Designers post images and let the text be an afterthought, and then wonder why the post dies. On X the image is seen second, if at all: the text is in the feed, in the reply preview and in search. A design post works when the words would hold up with the image missing and the image makes them better.
The fourteen posts below are written for an attached image or a short clip, with the text doing the carrying. Each has a note on why it works. The projects described are illustrative. Your own screenshots and decisions are the version worth posting.
The text has to carry the image
Write the post so that someone reading it with images turned off still gets the point, then attach the image as proof. That means the text names what the image shows, what decision it represents, and what you want from the reader. "New work 👇" fails all three. "Shipped version 9 of 14 for one button. Here are all 14" passes.
The second rule is to post decisions, not deliverables. A finished screen is a portfolio piece; the reason you chose one layout over the other is a post. Designers reply to decisions because they have made the same ones.
Process and work in progress
A process shot with the decision
Attached: 14 versions of a single button. Shipped version 9. Versions 10 to 14 were me not trusting version 9. Knowing when to stop is the skill.
- Why it works:
- The image is a grid anyone can glance at, the text tells you which one shipped and why, and the last line is a lesson every designer has learned slowly.
Before and after of your own work
Left: the settings page I shipped in 2024. Right: the one I shipped today. Same features. Half the words. One column instead of three. The redesign was mostly deletion.
- Why it works:
- A two-image comparison with the change named in three measurable ways. Nobody needs to open the image to understand it.
A constraint you worked inside
Designed an onboarding flow that had to work at 320px wide for a client whose users are on old phones. Everything I removed to make it fit, I never put back on desktop.
- Why it works:
- Constraints make design stories. The second line is the insight, and it applies far outside this project.
The version that was rejected
The one the client rejected is on the left. The one they chose is on the right. I still prefer the left. They were right to pick the right. Their users are not me.
- Why it works:
- Showing the rejected option is generous and a little vulnerable. The last line is a mature point made without a lecture.
Redesigns and critique
Redesigns of real things get attention when the thing is familiar and the improvement is measurable in taps, words or seconds. Critique requests get useful replies when you say exactly what you want feedback on and what you do not. Both need the text to set the terms before anyone looks at the picture.
A redesign of something from your life
Redesigned the parking payment screen from my street. Unsolicited. The original has 9 taps to pay. Mine has 3. If anyone from the city is reading, it is yours for free.
- Why it works:
- Everyone has fought a parking machine. The tap count is the proof and the offer at the end is charming.
Asking for critique properly
Working on a pricing table. Two directions attached. Looking for: which one you could read in 3 seconds. Not looking for: colour feedback yet. Be blunt.
- Why it works:
- Scoping the critique gets you answers you can use and spares you forty replies about the shade of green.
A critique you received and acted on
Got told today that my empty states are "nice but nobody reads them". Checked the analytics. The person was right. Rewrote them to one line each.
- Why it works:
- Taking critique in public, checking it against data and acting on it. Three things designers respect in one post.
Critiquing someone else's work kindly
Love the new icon set from this team. One thing I would push on: the stroke weight changes between the 16px and 24px sizes, so they do not sit well together in a row. Everything else is excellent.
- Why it works:
- Specific praise, one specific concern with the reason, and a close that leaves the relationship intact. This is how to critique in public without a fight; the reply examples for designers have more.
Opinions on craft
A craft opinion with a reason
Spacing is the whole job. Type, colour and icons get the credit. Spacing is why one version feels calm and another feels cheap, and nobody can say why.
- Why it works:
- A strong claim about something invisible, explained in one line. Designers will agree loudly or disagree with examples. Both are replies.
A tool opinion that names a problem
I don't need another design tool with AI. I need the one I use to stop moving my layers when I rename them.
- Why it works:
- The contrast between what tools add and what you actually want is a shape that works for every craft. No vendor is named.
A convention you broke
I stopped using placeholder text in forms. It disappears when you type, and the user forgets what the field was for. Labels above. Always. Fight me.
- Why it works:
- A rule, the reason, and an invitation to disagree. The rule is adoptable in an afternoon, so people save it.
Questions that get designers talking
Ask the room about habits
Designers: what is the one thing you check before you hand off, every single time, that nobody taught you?
- Why it works:
- Narrow audience, concrete moment, and an answer that is one line long. The replies become a checklist everyone saves.
Pick a side with your own admission
Dark mode first, or light mode first? I have started doing dark first and the light version always ends up better. Cannot explain it.
- Why it works:
- You pick a side and admit you do not know why it works, which invites theories rather than a vote.
Be honest
Be honest: how much of your portfolio is work that actually shipped?
- Why it works:
- An uncomfortable question every designer has an answer to. The honesty in the replies makes the thread worth reading.
Describing a visual in text
- 01Name what the image is in the first line: a grid of versions, a before and after, a single screen, a redesign of a real thing.
- 02Give one number that the image proves: taps, words, versions, seconds, pixels. Numbers make visual claims checkable.
- 03State the decision or the question. Which one shipped, or which one should.
- 04Add the lesson or the admission in one line, and stop. The image does the rest.
- 05Read the text with the image hidden. If it makes no sense, the image is carrying the post and the feed will not show it.
- 06If the post is one you will reuse on other platforms, the post to image tool turns it into a clean graphic.
The first lines matter more for designers than for most people, because a design post competes with the image for attention. The hook patterns for builders apply directly; a tap count or a version number is a hook.
What makes a design post skippable
Do
- Decisions, constraints and rejected versions, with the reasoning.
- Measurable improvements: taps, words, seconds.
- Critique requests that say what you want and what you do not.
Don't
- "New work 👇" or "Thoughts?" as the entire text.
- A finished screen with no story about how it got that way.
- Mockups of famous apps redesigned for likes, with no problem being solved.
Design Twitter rewards people who show how they think, not people who show that they can make things look good. Everyone there can make things look good. The designer growth guide covers turning this into a steady account: what to post weekly, how to handle critique, and how a portfolio becomes a profile.
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Frequently
asked questions
Something else on your mind? Get in touch.
Do I need to attach an image to every post?
No. Opinions and questions work as text alone, and a text-only post from a designer stands out in a feed of screenshots. Attach an image when it is the proof of something the text says.
Should I post client work?
Only with permission and only after it has shipped, unless the contract says otherwise. Personal redesigns of public things, process shots of your own projects and anonymised before and afters are safer and often more interesting.
How do I ask for critique without getting useless replies?
Say what you are deciding between, what you want feedback on and what you are not asking about yet. Two options get better answers than one. Most useless critique comes from an open-ended question.
Is it okay to redesign famous products for attention?
It is a crowded genre and most entries solve no problem. If you do it, pick a real flaw, measure the improvement and say what you would have needed to know to do it properly. A parking machine beats a social app.
What image size and format should I use?
Use X's recommended sizes for single images and two-image comparisons, export at the highest quality the size allows and check the crop on a phone before posting. Write alt text every time.