The tools I rely on as a UI designer

Sketch

I still go into Sketch when working on highly detailed app icons. The way it visualizes layer styling is far superior to Figma, making it much easier to understand your layers when refining icons.

Figma

Love it or hate it, Figma has become the industry’s de facto standard. I was fortunate to contribute to the UI3 redesign, which made its toolbars and window chrome feel more native on macOS. My biggest gripe is the lack of shortcut customization, but BetterTouchTool lets me remap them the way I like. I enjoy Figma for how well I can create complex UI flows that are tied together in clickable prototypes.

Figma Libraries and tools

iOS and iPadOS 26 Library

This is almost self-explanatory. But it’s good to stand on the shoulders of giants. However, I’ve also found it good in larger projects to bring components and variables into your own design system. Even if it’s mostly a standard component, making your own version of a navigation bar or tab bar gives you the flexibility of styling it uniquely for your app and setting up the component options the way you prefer. By bringing components and variables in-house, you’ll also avoid potential breaking updates from the Apple library. Especially between major OS releases.

iOS App Icon Template and Icon Composer

When working on a new app icon, I always find it useful to see it in context. Both on the home screen, lock screen and App Store. So you can think through how the icon will be portrayed in multiple places at once. Even with the new Icon Composer for Liquid Glass ready icons, it's useful to mockup the layers first. And there are still instances where you may want to use a traditional bitmap icon, such as a TestFlight icon that's meant to look more like a paper blueprint than layers of glass.

iOS / iPadOS / visionOS App Store Template

App Store screenshots is a prime marketing area for your app and you should treat it as such. I use this template to work on and see the screenshots in many areas such as search, featured apps, and the app page itself. Once done, I can easily export the needed assets straight out of Figma for upload to the App Store.

iPhone 17 Pro Mockups

I like to draw my own phone mockups just to have a bit more flexibility when it comes to presenting my designs. And while drawing this it also allows me to study the hardware and potential screen size details closely. Once I use the phone frame in a project I can easily swap the screen out for another symbol or image.

Cinema 4D with RedShift

Cinema 4D is fantastic for creating complementary 3D visuals that can lift an app to new heights. Such as the unboxing experience for Cobot. I wish the workflow for going from Cinema into native iOS 3D modes was more straightforward. I think 3D work will become more and more important in UI design.

SF Symbols and The Noun Project

When adding icons to your design or creating custom ones, these are amazing tools to find reference materials for metaphors.

ChatGPT and Midjourney

It’s important to stay current with the AI tools available today. ChatGPT is great for hashing out copywriting or bouncing ideas around metaphors for an icon. Midjourney (or ChatGPT) can be used to create inspirational material to inform your design work.

The tools evolve and it’s important to stay current. By combining traditional 2D design with 3D and AI, you can create interfaces that truly stand out. If you need my help in doing so, feel free to reach out!