SynthMock
The cover is often the first readable surface in a folding presentation. Give it one deliberate message. Cropping a busy inner layout may keep the colors while removing the reason anyone should care about the app.
Try it in SynthMock
Start with a Duo scene.
Use a reusable template as your starting point, then apply the choices in this article.
A paid plan is required to use templates and export.
Choose one compact promise
Imagine a fictional travel planner with a wide itinerary, map and booking notes. For the cover, choose the next destination and departure time rather than squeezing those three panels into a narrower image. The inner layout can then explain the surrounding plan. This is a proposed artwork pairing; prepare it from the real product or clearly mark it as a design concept.
A cover image does not need to resemble a miniature poster. It should still look like credible interface content, with a recognizable hierarchy and believable navigation. Removing every control can make a marketing image cleaner but less informative about what the app actually does.
Make a crop decision, not an accident
Compare these two source strategies before touching the camera. The stronger option depends on whether the compact interface exists and whether the important information survives at the intended screen size.
| Source strategy | Useful when | Main risk |
|---|---|---|
| Reuse the inner source | One central image or simple visual dominates | Supporting text or navigation disappears |
| Prepare a separate cover | The compact interface has a distinct job | The two screens feel unrelated without a shared cue |
Leave a bridge to the inside
Repeat one meaningful element: the selected trip name, a thumbnail, or the active item color. Keep its wording stable. A viewer should not have to infer whether the fold has switched to another product. Matching everything is unnecessary; the wider layout can have a different arrangement while retaining the same task.
In SynthMock, an independent Small outer screen image gives you control of that compact composition. Without it, the outer view inherits the large source. That fallback can be useful while exploring, but review it intentionally before delivering the campaign. A proposed final pair is a simple cover summary and an open planning view, both on the same neutral background and device finish. Inspect the cover at the size it occupies in the final image, not only in the source file.
Final pass
Before you call it finished
- Make the cover's task understandable on its own.
- Repeat one identifying item across both layouts.
- Review inherited artwork before treating it as a finished cover.
Make the next version yours.
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