Despite the timeliness of the collection, co-founder Andrea Kaiser said her team wondered if people would buy a photoshop mockup of a scan when they can just scan something themselves so easily. But they had no reason to be worried: “It’s one of our best-selling collections,” she says.
