Which graphic designer is the best?

There are two big hurdles when it comes to logo design and branding tools. You are graphically challenged or time challenged. If you encounter one or both obstacles, you should consider quick design tools like RelayThat.

RelayThat is part of a growing group of online graphics tools. It combines familiar names like Canva and Stencil. In short, you are spoiled for choice when it comes to your own branding creations with your own visual content. You just have to decide which one online graphic editor suitable for your skill level and pocket.

So let’s find out what’s inside RelayThat and what it has to offer for your in-house design needs. We will also compare it to Canva and other similar alternatives. In addition, RelayThat is offering an exclusive 15% discount for online Tech Tips readers.

RelayThat: First Look

Like all online graphic tools, RelayThat simplifies the design creation process. At one end, you have the industry-standard Adobe Creative Cloud and its sophisticated Digital Asset Management Workflows. Then you have online alternatives to Photoshop and Illustrator like PicMonkey and Vector that is much simpler.

What if you wanted to put in more effort? RelayThat is just such a solution. It can help you start renovating your brand as soon as you sign in. You don’t need magic design skills.

RelayThat shows that there is no right or wrong way to find the perfect design. This introductory video is a quick guide to the tool:

Now let’s highlight some of the key features that make this app worth your while:

Layout Explorer

RelayThat uses an extensive template library ( Layout Library) as a starting point. The templates follow the branding guidelines of different industries. There are more Over 2000 smart layouts on offer.

You can create logos, banners, posters, images, brochures, infographics, business cards, and any other digital asset you can think of. You can also prepare graphics for different channels like social media, advertising, print, and even unique uses like Sound Covers and YouTube stills.

Responsive layout

Browse through all the ready-made responsive layouts available and choose the one that fits your brand. You don’t have to keep up with the standard sizes of social headers and other layouts. The service supports more than 50 of the most popular sizes.

All content can be customized with colors, font pairing, header styles, and other presets.

Preset Ideas

Not all of us can match colors to Picasso’s eye or even pair fonts to make an impact. RalayThat’s Preset Ideas is a one-touch color swapping and font blur feature.

Simply click on the palette to choose between different color variations of your original pattern.

Working space

RelayThat then helps you bring it all together in one.”Working space“. Use workspaces to organize all the content you want to work for a brand.

These can be collaborative folders for your entire team, and you can seamlessly switch between different workspaces for different projects at any time.

Enter magic

Enter magic is a cool feature you can use in your workspace to set up all the stuff on your site quickly. You don’t have to download each file individually. Use your site’s URL to get everything.

Select the graphic you want to use. Then use smart layouts to rearrange them in the workspace.

How does RelayThat work against Canva?

RelayThat will be compared with the top category Canva.

Canva packs more features, as it is now a mature platform. This can be intimidating and slow if you want to jump right into the design. Both Canva and RelayThat have templates. Canva also allows you to start from scratch and has more features to refine the design.

Canva allows you to create layouts with custom sizes. This freedom is great if you have moderate design skills.

If you’re new to design, RelayThat feels simpler for beginners because of its template-first approach. This simplicity also makes it feel more intuitive. With just one click, RelayThat can mix and match your basic assets and provide you with hundreds of design alternatives. You can use this feature to create some variations of your original design faster than you can in Canva.

But don’t confuse it with your average cookie cutter designer.

RelayThat, like Canva, is a branding tool that supports a huge library of templates and archives. Canva offers free downloads from major image repositories sites such as Pexels and Pixabay. RelayThat isn’t far behind what it offers 3 million photos without copyright (additional 100K icons) for all subscribers. In both, you can also upload your own images.

Both Canva and RelayThat provide digital asset management features for teams. Canva calls it a Brand set while RelayThat gives you Working space.

But how much do all the features cost?

RelayThat Vs. Canva: Compare prices

RelayThat has two pricing tiers. The Pro plan costs $25 per month. The Enterprise Plan is a plan that can vary based on the number of groups.

Canva offers more price option with its freemium model. You can continue to work on the free version of Canva. When you want to use the Pro version, there is a 30 day trial available. The Pro subscription costs $9.95 per month.

Consider alternatives to other branding tools

It’s a huge space with other online design tools trying to get your attention. Stencil and PicMonkey are two other names you will come across.

PicMonkey

PicMonkey is an image editor that definitely works in your browser. It provides templates and designs for your website and for social media, but it’s more of an online photo editor. You can use features like layers, background removal, textures, gradients, filters, etc. to customize your photos.

It’s not the best alternative to RelayThat (or Canva) if you want to create multiple images quickly and without too much effort. Choose it if you want more control but not something like Photoshop with its steep learning curve.

Stencil

Stencil is a potentially viable alternative to RelayThat. It is also designed for speed and simplicity. Stencil has a huge library of free images, icons, Google Fonts, and templates. You can use over 75 size presets for social media images, web banners, ads, YouTube channel images, blog headers, etc.

Like the quoted pictures? Search from 100,000+ quotes right inside Stencil and create stunning images with just one click. Stencil also supports social media scheduling through Buffer. Choose Stencil if you want to focus on social media with engaging graphics (especially quotes).

Choose RelayThat for simpler design needs

Now that you’ve gone through, let’s look at the Pros and Cons again:

Advantages:

• Fast and intuitive features let you design an image in five minutes or less.
• There’s no learning curve when you start with standard sized pre-designed templates.
• Brand management is easier because all content can be imported and placed into the right template quickly.
• One-click option to create multiple variations of graphics with core brand content.
• Includes an extensive image library and thousands of icons.

Defect:

• Lack of customization options is a handicap for good designers.
• The feature to add new placeholders to templates is not available.
• Interface with fixed panels and non-customizable work area.
• Limited font options, no kerning or additional font effects.
• There are no video tutorials and tips to help beginners.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5
Easy to use: 4 out of 5
Flexible: 3 out of 5

RelayThat intended for a certain type of user. But ultimately, every branding tool is different with different value propositions.

The best way to know is to try them. Design a prototype of your brand image across all the design platforms you have on your shortlist. This simple exercise will help you dive into the right design tools for your images so you can start building a solid online presence.