Logoist 3

Stunning vector graphics

$14.99 From Synium, syniumsoftware.com Needs OS X 10.12 or later

Logoist 3 is a vector drawing app. No, don’t run away! It’s an app that tries to make vector drawing work for normal people. There’s a Bézier curve tool, but you can ignore it and build graphics from readymade shapes, styles, and effects.

Templates are provided for logos, business cards, and greeting cards. A better place to start, though, is the app’s Showcase, which presents dozens of finished pieces that you can unpick. At the top left of Logoist’s single window is a panel showing all the objects and groups in the artwork in a tree structure, like folders in Finder; clicking on any item in the artwork highlights it in the tree, and vice versa, with an animated glow so you can’t miss it. (The whole interface makes good use of animation, but this can be turned off.)

It’s a great way to see how vector drawings are constructed, although we’d have liked more help in selecting items behind others. Effects include glows, transparency, emboss, gradients, and “Generators,” textures that follow the shape of an object. From scratch, it’s easy to click Shape or Clipart in the top toolbar, pick from the options, and choose from the styles listed on the left. On the right, you can customize each effect.

Logoist 3 gets a lot right. It has functions like grid snapping (with radial and concentric grids), adding and subtracting objects, align/ distribute, and creating instances of an object that inherit changes. Features like shadows are well handled. Controls are comprehensive, yet it all feels more accessible than a pro app such as Adobe Illustrator or Affinity Designer.

In the end, though, this is a moving-pretty-things-around app, not a drawing app. Even if you get something looking almost right by combining shapes and styles, you can’t edit the vector points that make them up to finish the job off. You can export your work as EPS, PDF, or SVG, and edit the lines in another app, but that kinda misses the point.

New files are set to a tiny 500x500 pixels without asking, and if you click the Canvas button and pick a physical size, such as Letter, the app calculates the pixel size at 72dpi, far too low for print (and who designs logos just for screen use?). This won’t matter if everything is output as vectors, but some effects have to be rendered to bitmap — a Check Vector Export option warns you which. It’s also odd that style dimensions are set in pixels, so they don’t scale correctly within the app. And despite the app’s name, the few logo templates aren’t very usable. This is disappointing, but there’s still a lot here for those who want cool artwork fast.

The bottom line. Logoist 3 has an impressive range of features that go much more than skin-deep.