When Everything Looks Good…What Designers Still Get Wrong

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Angry Designer – "When Everything Looks Good…What Designers Still Get Wrong"

Date: April 28, 2026
Hosts: Massimo & Sean
Setting: Live from Creative South design conference

---

Episode Overview

This episode, recorded live at the Creative South conference, dives into the current and evolving state of graphic design. Massimo and Sean tackle what designers continue to get wrong—even when their work looks great on the surface. They unpack the fast-paced evolution of tools (especially AI), shifting client expectations, the role of taste, and the perils of mistaking aesthetics for real design value. The discussion is both a critique and a roadmap, highlighting experience, taste, and intentionality as the new differentiators in a crowded, tech-enabled creative landscape.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Fast Evolution of Design Tools and Processes

• AI and Speed: Designers can now achieve outputs in hours that used to take days, thanks to AI and new software integrations.

  • "What would take us a full afternoon, you know, at one point to do...now ends up taking us 15 minutes because of the AI integration in there." – Massimo (03:07)
  • Client expectations are rising in response to these capabilities.

• Changing Expectations: Clients expect faster turnarounds, compressing timelines and sometimes sacrificing depth and quality.

  • "We're having customers, they're giving us asks today and asking if they can have it in two or three days." – Massimo (03:40)

2. Quality vs. Quantity: What Are We Really Celebrating?

• The line between “looks good” and “is good design” is blurrier than ever, especially as social media celebrates visual hits without questioning substance.

• "People are celebrating what looks good, you know, but we're not sure, you know, where this, where this content's coming from anymore." – Massimo (09:14)

• Even seasoned designers can be fooled by AI-generated work that mimics hand-drawn aesthetics, raising fresh questions about authenticity.

  • "I saw a post...saying AI is all really fake looking stuff...but at the end, it was also done in AI and here's the prompt. It totally caught me." – Massimo (09:06)

3. The Power—and Problem—of Access

• Now, non-designers with strong creative instincts can make impressive things due to accessible tools and AI:
  • "The person who came up with these isn't necessarily a graphic designer...she has access to tools that allow her to be creative and create." – Massimo (07:57)
• This increases market competition but blurs the line between technical skill and creative vision.

4. Aesthetics vs. Strategy: The Real Metric

• The hosts recount a real-life example where AI-generated concepts might win over more intricate, hand-done styles—not for lack of skill, but because the AI work more closely aligns to client goals.
  • "Is it about aesthetics or is it about strategy...somebody at the office thought smart and used AI to get this done strategically. And it hit the mark for what the customers [wanted]." – Massimo (07:08)
• The implication: being strategic trumps being visually complex.

5. The Unteachable Edge: Taste

• Experience and Taste:
  • Taste—developed over years, not taught in school—is becoming the defining differentiator.
    • "Nobody teaches taste. Okay? It's not like school talks about taste...I don't even know if you actually can teach [it]." – Massimo & Sean (11:18–11:32)
  • "Taste comes from experience...from creating it, adjusting it, realizing what's wrong, what's right." – Massimo (15:00)
• Imitation vs. Originality:
  • New designers should imitate to learn mechanics, but develop judgment over time.
    • "Getting a huge Pinterest board of all your likes...doesn't help you create taste. This maybe helps you build imitation." – Massimo (11:50)
  • "Imitation is...I recommend every young designer to be a good imitator, but not just copy, but understand how they got to that look." – Massimo (12:08)
• Repetition is Key:
  • Real progress is born of continuous, thoughtful creation and correction:
    • "His first T-shirt definitely doesn't look like what he's doing now...it's the flex, it's the repetition. He's building constantly." (on speaker Brooke) – Massimo (12:50)

6. Advice to Juniors: Stop Rushing, Start Creating

• Massimo strongly advises young designers to focus on growth—not billing or rates:
  • "You shouldn't be worrying about billing right now. You should be worrying about trying to get as much experience under your belt." – Massimo (14:20)
  • The pathway to taste and instinct is through relentless practice and humble learning.

