Perhaps we’ll see a future that’s fully automated , one where artificial intelligence does absolutely everything .
But until then, we’ll live in a world where most physical tasks are accomplished by human gruntwork. In general, we’re up to the task . But sometimes, things don’t work out quite as intended .
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Feel free to have a chuckle over these terrible ideas and terrible designs, but consider the fact that bad ideas are, in a sense, what makes us all human.
“Been listening to this guy weedwack a city lot all day. Who is punishing this man!?”
Weed whackers are beautiful machines, custom-designed to, well, whack weeds. But if you’ve ever tried to clear out a large area using a weed whacker, you know firsthand how difficult it is. Considering his task, this guy’s actually doing a decent job.
“Don’t worry we made sure you’re blurred.”
I’ve always secretly wanted to be interviewed for a segment where my face is blurred (bonus points if they use one of those cool voice modulators as well). I suppose the big drawback is the fact that your anonymity hinges entirely on the work of video editors.
“Attempt to make an ‘ABCs’ backpack.”
I was slowly going through this, knowing there was an error in there somewhere. Things are going so well for so long, and then you get to the end of the alphabet. They were so close to this not being a failure.
“Ah yes… repairing the ground.”
This brickwork is missing bricks, so someone came along and put a new brick in there. It sounds good in theory, but when you see the actual results it becomes clear that good brickwork entails more than just throwing random bricks at the problem.
“I give you… this thing.”
I’m hardly an oracle of power tools, so I can’t tell you what this thing is. I can tell you what it looks like, though: some kind of oversized throwing star that’s been mounted to a power tool to create an automated murder machine.
“My boss thinks these are “perfectly fine” tires to be driving on…”
These tires are dangerously bald, yes. But what strikes me is the fact that they clearly haven’t been rotated. If they’d been rotated now and then, they might have lasted a little bit longer.
“Is this the elevator compactor button?”
This is obviously the ‘close doors’ button and has been installed at a 90-degree angle from how it should be. But if you take pictograms at face value — as they’re intended — it certainly looks like it’s the ‘crush elevator’ button.
“Captain ladder has arrived.”
This is like one of those physics-based bridge-building games you can play on your phone, only it’s in real life. I admire the ingenuity and all, but this guy’s coworkers should probably have 911 on speed dial.
“Photoshop vs. reality?”
I wouldn’t expect any real-world item to look quite like the depiction on the label, but I would expect the product to at least vaguely resemble the image. This might not be a wish.com product, but it’s spiritually a wish.com product.
“The cup that nibbles your lip with its little teethies.”
I’m not sure what’s worse about this design: the fact that those little teeth will stab your lips and knock into your teeth, or the fact that the gaps between them will make this mug especially spill-prone.
“I found this in the mall arcade.”
I can almost figure out what they were going for here: see, there’s a cartoon owl, so they decided to incorporate the word ‘owl’ into the word ‘hello.’ I’m not sure where that rogue exclamation mark came from, though.
“Feel like this airline overestimates the danger of rogue origami birds.”
We’re back to pictograms. These things are designed to be understandable to the person looking at them, regardless of what language they speak. I get the guy looking out the window and all, but have no idea what he’s supposed to be looking at.
“This sign. It hurts to read. I literally can’t figure out what it says.”
It seems like these inscrutable signs with weird spacing pop up all the time. Sometimes I wonder if the sign designer is just pranking the whole world by creating a nonsense design.
“R is for ?”
R is for rowboat, I’m not going to argue with that. But that pic looks a lot like a sailboat to me. Maybe it’s a rowboat that just happens to have a sail and also just happens to have no oars.
“Stair blocks my cabinet.”
When a home gets renovated repeatedly over the course of decades, some weird designs are the inevitable result. Still, I’m not sure how something like this got the green light. It would look better if the cabinet was just blocked off altogether.
“The ad literally says, ‘Modern Kitchen, Great Layout, Bright and Spacious!'”
I can almost accept the idea of this being a modern kitchen (it isn’t), it being spacious (it isn’t) and it being bright (it’s nighttime). But the ‘great layout’ plan is a bridge too far. There are just too many sharp corners.
“This ad in my print copy of The New Yorker.”
Digital layouts are far more common at this point than old-school, ink-on-paper layouts. Still, it’s funny to see something that was so clearly intended for digital get clumsily tacked on to a physical page.
“I really don’t know what to say about my hotel room view.”
I’ve been a firm believer in the fact that Minions are creepy ever since their first cursed movie hit the big screen. This image isn’t doing anything to change my mind.
“Frog flavor.”
The methods we use to ensure food safety certainly aren’t perfect . I mean, you’d think they could keep literal giant frogs from getting inside tubs of ice cream, but apparently that’s too much to ask. In a sense, this could be considered a bonus add-on.
“The place I’m staying at.”
There’s a certain aesthetic to guest rooms or Airbnb rooms: tastefully decorated, yet bland and forgettable. This room certainly checks those boxes, and also adds a side of terrible design. I’d say ‘well done,’ but that would be a lie.
