How to Create Responsive Web Mockups in Affinity Designer

Introduction: Why Responsive Mockups Matter

In 2025, more than 70% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. If your design only looks good on a desktop, you’ve already lost most of your audience. That’s where responsive design comes in — making sure your website adapts beautifully to every screen size.

At Creativa Forge, we build every client website with a mobile-first approach. Whether it’s a small business, a law firm, or a global organization, responsive design ensures the site works for everyone, everywhere.

In this guide, we’ll show you step-by-step how to create responsive web mockups in Affinity Designer.

👉 Related reading: Why Your Business Needs a Mobile-First Website in 2025

Step 1: Set Up Your Artboards

Affinity Designer makes it easy to design for multiple devices at once. ( Click on the image to zoom )

  1. Go to File → New → Web.

  2. Choose common device sizes:

    • Desktop: 1440px width

    • Tablet: 768px width

    • Mobile: 375px width

  3. Create three separate artboards — one for each device.

👉 Pro Tip: Name your artboards clearly (Desktop, Tablet, Mobile) so you can export them easily later.

Three Affinity Designer artboards for desktop, tablet, and mobile layouts

Step 2: Build with Constraints

Responsive design isn’t just about resizing — it’s about scaling smartly.

In Affinity Designer, use Constraints (found in the top toolbar) to control how elements behave when artboards change size.

Examples:

  • Logo: Pin to top-left so it doesn’t move.

  • Navigation menu: Stays aligned to top-right.

  • Content blocks: Expand or shrink proportionally.

👉 This mimics how your design will adapt in real browsers.

Step 3: Use Symbols for Reusable Elements

Symbols in Affinity Designer = time savers.

Turn repeating elements like:

  • Navigation menus

  • Buttons

  • Footers

…into Symbols, and they’ll update automatically across all artboards when edited.

Step 4: Apply Grids & Snapping for Precision

Responsive design = consistency. Use Affinity’s grid & snapping tools to align content.

  • Enable Snapping (View → Snapping Manager).

  • Set up a grid system (12-column layout works great).

  • Align text, buttons, and sections so everything scales proportionally.

Apply Grids and Snapping for precision

Step 5: Export for Clients & Developers

When your mockups are ready:

  1. Select each artboard.

  2. Go to File → Export.

  3. Choose PNG or JPEG for presentations, or SVG/PDF for scalable handoffs.

  4. Share all three versions (desktop, tablet, mobile).

👉 Pro Tip: Export at 2x resolution for sharper results on retina displays.

Export for Clients

Bonus Tip: Think Mobile-First

Even though you’ll create all three mockups, start with mobile first. Why?

  • Mobile forces you to prioritize essential content.

  • Once the mobile version works, scaling up is easier.

  • It aligns with how search engines (like Google) index sites.

👉 Curious? Check out our Web Design Services to see how we implement this in real client projects.

Conclusion: Mockups That Work Everywhere

By using artboards, constraints, symbols, and grids, Affinity Designer makes it simple to design responsive web mockups. The result? Websites that look stunning on every device — from the smallest phone to the largest desktop.

Whether you’re building for yourself or presenting to clients, responsive mockups show that you understand the full digital experience.

👉 Want to dive deeper? Explore Affinity Designer
👉 Ready to create your own responsive site? Contact us at Creativa Forge.