Some designs are really good. Like, really good. They’re the kinds of designs that win contests, or get your attention , or just make their surroundings look a whole lot cooler.
These designs are like that. I really wish we could see these in more places. They deserve to be seen by as many people as humanly possible, all around the world.
“This gas station bathroom.”
Have you ever been to a gas station restroom? Because they’re gross, and no one should be subjected to them. This gas station restroom? Clean, decent. Nice, even. The kind of bathroom that you’d be okay waiting in a line for, even after one person was in there for way too long.
“This LEGO themed bus stop near our street.”
There’s honestly no reason not to make bus shelters, bridges, and other structures look like LEGO. I think the world would be a better place if there were more LEGO designs around. Not too many, though. There’s definitely such a thing as going overboard.
“This public bathroom (at DFW Airport) identifies the number of open toilet stalls.”
Dallas-Forth Worth has the right idea. There’s nothing worse than going into a bathroom, only to find out that all the stalls are full. I can see a design like this helping a lot of people out. Every airport needs these.
“Wheelchair access picnic table.”
This is something you may not really think about, and yet it makes so much sense. Why not cut a section of the bench out to let someone sit with their wheelchair at a picnic table? It would make eating outside a lot more accessible for everyone.
“This picnic table has a spot for your babies to sit… or to hold your chips and condiments?”
This is another cool picnic table design that we need ASAP. A built-in baby seat is pretty awesome. I bet a lot of parents of young kids would love something like this. No kids? Just leave condiments in there. It’s win/win!
These six-packs that are made out of six bread rolls.
Now this is a genius design I can get behind. Eating all that bread definitely won’t help us show off our six-packs, but it’s still really neat. It kind of feels ironic (since bread and muscles don’t really mix that well)
“This napkin in Italy comes folded in a way so you can stuff it with silverware.”
Why aren’t all napkins folded like this!? It’s a napkin pocket! The perfect place to keep cutlery when you’re about to use it.
This would honestly be really great for restaurants, instead of them rolling the cutlery into the napkins.
“Book benches in Bulgaria.”
What do some people do when they sit on a park bench? They read. So making a bench that looks like a book? That’s an A+ design, that’s for sure.
Even if people sit on them just to go on their phones. Maybe it’ll make them think about reading. Maybe.
“Coffee with and without caffeine.”
This is definitely a great way to differentiate between decaf coffee and the regular stuff. Do you want to be wide awake? Get the coffee with the owl that looks all alert. Do you just like the taste of coffee but don’t want to stay up all night? Get the one with the owl that’s half-asleep.
“This clever McCafé ad.”
Meanwhile, in a sort of opposite fashion, this McCafé sign shows exactly what will happen once you get your morning joe. A not so subtle reminder for coffee addicts everywhere, and a good reason for people to stop at McDonald’s in the hours of the early morning.
This bike rack looks a little battered…
Get it, because it’s a whisk with some batter on it? I know, I’m hilarious.
Why does this bike rack look like a whisk? I think the better question is, why not? It’s cool, it’s artistic, and it probably holds on to bikes really well.
These measuring cups that are all in the shape of fractions of a cup.
I can’t get over how cool this is. Each fraction of a cup looks like a fraction of a cup, rather than being a slightly smaller cup. And the best part is that they’d still stack into one another, since they’re all parts of the same shape. So cool!
It’s a straw. It’s a fork. It’s a… stork!
Now this is something I’d use all the time. When you’re eating ramen or any other kind of soup, it’s kind of hard to get all the liquid. A fork that doubles as a straw would make things so much easier.
Pasta box with a pasta barcode.
Every now and then, you’ll see a barcode with a cool design on it. This is definitely the first time I’ve seen one that made the barcode look like pasta, though.
I think we need these on every possible packaging. We need to find ways for them to make sense on different products.
“Found this gem on the packaging for Kinjabang spicy noodles.”
