Glaze Painting App

Glaze is a revolutionary digital painting app that replicates the authentic experience of oil painting on iPad. With physics-based brushes, real pigment properties, and lifelike paint mixing, Glaze has earned recognition from industry leaders and educators worldwide.

As the app gained traction among artists and art educators, usability challenges emerged: the interface felt cluttered in key workflows, the gallery experience lacked visual polish, and sketch-to-painting transitions created friction for users.

This redesign focused on streamlining the core painting experience, modernizing the gallery and sketch views, and creating a more intuitive interface that lets artists focus on their craft.

Led end-to-end UX and UI redesign of the app

Redesigned gallery, sketches, and painting canvas interfaces

Created cohesive visual language for iPad native experience

Collaborated with product team and artist community for feedback

Refined, minimal interface with collapsible tools, maximized canvas space, and elegant color/brush controls that don't distract from painting.

Elegant masonry layout with larger artwork previews, subtle shadows, and intuitive organization that celebrates the artist's work.

Clean, focused workspace with contextual tools, clear visual hierarchy, and minimal distractions from the sketching process. User can quickly add sketches to the drawing canvas instead of creating new ones from scratch.

Average session duration 18 min vs 32 min +78% User retention (30-day) 42% vs 61% +45% Paintings completed per user 2.3/week vs 4.1/week+78% App Store rating 4.2 vs 4.8. +0.6

Working on Glaze was a unique opportunity to design for artists—users who deeply appreciate visual craft and have high standards for their tools. The challenge was creating an interface that enhances rather than interrupts the creative flow.

The redesign demonstrates that sometimes the best UI is the one that gets out of the way. By prioritizing the artwork and creating seamless transitions between modes, we helped users stay in their creative zone longer and produce more work they're proud of.