The Angry Designer Podcast

Episode: Awful Logo Design. A MasterClass In Bad Logo Design for Good Designers
Date: August 26, 2025
Hosts: Massimo & Sean

Brief Overview

This episode humorously flips the script on conventional design wisdom by presenting a "MasterClass" on creating truly terrible logos. Hosts Massimo and Sean dissect, with plenty of sarcasm and industry wit, why bad logos persist despite abundant resources and guidance, and then embark on an exhaustive (and tongue-in-cheek) guide: “25 Ways to Make the World's Worst Logo.” Their goal? To both amuse and educate—by doing the exact opposite of what any good designer should.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Ongoing Plague of Bad Logos

• Massimo shares observations of shockingly bad logos everywhere, despite endless online guides and resources.
• Notes that while “superstar” logo designers create exceptional, iconic work, most logos encountered in daily life are “wildly fucking popular” for all the wrong reasons.
  “These bad logos still exist and they're everywhere... There must be a reason for this.” [04:15 – Massimo]

2. The 25 Commandments of Bad Logo Design

Presented as satirical “advice” — reverse-engineered to show what NOT to do.

A. Fonts & Typography Crimes [08:10]

• Use As Many Fonts As Possible:
  “When you're creating a logo, use them all.” [09:00 – Massimo]
• Ignore Kerning & Tracking; Stretch Everything:
  “When font designers create fonts, it's only suggestive. But you're the designer – you should take the reins.” [10:28 – Massimo]
• Typos are Trendy:
  “Spell something wrong. Bonus points if it gets to approval without being noticed.” [11:15 – Massimo]
• De-emphasize the Name:
  “Make it so small, so irrelevant, it should be an afterthought, if it's even there.” [12:00 – Massimo]

B. Color Catastrophes [13:00]

• Random Color Selection:
  “When picking your font color, do it blindfolded... Matching is for try-hards.” [13:30 – Massimo]
• Impractical for Print:
  “Use gradients, glitter, gold fleck — make sure it’s impossible to ever print.” [14:20 – Massimo]
• Minimum Contrast for Maximum Mystery:
  “Light grey on white... that’s the magic.” [15:05 – Massimo]
• Full Color Only, Never Black & White:
  “James Bernard says, ‘If a logo works in black and white, it’s inherently stronger and more versatile.’ James, really? Come on, man!” [16:00 – Massimo]

C. Technical Disasters [17:00]

• Design in Photoshop (Raster Only):
  “Make it a nice rasterized logo. Vector files? That's for nerds.” [17:30 – Massimo]
• Embed in Word Docs:
  “Take that JPEG, embed it in a Word box, and send it over. Good to go.” [18:45 – Massimo]
• Don’t Outline Fonts or Provide Usable Source Files:
  “Don’t outline your fonts. Let printers beg for missing fonts, then let them sweat.” [19:35 – Massimo]
• File Naming Chaos:
  “Final-final-final all caps-v2. FML.jpg is enough.” [21:05 – Massimo]

D. Ethical Dumpster Fires [22:30]

• Steal Freely:
  “Steal designs from Fiverr, Dribble, Google. Change a color and call it your own.” [23:00 – Massimo]
• Let AI Generate Your Soul-less Logo:
  “Prompt in, export out. Twenty high-quality horrible logos in five minutes using AI.” [23:45 – Massimo]
• Use Unlicensed Images (“Borrowed” Art):
  “Use that Getty image, get rid of the watermark.” [24:25 – Massimo]
• Stock Templates Are Your Friend:
  “Some templates have been used 50 times — must be good!” [25:00 – Massimo]

E. Overcomplicated & Cluttered [26:30]

• Tell Your Whole Life Story:
  “If people can recognize it at a glance, you failed. Put everything in it – hobbies, pets, your favorite sandwich.” [27:00 – Massimo]
• Effects Overload:
  “Drop shadows, bevels, lens flares — Adobe put them in for a reason, you gotta use them.” [28:00 – Massimo]

F. Low Quality and Laziness [29:00]

• Trace From Pixelated Google Images:
  “Pixelated plagiarism is in. AI and Fiverr do it – you can too.” [29:30 – Massimo]
• Low-Res Only:
  “Blurry and pixelated – that shows it’s authentic.” [30:10 – Massimo]
• Use MS Paint for That 'Special' Touch:
  “The little spray can tool... that was hot.” [31:00 – Massimo]

G. Audience Ignorance [32:00]

• Ignore the Target Audience:
  “Don’t let them tell you who it’s for. You came to me, I’m building this for me.” [32:45 – Massimo]
• Make It Trendy, Make It Indistinguishable:
  “Make it so this logo is almost indistinguishable from everybody else’s. The world needs more cookie-cutter, boring logos.” [33:20 – Massimo]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Massimo on the Popularity of Bad Logos:
  “It’s a thing… shtty logo… I see them everywhere. There must be a reason.”* [04:15]

• On Fonts:
  “Why go with boring old Helvetica? Massimo Vignelli said only six or seven fonts – he never dreamed of Font Squirrel!” [09:48]

• On Contradicting Best Practices:
  “If a logo works in black and white, it's inherently stronger and more versatile. James, really? Built to last, my ass.” [16:10]

• On File Delivery:
  “Make sure your logo’s broken before it leaves your computer… Don’t outline fonts. And file names: ‘final-final-all-caps-v2.FML.jpg’ is enough.” [21:05]

• On Copying/AI:
  “Steal logo designs. Get AI to make it… Prompt in, export out. The nice thing is, AI usually breaks all the rules anyway!” [23:23]

• On Audience Ignorance:
  “I know it’s a donut shop, but I want to put a skateboard in there. If you look, a skateboard is a donut on the side…” [33:00]

Important Segments & Timestamps

• Episode Premise, Observing Bad Logos: [00:00 – 05:00]
• Introduction to the Satirical “Masterclass”: [05:30]
• 25 Ways to Make the World’s Worst Logo:
  • Fonts & Typographic Offenses: [08:10 – 12:20]
  • Color Chaos: [13:00 – 16:30]
  • Technical Disasters: [17:00 – 21:00]
  • Ethical Dumpster Fires: [22:30 – 25:30]
  • Complication and Clutter: [26:30 – 28:30]
  • Low Quality and Laziness: [29:00 – 31:45]
  • Audience Ignorance & Trends: [32:00 – 34:00]
• Wrap Up & Audience Call-to-Action: [34:30 – End]

Tone and Takeaways

With razor-sharp, unapologetic humor, Massimo and Sean expose everything that can go wrong in logo design—reversing the do’s into devastating don’ts. The sarcastic “advice” is deliberately outrageous, serving as both comic relief and a cautionary breakdown of common—and avoidable—design mistakes. By inverting design best practices, they deliver an episode that’s both hilarious and sneakily instructive.

“Honestly, there’s nobody online teaching people how to be bad at logo design… This is groundbreaking territory!”
—Massimo [34:10]

For designers: Do the opposite of everything listed—unless you want to be legendary for all the wrong reasons.