Argument For A Blend Tool

[KCP]

I just watched two YouTube videos showcasing 8 logo designs created in Adobe Illustrator. I attempted to recreate these designs in Affinity Designer. Here's what I found:

Successes and Challenges

• I could easily replicate 7 out of 8 designs in Affinity Designer.
• The burst design proved essentially impossible due to the lack of a Blend Tool in Affinity Designer—at least to make it non-destructive and editable.
• Creating the "B" logo was possible using strokes and the contour tool, but would have been easier with Illustrator's vector-based art brushes used in the video.

Observations

• Some of the YouTube designer's techniques seemed unnecessarily complex, even in Illustrator, but I digress.
• The Blend Tool is crucial for commercial design, comparable to the importance of the Shape Builder tool.
• Affinity Designer is close to being a direct competitor to Illustrator but the powerful functionality of a Blend Tool.
• The presence of a similar tool in Inkscape suggests that implementing this feature is feasible.

Conclusion

Affinity Designer is nearly ready to directly compete with Illustrator, especially for independent designers. While it may not yet be suitable for large institutions because of its limited file-sharing capability, it's very close to being on par with Adobe Illustrator, even without advanced AI functionality.

Blend Tool Design in this video: 

The other 7 in this video: 

 

[KCP]

Here is attempt #2 at trying to replicate the logo made with the Blend Tool in Illustrator, using symbols in AD. It's somewhat close, although it has very little editability, and the inner shapes had to be individually warped and lost their shape. Additionally, the shape as a whole cannot be moved around in a 3-dimensional way like the one in Illustrator. 

None of this is a slight on Designer, which is an amazing tool. I'm just asking you to consider the importance of this core tool, and place it high on your list of forthcoming updates. Of course, using third-party software as a substitute can help, although those layers cannot be edited once they're imported into AD. 

If production cost is an issue, which is unlikely given that Canva is onboard, then at least offer tools like this as premium add-ons. 

Best,

KCP