If this blog was a TV show, I would be on a spaceship with two talking robots and some mean lady and a gorilla would force me to look at every By Design logo ever made before I can return home.
That’s not the case, so I couldn’t really tell you why I keep putting myself through this. You’re welcome.
Catch up! Here’s Volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3 of Barfy By Design. You can also view all the posts together using the By Design tag. (Volume 5 is forthcoming. Yes I’m serious.)
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- A) Only characters on Frasier say “superb”. B) It is a miracle that I was even able to discern the word “superb” from that hot mess.
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- We’re such big Chargers fans we stole their lightning bolt twice.
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- Another double cliche: by design and barrel-of-monkeys letters.
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- Get a few whiskeys in me and I’ll start preaching by accident.
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- Doggies By Design. This woman receives checks written out to “Doggies By Design”.
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- “Design to sell.” — Advice NOT given to her graphic designer.
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- Think about it. Keep thinking. You’ll get why this is so horrible, I have faith in you.
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- What an original name, that took some smarts alright.
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- Kids: don’t limit yourself to one terrible design decision. If someone tells you you can’t have a cliched name, a terrible font, pixelization, clipart, unnecessary textures, and a nearly illegible meaningless tagline, you say, “But what about Landscapes by Design?”
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- Giggity.
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- Old timey alarm clocks, apples, and egg dollars: the building blocks of any strong family.
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- Ahahahahahaha. Okay.
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- If they’re my words why do you need to design them? Also, quill and ink, very original choice. You must have hired Smarts By Design for help with that.
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- Okay, seriously WTF. Is there some technical college design textbook that says “use an out of control fire in fire prevention logos”? There are so many of these.
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- I’m always down for dancing that involves double-D’s.
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- I’m not an expert on what is and is not sacrilegious, so I’ll just leave it implied.
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- “Web By Design – When You Need Graphics for the Computers in your InterTubes Dot Com”
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- So this is for a company that literally helps enable disabled people through good design. Okay, fine. It’s still cliche and your logo is still kind of not great.
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- “Oh yes ma’am, that price is by design. The furniture? We just kind of wing that.”
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- Mix some greenwashing cliches with the by design cliche and you’ve got one forgettable logo!
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- “Joey. Letsa meeta by-a de sign for some dinner. We’ll have dinner by de sign. We’ll-a eat some spaghett.”
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- Woosh! The wooshes represent the sound made by your life passing you by.
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- The type looks like it was airbrushed on the side of a van.
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- Can I use my double-d’s joke again? I can? Awesome.
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- I’m curious why this thing is so fucking dark.
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- Purple on pink and scripty as shit. That says elegance alright. It’s a little hard to make out, but the “@cablespeed.com” email address is pretty classy, too.
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- It’s a logo, I promise. Construction by Design. Obvious, isn’t it?
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- They get points for not wasting time overdesigning a completely cliche name.
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- “By Design Multimedia” aka LIGHTNING BOLTS AND GRADIENTS WHOOOOO
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- Web and graphic design solutions. Final solutions, that is.
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
While most of these are horrid, I’ll play devil’s advocate here and say that the “Dinner by Design” logo is pretty good.
Some of these are very well polished turds. Still hard to get away from the awfulness that is “_____ by design”.
Awesome intro paragraph reference, Viceroy. Although I would have gone with mad scientist and white-haired assistant, but maybe that’s a generational thing.
Aw, you probably like JOEL, too.
Who is this “Design” character and why is he designing such shit logos?
If you must make fun of my logo, can you at least use a proper copy of it and not some distorted version?
Thanks,
Jennifer of Superb by Design who is proud of her logo, website, and business
That’s how it came to us. Email me a better version and I’d be happy to help. Logos@yourlogomakesmebarf.com. We never intentionally alter or distort logos, we post ‘em how we find ‘em.
Edit: Updated. Fair’s fair.
You mean the circles aren’t supposed to be round?
Thanks, I’ve sent it.
