Procreate: elevating the digital canvas

Procreate wanted to spotlight its creative power without overwhelming new artists. We refined onboarding, simplified tool discovery, and tuned performance for complex canvases.

Client goals

1. Reduce new-user friction and help artists create a first piece quickly.
2. Make advanced brushes and layers discoverable without clutter.
3. Improve perceived performance on large canvases and older devices.
4. Deliver a brand refresh that feels premium but approachable.

What we delivered

1. Guided first canvas
   A friendly walkthrough that introduces brushes, layers, and gestures in a single guided flow.
2. Curated brush sets
   Collections organized by style with previews and quick-apply actions to encourage experimentation.
3. Performance tuning
   Render pipeline tweaks and smarter caching to keep interactions smooth on heavy files.
4. Brand and UI polish
   Updated iconography, motion, and microcopy to keep the experience cohesive across iPad and iPhone.

Results

1. Faster activation: more users completed the first drawing tutorial and saved a canvas.
2. Deeper feature use: curated brush sets increased adoption of advanced tools.
3. Smoother sessions: performance improvements reduced lag reports on large canvases.

Procreate now greets artists with a smoother, more inspiring first experience while keeping pros productive.