App Review | Assembly
Today, I’m reviewing an app called Assembly, a graphic design tool to quickly and easily make icons, emojis, logos, and scenes on your iPhone or iPad. As a visual designer, I use desktop applications like Sketch and Illustrator every day. These tools have a ton of features and require a mouse or drawing pad to have the precision necessary for professional-level graphics. Knowing that, I was really curious to see how an app like Assembly would handle the whole process with a smaller screen and fingers as inputs. So let’s get into the details and see how Assembly stacks up.
User Experience: A
My goodness, the team behind Assembly did a great job translating a desktop experience to mobile devices. There are some initial onboarding screens that show a mixture of basic and advanced techniques, but the real learning happens by getting in there and just making stuff. There’s definitely a sandbox feeling to this app, where you feel like there are limitless possibilities. Just scroll through some of the graphics under Inspiration and you will be blown away by some of the art people have made using Assembly. Some of the functionality they were able to cram into this app is just crazy. I didn’t think I would be able to easily create groups or layer masks on my phone, but I was wrong.
User Interface: A
I really like the user interface of Assembly. This is an app where screen real estate needs to be used judiciously, so button icons are crucial. The design team did a great job of creating icons that make sense with their functionality and placing them in spots where users would think to look. The overall aesthetic is very clean and easy on the eyes with great typography and a light-hearted color palette. Finally, I’m a big fan of the logo, which captures the idea of illustrating something complex using a collection of simple shapes.
Overall Idea: B
It should be clear by now that I really like this app. However, one thing I’m not sure about is the exact demographic that Assembly is targeting here. Is it meant for people like me with some experience in graphic design? Is it meant for the average person who hasn’t worked a creative muscle in years? Is it meant for both, like a marketplace where designers can make and sell graphics to the average consumer willing to pay a couple bucks for some stickers to use in iMessage?
Regardless, I can’t complain because the app is free and I happen to find it really fun to use. While I’m not about to cancel my Adobe subscription just yet, this app has a ton of potential and gets me excited about the future of design tools on mobile devices. Way to go Assembly!
Originally published on October 27, 2016.
Originally published at blog.snapmobile.io on October 27, 2016.