7. The Future Differentiator: Taste over Toolset

• With tools ubiquitous, the personal sensibility—taste—is what will separate professionals from amateurs in the future job market:
  • "Personal taste for designers is going to play a huge part on who actually gets work in the future." – Massimo (15:51)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AI’s Creative Deception:
  "At the end of it, it's like, oh, this was also done in AI and here's the prompt. And it totally caught me." – Massimo (09:06)

• On The Unteachable Nature of Taste:
  "Can you learn taste?... I don't think so. I think taste comes from experience." – Massimo (11:29–11:36)

• On The Importance of Repetition:
  "It's the flex, it's the repetition. He's building constantly. Seeing what people liked, seeing what worked, and then he was adjusting from there." (12:51)

• On Billing and Growth:
  "You shouldn't be worrying about billing right now. You should be worrying about trying to get as much experience under your belt because then you can set a rate." – Massimo (14:20)

---

Important Timestamps

• 00:00–02:05: Opening thoughts, live at Creative South, the evolution in design
• 02:05–03:40: AI tools, client expectations speeding up
• 05:10–07:39: Case study—AI vs hand-drawn design on a real project
• 09:06–10:51: The difficulty recognizing AI work and the value of taste
• 11:18–12:08: Taste, imitation, and the necessity of practice
• 12:50–13:39: Example of development through sheer volume (Brooke’s “1,255 T-shirts” stat)
• 14:20–15:55: Advice for juniors: experience over billing
• 15:51–16:43: Taste as the differentiator and looking to industry opinions

---

Closing Thoughts

The episode is a call to arms for designers frustrated by the industry’s fast pace and blurred standards. Massimo and Sean assert that while AI and easy-access tools have democratized "good-looking" design, true differentiation will come from cultivated taste and relentless practice. They tease more conversations with guest speakers, promising further insights into how the industry can sift quality from quantity in an era where “everything looks good.”

---

For Designers: Keep creating, keep reflecting, and know that experience and self-correcting practice—not mere familiarity with tools—remain the only proven routes to the next level in design.

---

Stay creative, stay angry.

Transcript

[A]

I do think that with the way design's evolving now and the current state of design, I think for designers is gonna play a huge part on who actually gets work in the future. Ta da.

[B]

Where are we? I went to bed last night and suddenly I'm here.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

How did this happen?

[A]

Coming at you live from Creative South. I wish all design conferences were like this. And there's a few, few special ones.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

You know, but I mean, it's just, it's so strong here. The community. I love it.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Everybody. And, and we, there's a lot of people that, you know, we've saw, we, We've met before.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

In you. The first time.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And this is great. And they all come back and they're like, hey, do you remember us? And I apologize. Sometimes I don't. I'm getting old. But. But for the most part I do. And it's, and it's great. It's good to see. It's like a whole bunch of friends that you don't see. You only. Right.

[A]

And, you know, and what, what, what's neat is, is you see the progression in their careers.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. And I mean, again, so what we're talking about is like, I mean, in the first few years, we met some people and now they're on stage talking.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

You know, and they have people listening to them and they're telling us their stories. Dude. Like, everybody's work is getting so much better.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. And in this event, you know, this is all like, really hands on. So we're in the market hall.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Right. And so there's a lot of graphic designers and everybody's kind of showing off their stuff. And, you know, it's, it's safe to say that everything here is of course. Right. And everybody's really proud of their stuff. But, you know, you know, you got this, this sense of, you know, how they're evolving, you know, and I'm curious about design overall and how it's evolving.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So I thought this is. Would be kind of a neat topic to maybe cover, you know, not only with us, but, you know, we're going to talk to Will, we're going to talk to Chris, we're going to talk to a few of the speakers. I'm curious on everybody's take on what the evolution of design is looking at. Like the, the whole state of design right now. Nobody's question design is evolving.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

But nobody's asking, is it actually getting worse? Okay. Because again, it's unquestionably it's changed so much. Right. Like between the tools, between how people are designing, you know, between how fast outputs are getting. Right. Like, you know, this space is evolving in crazy speeds.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But again, is it this speed? You know, equal depth. Right. Is speed a good thing? We've talked about this before, right? I mean, customers sadly are expecting things faster.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

I don't know if that's actually making anything good or not.

[B]

Well, there could definitely be a suffering of the quality at speed. What is that adage? You could have it fast or cheap.

[A]

Fast and cheap or good and fast or good and cheap, but not all three. It's funny though, because I don't know if that's gonna stick anymore.

[B]

I don't think so.

