It’s funny how good designs blend in so seamlessly that they’re barely noticed as good designs, while bad designs stick out like a sore thumb.
Sure, it may be low-hanging fruit, but some designs are so awful that they need to be immortalized online forever.
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“Don’t come down the stairs! I’m pooping!”
Spend enough time on Reddit and you’ll see that oddly-placed toilets are an unusually common design feature in certain homes. It’s like the architects forgot to put in a washroom, then threw a toilet wherever it would fit.
“Closet space.”
Sometimes you’re working with a cramped space and just don’t have much room for a closet or a closet door. Other times, there’s a whole huge wall there, but for some reason the closet door is about eight centimeters across.
“My fridge is too cold, and I have no idea which direction I need to go to fix it.”
It really shouldn’t be that hard to create a control panel that makes sense, with easy-to-understand indicators and clearly marked up and down buttons. And yet, here we are.
“Bus stop button next to knee.”
I know the traditional cord to pull on might be tough to reach for some, and putting the button down low is a more accessible option. But people have knees, you know, and knees can bump into things.
“This stall door in a gas station bathroom.”
We all know that bathroom stalls tend not to leave much to the imagination, but this is just ridiculous. They just mounted a door two feet off the ground, exposing the person inside to everyone.
“Ah yes, the Eiffel Tower, my favorite Italian landmark.”
I could almost excuse this if the box wasn’t emblazoned with the Italian flag. Also, Italy has lots of landmarks you could put on the box instead of the Eiffel Tower. Anyone heard of the Colosseum?
“This is what my pavement marking contractor tried to submit to me for approval.”
I, uh, I just don’t know. I can’t make sense of this turning lane. If I was driving here and needed to make a left turn, I think I’d just freeze up.
“No thanks, I don’t want to drink any molecules containing uranium.”
If you’re not a chemistry nerd, this sign probably looks clever. But if you are a chemistry nerd, you understand that this is water that no one should be drinking.
“I’ll drink the what now?”
It’s incredible the difference fonts can make. Here’s a pro tip to the graphic designers out there: after you design a sign, step back and take a second and third look at it. Also, don’t tell people to drink urine.
“This notebook that is ‘E’ shaped — whyyyyyyyyy?”
This is a crime against notebooks everywhere. Imagine trying to use the short areas of the ‘E’. Then consider the fact that sections of a perfectly good notebook were cut out to achieve this dumb effect.
“Show your N MARYLAND ATIVE pride.”
Designers really need to stop using abstract shapes in place of letters. Most people would see this sign and just assume it was a misprint that someone bought at a deep discount or something.
“These address numbers seem a bit confusing.”
Displaying text sideways can make for a fun aesthetic. It can also be incredibly confusing when that text can be read in two different ways. Maybe this building just doesn’t want anyone to know its true address.
“Almost drank from this bottle of WOOD POLISH disguised as a water bottle.”
It really ought to be illegal to put anything apart from potable water into a water bottle. Like, of all the things you wouldn’t want to ingest, wood polish would have to be near the top of the list.
“Went into Walgreens and all the drinks are like this. You can then wave your hand to see pictures of what’s in each case, but only know what’s sold out once you open it.”
This just seems over-engineered. If this system is designed to keep people from opening the fridge doors, perhaps they should have just used glass.
“Proposed design for new dorms at UCSB…. No windows!”
No one ever said college dorm rooms were beautiful, but they generally have windows, at least. It seems like UCSB wants to deprive its students of those beautiful Santa Barbara views.
“I feel like this should be illegal (nutrition facts on this beef stick are hidden by the beef stick).”
This is indeed a prime example of crappy design, but I view it as a positive. If the nutrition facts are hidden, I can convince myself that this snack is low in sodium.
“We had to stop… we kept mixing up our pieces.”
Lots of chess boards are intended more for decoration and aesthetics more than actual games of chess, but they should still be functional. This set is a total mess, and I don’t blame them for quitting.
“Circles have already won, smartass.”
You’d think the designer of this dumb sign could have taken literally four to five seconds and sketched out a game of tic-tac-toe that wouldn’t undermine the whole message of the sign. They barely even tried.
“Steps that you can’t see.”
My goodness, this is just awful. From the pic on the left, you’d just assume this is a completely flat floor. Why would you ever want to conceal the fact that the elevation of the floor changes?
“Go upstairs to tell us you need help going upstairs.”
These directions sound reasonable, then you think about it for a moment, and none of it makes sense. Could they not install a doorbell or something? Seems like an easy fix.
