When Digital Feels Physical | Handheld Design Picks #22
This week… a designer who shows real range across three totally different apps and a subscription interface that actually makes canceling feel smooth.
Handhelders,
Every week I curate the 7 best mobile designs I come across and here we’re back with another week of rankings! Check out the full commentary on all the great work in the video above and written breakdown on the podium below.
🏆 The Podium
🥇 First Place — Diverse app trio by Ivan Boroja
Ivan nails onboarding visuals three different ways—3D light rays with overlapping depth for an AI agent app, aspirational travel photography that speaks to users' dreams, and skeuomorphic pin notes on a photo timeline that taps into the shift toward real-world connection. The visual work here is what separates apps users delete immediately from apps they're excited to explore. If you're building onboarding, steal the approach: match your visuals to the emotional job your app does, layer elements to add depth, and push your craft beyond clean UX into memorable brand moments that make users feel something before they even hit the main screen.
🥈 Second Place — Subscription management screens by Ragip
Ragip's gradients bring life to subscription management—hard to do well, harder to do with purpose. The color work here isn't decoration, it's categorization tied to entertainment tags, visual hierarchy that makes financial data feel less punishing. If you're working with card-based transaction displays, steal this: use gradient backgrounds to differentiate categories, keep data presentation clean and scannable with clear labels (what it is, where it came from, is it recurring), and remember that even serious finance apps benefit from tasteful visual personality that doesn't compromise clarity.
🥉 Third Place — Minimal membership profile by Josh Grazier
Josh elevates a profile card into something you'd want to hold—the embossed badge with inner shadows, the lanyard hole detail that bridges digital and physical, the subtle layering that makes elements feel like they're floating off screen. The QR code integration and customizable badge system turn a standard profile into a premium membership experience. If you're designing identity screens, steal this: use strategic shadows to create depth across multiple card layers, embrace skeuomorphic details that feel tactile without being dated, and give users visual status symbols they'll actually want to show off.
💬 From the Designer
On the inspiration for this badge idea:
“The idea came from wanting to create a profile card that feels physical first, something you could imagine printing or wearing, but that also lives inside Dawn app in exactly the same form. We’re big fans of blending digital/physical and think in an era of AI slop it’s a nice differentiator - this same thinking applies to the badge. The Severance reference was really just us tapping into a visual language and art style we love (and know a lot of people enjoy too).”
On principles for creating ‘premium’ designs:
“My 3 principles are: keep it simple, create the zeitgeist (or at least try) and obsess over the details. Following these never seems to fail.”
#4 — Dynamic betting setup by Jesse Vermeulen
#5 — Personalized meal profile by Ashish
#6 — Body measurement tracker by Stefan
#7 — Invite friends incentive by Studio Sphere
That’s a wrap!
Congrats to Ivan Boroja, Ragip, and Josh Grazier on making the podium this week.
If you’re building mobile apps and any of this helped, share it with someone who ships. Follow the daily inspiration on X here, subscribe for the next drop, and tell me what you stole this week.
Want to be featured? Post great work and tag @handhelddesign, or submit directly here.
See you in the next issue.
Handheld is curated by me, Cam, a Product Designer specializing in mobile design. Follow me if you love mobile design as much as I do.
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