If you’re working as part of a larger organization, the MS project may be unavoidable especially in a Gantt chart driven project.
A lot of people like Smartsheet, though now that I focus on software it’s more about Agile tools like Jira. I’ve been using an open source Gantt tool for when I absolutely need to make one to communicate high level schedules.
If your job is designing first, figure out how to focus on design while keeping the PM work to a minimum. Most larger consultancies ultimately end up hiring a dedicated PM as they grow to deal with this, since it’s difficult to do both effectively, especially if you’re spending 4 hours a day on management, client communication, etc.