Designing something that will be regularly used by the general public is no small responsibility. You want things to be helpful and intuitive, but also cost-effective.
Usually things work out alright, but on the flip side, sometimes designers just fail miserably. As you’ve probably guessed, we’re here to explore the latter category.
“The disabled parking at my school.”
It almost seems like an insult to put the steps here — especially when the slope is so gentle that it could easily accommodate a ramp.
“The Crunch gym in Scranton, PA in the Steamtown Mall. Took my a full year to realize the monstrosity.”
For anyone who’s watched The Office , the Steamtown Mall is a legit tourist attraction. Likewise, for anyone who cares about proper English, this sign is an affront to everything they believe in.
“Somehow, I don’t believe the arrow.”
When you’re cycling hard, you’re occasionally going to be looking down. If you do that and see this arrow, you’d probably assume it was all clear ahead. You’d be wrong.
“How many legs?”
Everyone knows that the octopus has…uh, seven legs? On every octopus? This candy would be a terrible teaching tool.
“My view of my daughter across the table at McDonald’s.”
It would be one thing if this was a support beam with nowhere else to go, but it’s literally part of the design on the booth. Talk about impersonal dining.
“The ‘grilled cheese reuben’ I spent $15 and and over an hour waiting for.”
Have you ever made a grilled cheese sandwich and then…just forgotten to grill it? This place sure has.
“Thought my 5 year old just wasn’t trying.”
It really isn’t hard to create a maze. Just create a path from the start to the goal, then create a bunch of decoy paths around it. This maze is an utter failure.
“It’s not 10 ounces.”
Not many of us actually verify that we’re getting our money’s worth, but thanks to this person’s kitchen scale, we can confirm that Jet-Puffed marshmallows have been screwing us over for years.
“Did I do something wrong?”
I think this has happened to everyone who’s baked a pizza at one point or another. Like, if it tells you to put it directly on the rack, what else can you do?
“George’s head is backwards on the new 2022 coins.”
I don’t know why George Washington suddenly decided to do a 180. I guess he was maybe sick of looking to the left.
“Uhhh…if you care about children, run them over??”
The meaning of this sign is deeply unclear. Or maybe it’s totally clear, and actually wants you to run over children.
“This urinal has cutouts to help you pee on your shoes.”
It truly looks like these cutouts are in place so you can ruin your shoes. I don’t understand the utility here.
“They painted the badminton lines the same color as the wood.”
I get that they wanted to show off the nice hardwood floor, but when it comes to sports, clearly visible lines are kind of important.
“Saw this at a club… what??”
I’ve given up on trying to decipher this sign. Now I’m viewing it as more of a word search.
“What a deal!”
When stores raise prices, they do it quietly. Or, in this case, they try to package it as a sale price.
“The more I look at this house, the worse it gets.”
It makes me uneasy if I look at this picture for too long. Is it the door that looks like it should be horizontal? The front steps? Either way, it’s time to look away.
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“Ah yes my fav Avenger, the Hulk with double layer teeth.”
This is such an obviously unforced error. If the whole point of the set is to look at Hulk’s big teeth, don’t give him a second set of teeth.
“This shopping bag looks like greasy fast food takeout.”
If you’re shopping at a sporty, outdoorsy store, you probably don’t want a bag that looks like it’s full of French fries.
“The front page’s thumb indexing is completely ignored in the inner pages.”
It would be one thing if the thumb indexing tried to be relevant for part of the booklet, but in this case, it just gives up immediately.
“My webcam privacy shutter has no clearance and scratches the camera lens.”
I love having a webcam with a privacy shutter. What I wouldn’t love would be a privacy shutter that slowly destroys the webcam over time.
