Great products

Intro

Being one of the only two non-technical people at June, I spend a lot of time writing stuff. Problem statements, weekly plannings, user stories, in-depth articles (like this one) and so on.

As a product geek, I always try to use sleek tools.

I do this because, as Balint (Craft’s Founder), I believe that what we see / use every day forms us. And given that I want June to become both functional and beautiful, I must only use tools which succeed in doing this. I want to raise my standards.

However, until a couple of months ago, I was still using Google Docs every day. Then I tried Notion and it was already much better.

Still it wasn’t a game changer. Now Notion it’s filled with so many features that writing takes second place. For this reason I returned to Google Docs with a bit of a bitter taste.

Then, 2 weeks ago, Ferruccio shared a link to a Craft Doc with me. It looked so smooth and beautiful that I decided to try it out.

Craft is a rich text editor which is easy and frictionless to use. It also supports markdown, code blocks, images, videos, and attaching files or rich link previews.

Vision

I love how Balint Orosz expresses his ideas and his personality. So I won’t spend time trying to replicate what he wrote on this page.

“I knew I needed to have a tool which would empower me and fill me with joy every time I use it. Something that's both very simple to get started with, but goes very deep in terms of capabilities. A tool which would generate the output I am proud to associate my digital identity with.”

Product

Many people start a company and then try to find a extraordinary vision that fits. A trained eye can spot that in a matter of seconds. This does not mean that the product isn’t any good, though; it’s just a bit soulless.

Similarly, it’s pretty easy to understand that Craft was born from Balint’s vision and not the other way around. But please, don’t take my word for it; check it out yourself!

Form & Function

Craft combines form and function like few others. Only the products that manage to have both at the very best level of quality will be remembered.

Let’s take the Mercedes 300 SL. It is considered by many the most good-looking motorcar ever built. But Rudolf Uhlenhaut, 300 SL’s father, did not start building this car with beauty in mind.

He wanted a car that could win competitions. And to do so it had to be highly functional.

The body was shaped in a wind tunnel but, the experienced hand of a designer with excellent taste did some tweaks. Mechanically it was, and still is, very advanced, reliable and performing.

It is the whole package that makes this car so unique. Not just the engine or the body.

Similarly, Craft is visually pleasing, fast, and functional simultaneously.

Organization and connection

Putting down what’s in your mind is already a pretty difficult task. Organizing and interconnecting documents and notes in a tool like Google Docs are even worse.

Craft helps you to make order using this simple hierarchy:

Here’s how the organization logic looks like:

The Space concept is a bit like Slack’s workspaces: transitioning from one to the other is super smooth.

If your needs are similar to mine (plannings, problem statements, articles etc) then I'm pretty sure you’ll be happy with this structure.

Native Mac OS App

Craft is built for Apple users and its native app is sensational. Everything from shortcuts, gestures and design feels just right.

All the commands and buttons are where you expect them to be. No learning curve.

It’s remarkable that there are pieces of the design similar to very different tools that coexist in total harmony. There’s a bit of Finder, Slack, Safari, Arc and a whole range of shortcuts that feel like a unique piece. This is incredible because products with so many possible flows usually just feel messy. Craft doesn’t, not at all.

Lastly, the Desktop app is blazing fast, making the whole writing experience flawless.

Focus Mode

⌘. will bring you to my personal favorite feature: Focus Mode.

No buttons, no tabs, no nothing. Just your script and your keyboard.

Here’s what it looks like:

It looks exactly like the assets I create in Figma for June’s blog articles. It’s just so sleek.

What I like about Craft, as mentioned in the Form and Function section, is that their design has an end and it’s not just flexing as many do today.

This Focus mode boosts productivity. Although it’s not a nice to have, it’s a must-have.

Exports

The fact that the content looks great in the Craft editor is certainly a good thing. Still, when you’re writing something, most likely, you’re going to share it / send it.

Exporting content outside Craft is very simple and looks as good as it does in the Desktop app. You can choose to share it through a QR code, send it through email, use markdown etc.

Content isn’t locked in at all.

Pricing

As with most products today, you can start using them for free.

Then it’s going to be $5 per month if you need it only for yourself or $10 per user / month if you want Craft for your org.

Check out all the details here.

Honestly, I think that paying for tools like Craft makes total sense. Most likely, I’ll start doing so very soon. But, in the end, I find myself writing stuff every day, so why should I save $10 on something that delights me? It’s the price of a cup of coffee and cookies at a bar.