Designer Makes $100,000 in a Week From iOS 14 Icons
In less than a week, digital product designer and Twitter user @traf has garnered over $100,000 in revenue by tapping into the unexpectedly lucrative market of smartphone icon design.
The addition of home screen widgets on iPhone and iPad with the release of iOS 14 just a few weeks ago has ushered in a new wave of users looking to customize the look of their devices.
Interestingly, the ability to add custom home screen icons has been available to Apple users since iOS 12 debuted in 2018. However, widgets in iOS 14 have popularized a home screen personalization craze reminiscent of the jailbreak themes and icon skins we saw long ago in 2009.
On September 20, 2020 Traf shared a tweet showing his custom home screen design which quickly gained traction. Realizing the demand, Traf promptly monetized his icon pack for $28, and netted a profit of $101,528 within a span of just six days.
Via his online blog, Traf shared a post titled “Six Figures in Six Days” in which he specified “This title is a little misleading” in his opening statement. The blog post, sheds light on the idea that Traf’s success is actually years in the making with his graphic design journey beginning all the way back in 2013 when he was selling icon packs on jailbroken iOS devices for $0.99 a piece.