For the record, I think the Nails by Design logo and the Dinners by Design logo’s are pretty good, too.
Who the fuck are you to talk shit about other people’s businesses? Why don’t you get off your lazy, pole smoking ass and try running a fucking business and actually contributing something positive for society instead of sitting in your grandmother’s basement trashing other people’s ideas? While your little lackeys Steelfrog and wkunert have a fucking sword fight in your mouth, these people are actually out there trying to make it in this shitty economy. And, for the record, “_______ By Design” at least sounds like it was created by an adult, whereas “Your Logo Makes Me Barf” sounds like it was named by a fucking third grader.
“These people” that are trying to make it in this economy would be a lot better off with some professional branding. Businesses that suck at marketing are struggling more than those that don’t.
How’s life in Kentucky’s BBW community, by the way? Harpoon any land whales lately?
Speaking of business, we made a lot of money on ad revenue this week. Thanks for visiting and contributing!
It’s good. What’s the latest from the pedophelia community? You and the priests hanging in there? I can only assume you hide your name because you’re a card carrying member of NAMBLA.
And, unlike you and your cock hungry followers, I’m not afraid to put my fucking name behind what I say, you fucking whale vagina.
Well, thank the powers that be for that, now we all know that Michael Halloran cannot argue like an adult, and must resort to name calling.
Here’s a tip on arguing like an adult:
Critique the opponent’s ideas, in a polite manner, while proving the idea or practice is reprehensible, illogical, or just plain bad.
Do not accuse them of cock sucking, pedophilia, or any other sexual thing unless that’s actually what you’re inditing.
And that goes for both of you.
I was literally asking him how life in Kentucky’s BBW community is, based on his email address and a Google Search I can’t unsee.
I don’t know if you’re aware of it or not, but the “Living Positive by Design” logo is for a project started by Jack Mackenroth, an HIV positive fashion designer who appeared on Project Runway. Mackenroth describes “Living Positive by Design” as “a program to combat stigma associated with with HIV and inspire my poz comrades to think positively (pun intended?) and forge on while still keeping their health in check. It’s really important to keep people abreast of what it’s like to live with HIV TODAY and how treatment can help poz individuals live a long healthy life by reducing their viral load.”
While the whole “by design” name trend may be a bit too cliche, in this case, it actually makes a certain amount of sense. And for a program run by a fashion designer that is intended to promote ideas of living both with an HIV positive diagnosis and a positive attitude, the logo combining the AIDS Awareness ribbon as a “scarf” draped on a dress (presumably still being designed) on a dress form strikes me as kind of clever.
Sounds like a great organization.
However, I think that as “by design” means, more or less, “with intention”, the pun is lost and it simply becomes distracting, if not morbid. The scarf/ribbon thing doesn’t bug me, I agree it’s clever.
It’s also a shame to have an organization with such lofty goals that is fighting such a serious fight to rely on such a terribly cliche name that is shared by hundreds of businesses doing everything from dog grooming to landscaping to web design.
This whole set seems like a mock PSA for the Intelligent Design Movement…
“Pandas, by Design”
“Bananas, by Design”
I have a problem with pretty much any company that uses the word ‘by’ in their name. Signs by Kevin, Cookies by Dawn… terrible.
Any company using “by” in their logo? “Any company?”
How about “USMC….Death by Design”.
Or is that overkill?
And by the way, anyone who feels that a change in the GAP logo effects them personally, should rent a life from someone.
affects
The Curious by Design logo looks like they stole Emily Strange’s cat.
Don’t stare at the Superb By Design logo too long or you’ll start to see spots. Actually, you don’t really have to stare at it all that long.
And people, please notice the difference between being critical of a logo and being critical of a company. Criticizing a logo isn’t criticizing what the company does (unless it’s a graphic design company) any more than making fun of Harrison Ford’s hairdo is a criticism of his acting skills. Good companies can have bad logos, and bad companies can have good logos.
But please, for the love of Pete, don’t learn ANYTHING from other people’s mistakes.