Big thanks to Logickeyboard for sending me their Adobe Graphic Designer – ASTRA Keyboard to test out!

Today I want to share with you a product I have been testing and using over the past few weeks.

Introducing Logickeyboard. They’re a cool Denmark-based company who, for two decades, have carefully designed and produced the world’s finest shortcut and custom keyboards for a wealth of industries, including audio and video production, broadcasting, photography, graphic design, telecom and 3D animation. In recent years their products have increased in demand and recognition. This has placed Logickeyboard in the forefront of the industry across a range of categories.

In this review I’ll be focusing solely on the Adobe Graphic Designer – ASTRA Backlit Keyboard. This keyboard features shortcuts for Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign and retails for just over £100. Logickeyboard sent me a design keyboard to test, so I can give you my honest review as a designer.

Gif of ASTRA design keyboard

The Product

The keyboard is the standard full-size layout with both Mac and Windows keyboards to choose from.

For the price point, you would expect a good build quality which I think is delivered here.  The keys have a tactile feel to them when pressed and their switches are quite smooth. They’re not too loud when pressed which is nice if you don’t like that ‘clickety-clack’ sound. The keys are scissor-switch which gives nice feedback and a slight “mechanical” feeling and weight.

The keys also have a very subtle indent that is nice to the touch. The keyboard itself has a good feel to it. It’s quite weighty and sturdy with a nice angle for comfortable typing. The finish on the plastic is that of brushed metal with a silver outside edge.

ASTRA design keyboard close-up

Now, what makes this product truly unique are the colour coded printed shortcuts; blue for Photoshop, orange for Illustrator, magenta for InDesign and grey for common shortcuts. This one keyboard alone displays more than 225 shortcuts. Logickeyboard claims this enables you to become up to 40% more efficient as you’re not navigating through menus looking for the tool you want or having to memorise numerous shortcuts.

Now I’ve been using Adobe products for over 10 years and I still only use a handful of shortcuts. I found myself exploring the keyboard and utilising new shortcuts I wasn’t previously using in my design. So even for professionals, there’s room to learn and benefit from this product. 

As well as the printed shortcuts, this keyboard is backlit which makes it incredibly versatile in any light condition and feels really special when used in the dark. The backlight lights up the semi-opaque coloured keys and looks really slick, controlled with just a tap of your finger.

Gif of ASTRA design keyboard

Connection

The keyboard connects via 2 USB male ports to power the backlight keyboard and works to extend the keyboard as a USB bus with 2 USB 2.0 ports on the back. I found this really handy with a USB C Macbook Pro. Having the keyboard attached saved me having to use adaptors. I could plug my USB devices (e.g. mouse, contour shuttle or a USB-dongle) straight into the back, easy-peasy.

ASTRA design keyboard with box

Packaging

Receiving the keyboard was also a premium experience. The packaging is minimal, with a nice magnetic flap featuring a colourful minimalist design. Inside, the keyboard was carefully wrapped and comes with an additional jelly keyboard layer to protect the keys further. 

Logickeyboard also provides a shortcut cheat sheet which can be downloaded or free here

Conclusion

Today there is a myriad of keyboard products on the market, but not many that cater specifically to the creator of music, 3D, Video or Design. 

Logickeyboard offers a specific product for the creator which can help them in their day to day work and speed up their creativity with some nifty insightful shortcuts which I think Logickeyboard does well to improve your workflow and reveal visually all the shortcuts you can use. 

If you are a beginner and not too clued up on the shortcuts of creative software, these keyboards are a great help and if you’re into design gear this is definitely one to add to your setup.

NOTES

This post was not paid for by Logickeyboards. This post was created to recommend a product that I have been using and would recommend.