[A]

How crazy is that? Right, because AI and all these crazy tools and not just AIs coming after our jobs, AI, but now, you know, customers know that AI is integrated in a lot of our tools.

[B]

Yep, yep.

[A]

What would take us a full afternoon, you know, at one point to do, like a big Photoshop job now ends up taking us 15 minutes because of the AI integration in there. Yes, customers are aware of this. So, I mean, you know, again, their expectation is now that, you know, things should be faster. And again, I'm feeling this for sure. You know, we're having customers, they're giving us asks today and asking if they can have it in two or three days. And now a word from our sponsor. Designers. Let's be honest. Web design should be a graphic designer's job. It's bold, it's creative, it's experimental, and at its core, it is design. Layout just brought to life online. But somewhere along the way, graphic designers lost it, developers took over, tools got complicated, and creativity took a backseat to code. Thing is, clients still expect us to bring their brand to life everywhere. And if we're not offering web design today, you're leaving money and potential opportunities on the table. That's where WIX Studio comes in. It's the web platform built for designers with a drag and drop interface that feels like a designer's tool. Plus no code animations and AI powered tools, you can create fully custom websites that match your vision. Every pixel, every layout, every detail. So whether it's a simple branded brochure site or an online portfolio, or even a full blown ecommerce experience, wix Studio makes it all possible for graphic designers with tools that think like a designer, not like a developer. The web doesn't need more templates. It needs you and your creativity unleashed. And WIX Studio is going to give you that opportunity. So stop giving your creativity away and take back the web for designers. Visit wixstudio.com and design the web the way it was meant to be.

[B]

The thing with that is like with the project that we were working on, we're delivering it. Do you know what I'm saying?

[A]

And it's because we can.

[B]

This is what, this is the thing.

[A]

Right, Right. But see now, now here's the other side. Okay. So you're right. Long story short, we had a crazy T shirt ask from a customer. Okay. Crazy insane. And you know, unfortunately, you know, they needed it in a short amount of time. And because who the customer was, we couldn't say no.

[B]

Can't say no.

[A]

Okay. And so, yeah, there's going to be a lot of hand done stuff. Yeah. But because of who's on our staff, some people actually did some AI generated stuff. Okay. And I mean, under the, under the circumstance, it was, it was, it was okay to use AI in this. It was fine. But how good were they?

[B]

They were awesome. And this is the thing is like you look at something like that, like the surfboard one.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

That would take a week at least to just kind of draw it out and you know, like, get, get it, get it into a framework.

[A]

Absolutely. Start executing and then, and then the amount of Photoshop and photos that would take. Right.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Shit. This stuff was done in like, like an hour.

[B]

Yeah, I know.

[A]

And they look fantastic and they look great. And the unfortunate part is knowing the customer, they might be leaning towards those designs probably versus the cool shit that we'll be actually, you know, doing.

[B]

I would guess they would. I think that's probably the case.

[A]

It's crazy. So again, yeah, it's great that it, that, that it helped us in that sense get it done faster.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

But you know, then you have to question, is it actually design is. It is. You know, what was the judgment used to, to decide or choose? Because yeah, sadly, I think that's where they're going with this one. So that kind of sucks.

[B]

I thought it looked, you know, the funny thing is, is like I thought it looked really cool.

[A]

It did.

[B]

It was a great concept. So. Yeah.

[A]

And it was, it was a fun concept. So again, now that comes to, you know, there was more thought behind it. They didn't just slap something together. Exactly. They took the medium, they actually put it into AI, they actually gave it intent and it was perfect for what the customer was asking. So the sad part is you're going to now have these three for AI concepts going against really cool Hand done, you know, integrated stuff from some of the other designers on staff. So, you know, then it comes like, is, is it about aesthetics or is it about strategy? Okay. Because again, this, this is that case where it's like, you know, yeah, we could be overthinking it, but somebody at the office thought, you know, maybe thought smart and actually used AI to get this done strategically. And it hit the mark for what? The customers.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So I'm curious what the customer is actually going to choose in the end for something.

[B]

Will we find that out at some point? We will.

[A]

No, not today. Not today. Not today. But, you know, by next week we will for sure. But then where's that line? Yeah, right. Where is that line? Where.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. Now you're delivering stuff, you know, high quality, good stuff like that, overnight, practically.

