Looking at graphic designers, self-publishing services, Kindle Direct Publishing grifters and aspiring authors today, it seems like book design is an undervalued skill and service. Even the tools to design books and publications have basically become free, and all it takes to produce a decent-looking document is some time and effort. Of course, busy entrepreneurs would still like to spend money just to get the job done, but with the hoard of available freelancers on Upwork and Fiverr, it costs next to nothing to turn a Google doc into a printable book. That work certainly doesn't seem to have a lasting quality, but busy creatives don't care. Is the typographic art commoditised now? Can one sell book design services for a premium these days?

The largest competitor to the Adobe Creative Suite has been Affinity. They've had their three apps in direct competition to Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator: Affinity Publisher, Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer. In contrast to Adobe's rather pricy subscriptions, Affinity offered affordable one-time purchases. Now, they're releasing something completely new: ONE app for all these areas of work, simply called Affinity. They've also been adopted by Canva, and claim to offer their new app completely for free! With AI as an add-on. I'm excited to see how this will impact designers of all sorts and levels. It's good for Adobe to actually have some real competition, because once we enter a universe such as Adobe's, it can be hard to break out of it. On the other hand, I see a lot of scepticism in the comment regarding what the catch is. It will be interesting to follow the developments. Will you be exploring the new Affinity? Watch the unlisted demo on YouTube here And check out their new site here: https://www.affinity.studio