This feels like the sequel of the last picture. This time, the barcode is noodles being held by some chop sticks. Just as clever, and just as awesome. It just shows that when it comes to barcode pictures, there’s no limit to how creative you can get.
“This Korean snack that rips open sideways.”
I wish all snacks would open like this, instead of from the top. The snacks covered in sugar or salt are the worst, because you always end up spilling everything everywhere.
And this one has a spot to tear the packaging around the middle, too, so you can tear the bag down as you go. Clever!
“Umbrella logo that only shows when it gets wet.”
This umbrella is just amazing. The design is revealed when it gets wet. And guess what? The whole purpose of an umbrella is to get wet. It’s just using its function to create something incredible. We need more of these out there.
“This water bottle has a small Matterhorn in it.”
This design is so subtle, yet so cool! It’s pretty fitting, since the water is probably from Switzerland, which just so happens to be where the Matterhorn mountain is. I also really like that the design isn’t super intrusive, so you’re still getting your hydration on.
“Black Mirror Advertisement.”
You know, I’m still waiting for bus ads to get on this level. The interactivity is phenomenal!
If you didn’t know, a black mirror is the reflection you see when a device goes off, or when a screen turns black. This reflective ad isn’t quite the same, but Netflix gets it.
These purr-fect milk cartons.
Even though cats aren’t really supposed to be drinking milk, they’re associated with the stuff. And these cat-covered milk cartons bring that idea to life. It’s so cool how each side of the carton completes an image. It almost makes you want to buy a bunch of them.
No name brand is a great example in how less can be more.
No name is a brand that’s just as good as its competitors but sells things for a bit cheaper. They’ve kind of made a name for themselves in Canada because of how strange yet minimalist their ads are.
And that yellow packaging really stands out.
“Caution! Wet floor banana peel.”
This banana peel wet floor sign is insanely clever! The fact that banana peels are associated with slipping and falling (for some reason) really works here. You might think twice about walking too fast if you saw these in more public places. I know I would.
“Japanese peach drink can 5% ABV. Japanese characters and Braille warns: ‘This is Alcohol.’”
I think there should be warnings on this on pretty much every can. In fact, there should be braille on basically everything. It’s a pretty simple way to make the world a bit more accessible for those who may need it.
“Chair adjustment buttons directly relating to the parts they move.”
This is actually making me mad. Not because it’s a bad design, but for the exact opposite reason. I’m mad that this isn’t already in every car in existence, because it would just make too much sense. Like, it’s so convenient!
“This Budweiser truck with a can museum on the back.”
The cool thing about this mobile museum is that it could probably reach so many people. That means a bunch of people could learn something new from it (even if what they’re learning is kind of useless).
I wish every transport truck could have something like this.
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“The bag my new glasses came in.”
I can’t put into words how cool I think this bag is. It’s both fashionable and functional. And it makes perfect sense as something you’d get from an optometrist, since it holds glasses.
I wonder what other cool designs we could put on bags that would use the handle.
“This exit sign actually looks really neat.”
This exit sign is doing what a lot of us want to do during awkward social interactions: just get out of there as quickly as possible. What a cool, fun little design that really emphasizes exactly what it’s supposed to be telling us.
This cool city bench design.
It’s so cool how the bench looks like it’s been lifted up from the ground. The design is so seamless, it feels like it’s part of the ground, instead of its own separate thing. I kind of wish these were in every single city around the world.
This door handle to a butcher shop.
What do butchers do? They, uh, butcher. Which usually involves knives. So having knife-shaped handles on the doors leading to a butcher shop not only makes sense, it looks really cool. These should be on more doors, for more grocery and food-related shops.
“My grocery store has display screens to show you what’s in the cooler.”
I’ve seen these around before (not in any of the stores near me yet). At first, it seems kind of pointless. Glass is see-through, after all. But these freezers always have condensation on them, which makes it hard to see what’s inside. So really, this design is genius!
