I Made a Video for Mixbook in 2022. I've Been a Customer Ever Since.
There's a version of UGC content creation where you film something, send it off, wait for the invoice to be paid, and then never think about the product again.
Mixbook is not that product for me.
I partnered with them back in 2022, one of my first real UGC collabs (crazy!!). They sent me “mock” photo books to use in my content, and I remember initially flipping through those books thinking: okay… this is actually really good. The photos were bright. The pages were thick. It felt like something that I would actually keep on my coffee table or shelf.
Within a few months, I ordered my own.
That first personal order was a photo book from our family Florida trip. Nobody was paying me to make it. I just wanted one, and that's when I knew Mixbook had got me.
Four years of Mixbook later, here's what I actually use
The trip photo book. This is my favourite format. After a family trip, I go through my camera roll, pull the best photos, and build a book around the story of that trip. It's not fancy, and I'm not a designer, but Mixbook's templates make it look like I am. The Florida one lives on our bookshelf. My kids pull it out and flip through it, and the pages have held up to two little kids handling them for years. That alone tells you the quality is real.
The year-in-review book. At the end of every year I make one of these. It started as a way to actually do something with the thousands of photos sitting on my phone, and now it's become something I genuinely look forward to. Sitting down in December, going through the year, picking the photos that actually meant something. It's become a bit of a ritual.
The parent calendar. This one was my idea, and I'm proud of it. Three years ago I suggested to my siblings that we pool our family photos and make our parents a calendar for Christmas. We're on year three now. My parents have it up in their kitchen, and every time I visit I catch myself looking at whatever month it is, seeing a photo I'd forgotten about. My parents love it. We love making it. It costs less than most gifts and means more than almost all of them.
I've ordered five or more Mixbook products at this point. Some for us, some as gifts. A first birthday book for my oldest. Holiday gifts. The calendar every Christmas.
Why I still recommend it
I work with a lot of brands. Most of them are fine. Some of them I genuinely love. Mixbook is in the second category, and here's specifically why.
The quality is consistent. Every order I've placed has looked like the last one. Bright, sharp, thick pages that don't feel flimsy. That consistency matters when you're gifting something to your parents or making a book you want to last.
The platform is easy to use. I am not patient with fiddly design tools. Mixbook's editor is intuitive enough that I can sit down, upload my photos, and have a book designed in an evening. It's genuinely usable by a real person who isn't a graphic designer.
The price point is reasonable, especially with a discount code. Use the code they gave me to share and you'll save on your order. I promise I only share links for things I actually buy myself, and this is one of them!
The thing about UGC nobody tells you
When I started creating content for brands, I thought my job was to make things look good on camera. And it is, partly. But the best content I've ever made has been for products I genuinely use and love, because that comes through in the work.
Mixbook was one of the first brands that reminded me of that. I filmed the content. I got paid. Then I went home and ordered one for myself.
If you've been meaning to make a photo book, the one from last summer's trip or your kid's first year or just the last 12 months of your life, Mixbook is where I'd start. And don’t worry, the app makes it really easy to create one for yourself! If you do, be sure to come back and let me know what you thought of it!
This post contains affiliate links. I only recommend products I personally use and buy.