[A]

Yeah. Right. And, you know, so then this brings up the fact that it's like the person. And the person who came up with these isn't necessarily a graphic designer. She's very creative. She's very creative, but now she has access to tools that allow her to be creative and, and create. She had the idea, she went into AI, she executed these. Okay. So she has access to the tools. Okay. Versus the expertise of some of the other designers. Okay. This is that we're dealing with. Right. Which is why it's like the state of design right now, you know, it's in flux. And the funny thing is, because social plays such a huge part in all this. Right? What are people celebrating? Right? They're celebrating. You know, granted there's a lot of volume of crap coming out there, but with that volume, you know, there's some good nuggets. Right. I think I told you that I saw a post the other day that was actually highlighting how, you know, AI is all really fake looking stuff and you should actually have more hand drawn stuff and people like hand drawn. And, and I'm looking at these and going like, yeah, those, those do look good. There's something more raw about that. I appreciate this more. And at the end of it, it's like, oh, this was also done in AI and here's the prompt. And it totally caught me.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So I know, it absolutely caught me. So, so again, people are celebrating what looks good, you know, but we're not sure, you know, where this, where this content's coming from anymore. Right. So it's, it is, it's really, it's a, it's a frustrating place to be in right now design.

[B]

We just have to trust the original content creators that we have that we've met here.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Because you're right. You're. There is no. There is no AI in any sticker, in any hat, in any T shirt in this joint at all.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Right. Or if it is.

[A]

No, no, no, no.

[B]

Maybe it's. Maybe it's. It's. It's fooling us. I don't know. But I don't think so. I'm just gonna.

[A]

I'm pretty sure. Yeah.

[B]

Who.

[A]

Who we have here in this hall and who's, you know. No, they've all. I've had conversations with a few of them about their opinions on. On where the state's going and where. And I mean, again, we're going to be talking to people about this a little bit more, but the reality is, although design has never been easier to make, you know, we. We. We can now, amateurs or people with access to tools are now creating things that. That look awesome. They look incredible. Okay. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they have the taste. Okay? And I think we talk about where the evolution of design is going and such, and it's obvious that it's plentiful. Yeah. Tools are there. Everybody's got access to it. Okay. But the real differentiator, okay. Is now what you're putting in behind it. And in this case, you know, I think taste is actually going to become a huge, huge part of this. Okay. Because, again, what she created was actually good.

[B]

Yeah. Okay.

[A]

But she's been with us for years. She knows she has developed some pretty good taste.

[B]

There is a. And there's a design sensibility to that.

[A]

Right, Exactly. Right. So now it's like, where are we evolving to? I think that's going to be a really big part of the future.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Is the importance of taste in behind these tools. Because, I mean, it's. It's. These tools aren't going anywhere.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They're not anytime soon.

[B]

Right. It's how you use it. Yeah. In the tasteful way.

[A]

Well, kind of. Right. The challenge, of course, for people, especially younger designers, is, is nobody teaches taste. Okay? It's not like school talks about taste.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

I don't even know if you actually can teach.

[B]

Is it a. Yeah. Can you learn taste?

[A]

I mean, I. And I mean, this. This sounds shitty, but I don't think so.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I think taste comes from experience.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Okay. And it's not saying that every junior is screwed. All right? That's not where we're going with is.

[B]

Right. Yeah.

[A]

I give up now, guys. But I mean, the reality is you almost have to create Volume. Yeah. Okay.

[B]

Like there.

[A]

Right. And again, create volume, not collect volume. Right. Not curate volume. Okay. And I think that's the thing. Getting a huge Pinterest board of all your likes and everything. Right. This doesn't help you create taste. Okay. This maybe helps you build imitation.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which isn't a bad thing.

[B]

Is pretty good.

[A]

Okay. Imitation is. And I recommend every young designer to be a good imitator, but not just copy, but understand how they got to that look. Right. Understand, you know, their decisions behind it. Right. Figure out your own judgment and reasoning why these things. So that's important. Okay. But I think taste, actual taste, does come from repetitions. Okay. There was a speaker today, Brooke. Okay. Did an awesome job. And we're also going to be interviewing him today. One, he put up a stat on his slide, and he, in the past 10 years, has created 1255 T shirts. Now, his first T shirt definitely doesn't look like what he's doing now.

[B]

Right, Right.

