[WritelyDesigned]

Yea, been there, a couple of times, but I've yet to find anything "viable" (nebulous term, I know).

Things in common between the three new-ish apps mentioned above is a sleek, simplified UI, all with the essentials when it comes to features.

I've tried a number of the ones on the page you've referenced, but most are too big a step back.

My hope is that there's a Sketch-esque InDesign type app out there that I've missed among the latest and greatest. I'm coming to believe, however, that's only wishful thinking. ;)

[therealmarv]

Scribus is powerful enough. Even magazines are beeing made with it. It is for sure lacking some features when compared Indesign but for every normal user who is willing to learn how Scribus works it offers at least for me everything I need from a DTP program.

[therealmarv]

There was one tool which filled your gap perfectly in the past on Windows: It was called CorelDRAW, it was easier to use than QuarkXPress with its horrific (or beautiful?) shortcuts (or later InDesign) for the normal user out there.