Company Overview

Sketch was originally founded in 2010 as Bohemian Coding by Pieter Omvlee and Emanuel SΓ‘, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands. Sketch is a vector UI/UX design tool for digital designers, renowned for its streamlined vector editing engine, pioneering Symbols component system, and extensive third-party plugin ecosystem. As one of the first tools dedicated to UI/UX design, Sketch served as the primary Mac-based UI design tool for years before launching a Web version in 2022 to support cross-platform collaboration. In 2023, Sketch partnered with AI design platform Magician to introduce AI-powered features.

Related providers: Sketch Design Resources

Core Products

🎨 Sketch (Design App)

Core vector design application featuring:

  • Symbols β€” Reusable component-based design system with global sync
  • Smart Layout β€” Auto-adapting layouts for content changes
  • Responsive Resizing β€” Responsive element sizing
  • Color Variables β€” Centralized color management
  • Component Library β€” Shared team component libraries

☁️ Sketch Cloud

Cloud-based collaboration platform for design storage, version management, real-time previewing, and team review.

πŸ“± Sketch Mirror

iOS companion app for real-time design preview on iPhone/iPad.

πŸ‘₯ Sketch for Teams

Team collaboration features including shared workspaces, design system management, developer handoff, and design review.

Core Strengths

Symbols Component System: Pioneered the Symbols concept, establishing component-based design systems later adopted by Figma and others

Focused & Efficient: Purpose-built for interface design without feature bloat

Rich Plugin Ecosystem: Hundreds of third-party plugins covering automation, export, data population, and more

Developer Friendly: Developer handoff mode with easy design specs, asset export, and code generation

Key Milestones

  • 2010: Founded as Bohemian Coding by Pieter Omvlee and Emanuel SΓ‘ in the Netherlands
  • 2012: Sketch 2.0 officially launched as a vector design tool for UI designers
  • 2015: Sketch 3.0 released, introducing the Symbols component system
  • 2017: Sketch Cloud collaboration platform launched
  • 2022: Web version launched, enabling non-Mac users to collaborate
  • 2023: Partnered with Magician to introduce AI design features
  • 2024: Continued iteration on team collaboration and developer handoff

Market Position

Sketch competes in the UI/UX design tool market against:

  • Figma β€” Cloud-based UI/UX design tool, Sketch's largest competitor, dominating with browser-based collaboration
  • Adobe XD β€” Adobe's UI/UX design tool (discontinued in 2024)
  • Adobe Illustrator β€” Adobe's vector graphics software, overlapping in UI icon design
  • Affinity Designer β€” Serif's vector design software, a perpetual license alternative
  • Lunacy β€” Free UI/UX design tool supporting Sketch file format import