[A]

Okay. But the thing is, it's the flex, it's the repetition. He's building constantly. And that's what he was doing. He was. He was building. Yeah. Okay. Seeing what people liked, seeing what worked, and then he was adjusting from there. Right. And this is that constant repetition. It's not just a matter of just replicating the same thing over and over and over. Right. Maybe get you some muscle memory. That doesn't build taste. No. Okay. Because taste is so much deeper than this. Okay. And it really comes down from breaking down what's working, what's not working. Right. Comparing what's working. And that's why that was an incredible stat from him, because his stuff is just killer.

[B]

Yes. Okay, so good.

[A]

But it didn't start like that 10 years ago.

[B]

Yeah. But I mean, you know, we're like sharks. We need to create. Do you know what I mean? Like, we always should be creating. And I think that's.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

This is the thing. It's like, if you're not working or doing, you should be doing stuff for yourself. You know what I mean?

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

You should always be drawing or always be doodling and lettering and doing stuff like that. Because this is how you develop that.

[A]

This is how you develop. It's the only way.

[B]

Oh, I don't. I'm not working now. And, you know, I'm not in school or whatever.

[A]

Like.

[B]

No, no, no. There's no excuse. Pen to paper and just get it done.

[A]

It's funny because everybody seems to be in a race to get to that point where you start billing customers in This. I had. I had a conversation last night in the bridge party with somebody, and. And she was asking about, you know, well, how much should I build? I'm like, well, where are you in your career? Well, she was still in college.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I was like, listen, you shouldn't be worrying about billing right now. You should be worrying about trying to get as much experience under your belt because then you can spend, set a rate.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And I know that sounds kind of shitty and, you know, no pro bono work, but, you know, until you start getting that sense, you know, of taste, you know, you know, you need to do whatever it takes to earn that, build it, to get. Because you have to admit, the. That we work on now. Okay. Always looks so much more experienced than what a lot of the juniors that even we have working with us. Okay. Like, you see their stuff, and it's good.

[B]

That's great. Yeah.

[A]

You take on the same stuff, even the same layout. Okay. But the way you use white space, the way your font ratios your headlines to sub headlines. Right. How you're spacing things out, you can just see that level of experience behind it. And you get that from creating it, adjusting it, realizing what's wrong, what's. What's right.

[B]

Yeah. Times 10,000.

[A]

Yeah. Right.

[B]

Really? Right.

[A]

So I think that's the challenge. It's time doesn't necessarily build the taste. Okay. Because taste is based on experience, but it's not just based on experience. It's based on experience that is corrected over time. And I do think that, you know, with the way, you know, design's evolving now and the current state of design, and, you know, I think personal taste for designers is going to play a huge part on who actually gets work in the future. Yeah. Versus, you know, who's just going to be helping out behind the scenes with a lot of people.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Yeah. I don't know. Wow.

[B]

I hope.

[A]

Anyway.

[B]

Yeah, I. I can see that happening. Yeah. It's crazy.

[A]

But everybody here, you can see, has got years experience behind what it is that they're delivering. Yeah. So I think. I think I know that that's key, and that is the differentiator.

[B]

Yeah. Big time.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Well, I mean, again, it's a topic. It's. It's something. And I'm going to ask. I'm going to ask Will, we're going to ask Chris.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

We're going to ask, you know, Brock, you know, we're going. Everybody. You know what they're thinking right now, because I'm curious on what their take is.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

On how everything's evolving and what they're thinking is the important thing that's going to get designers through. I'm claiming it's taste. We'll see.

[B]

I think you're not far off. I. I think that's a. That's pretty. Because all of those guys have great taste.

[A]

Yeah, they do. They do. They absolutely have to. And they all have different tastes, and

[B]

they all have different.

[A]

But you can see that it's all based on years and years of. Of honing their look, honing their craft. Right. Getting the whole design sen. In place, understanding where. You're not even referencing principles anymore.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They just feel like they're innate. Yeah, right. They're just, you know, naturally rolling off, so. Yeah. Cool.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

All right, guys, hit us up on our socials, hit us up on. On Instagram, on YouTube, and let us know what you're thinking about everything.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What's the state of design, do you think?

[A]

I'm really curious right now. All right, everybody, My name is Massimo.

[B]

My name is Sean.

[A]

Stay creative and stay angry.