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30 Times Designers Tried Too Hard Or Not At All

In our efforts to do our best, sometimes we overshoot the goal, and loop right back around to a place that's less than ideal. Our own hubris gets us, and it's a lesson learned.

This list is full of products that are a result of their designers either trying too hard and missing the mark or never trying at all in the first place. Funny how similar those two can be!

"A bbq with a paint job that cannot withstand heat."

"Hey, boss? The paint we're using isn't going to withstand the heat these will be using."

"Aren't we making plant pots? Why would they get hot."

"Oh no..."

"I my bike."

I my bike, you your bike, he/she/they their bike, we our bike. Thus ends your grammar lesson.

"Apparently the plastic butter knives can carve a Ham."

You're underestimating the knives before you even try them! Surely no one would just lie like this, so it must be true. Right?

"I like crust but come on…"

This is less of a pizza and more of a circle of bread. Well, I guess all pizzas are circles of bread, just with stuff on them.

"I'm not spending $30 on a globe that does THIS."

That's quite the sizable chunk missing from the great white north. Quite literally, seeing as it seems to just be labeled 'NORTH' rather than Canada.

"Congrats 2201."

The year being written like that is bad, yes, but I'm also wondering...are those pool noodles with grad caps on?

"What's happened to his arms?"

He was looking for a subtle way to reveal to the world that he has elasticity powers, and he succeeded.

"Ryanair's in flight menu is only available in the app so if you didn't download it on the runway you can't see it."

Luckily for me, I feel too nervous to do or start anything of my own before the flight takes off, so I will sit there and read all the back-of-seat info.

"Much more convenient!"

Ah yes, why have the hours listed easily when you can make shoppers do the work and direct them to a website instead? The addition of a middle man is always a good idea!

"Don't drop your card!"

I already feel at my most vulnerable when using a public ATM, this would only heighten those nerves.

"Why the chicken cross the road? To go in the bushes, apparently!"

Always make sure you check both sides of the street before running back into the wilderness from which you came, returning to your primal roots.

"Anyone wanna take a picture with their face as a bird’s chest?"

Nothing about this is fun or whimsical like it's trying to be. It's all horrifying.

"How American Airlines separates first class from us plebs!"

And thank goodness that t-shirt sized curtain is there, otherwise they might have to breathe the same air as us! The tragedy!

"Cinnabo sign at our local mall."

"Here at Cinnabo we don't actually have buns because it's not in our name anymore. You will get a box of icing and cinnamon and you will l like it."

"I found this 'fun to kick' ball designed like a puppy..."

Yeah, a few kids out there are going to pick up some questionable morals from this thing.

"Restaurant bathroom: one mirror panel on top, one on the bottom...no way to see myself in between."

Perfect for checking your shirt for stains and literally nothing else. Goodbye, era of public bathroom mirror selfies.

"[Did] the Pringles guy just let one rip?"

So what if he did, it's totally natural. You're the one that took a picture of it, weirdo.

"Women's jeans, I want the rest of my pocket..."

The fact that they exist in the jeans but are purposely stitched in makes this whole phenomenon that much worse.

"Medium degrees centigrade"

You know, minimalist designs can be pretty cool, all sleek and simple and straightforward. But there's such a thing as too minimalistic. Like, it's great to know this thermometer is in Celsius, not Fahrenheit, but some numbers would be super handy.

"A light to tell you that the AC is off in the car, light goes off when AC is on."

Kind of reminds me of Homer Simpson's "everything is okay" alarm that goes off every few seconds if nothing is wrong. It technically does a thing, but not in a terribly helpful way.

"BITHEGSK YJUICEMO NTBOXNA"

I'd like to say the designer behind this one out-clevered themselves, but really, the longer it takes to decipher the message, the longer you're looking at the ad, right? So...checkmate, I guess?

"The new high school in my area has these crappy football/soccer goals with no sides to stop the ball."

Maybe somebody wanted to make sure that the goalies got as much exercise as the rest of the players, or incentivized making saves so they wouldn't have to go running after balls sent rolling through the parking lot?

"I don't know if it's space-saving, or it's more troublesome to turn on the air conditioner. But I've been laughing for ten minutes."

Well now my house feels low on cold air storage. Wouldn't it be more convenient if, on a hot day, you could just go open a cupboard and pull out some nice, cool, freshly conditioned air?

"My stove knob’s proximity to the burner makes it hot as hell when I turn it off."

The one message I get from this is that nobody on the design team actually tried to use this stovetop before sending it to market. Either that, or they have a lot of faith in their legal team.

"'Large' box of cold medicine."

Hey, they promised a large box, not a large amount of medicine. This is on you.

"I spent about a full minute trying to figure out the way back to the lobby."

Honestly, kudos for only taking a minute. I would have had to visit every floor trying to find my way out.

"Every booth in my local tavern is like this."

It's like how they serve free peanuts to keep you thirsty; the sharp corners jabbing you in the ribs helps them turn tables over faster.

"Ah yes make cardboard straw so you can wrap them in plastic."

I think we're all on board with less plastic ending up in the oceans, but it's not the sort of thing we should really be putting half measures into.

"[They] paved the sidewalk so it blends in with the road."

Time to place our bets on which we think will happen first, a pedestrian walks out onto the road, or a car drives up onto the sidewalk?

"The tables of this bar copied a stock image including watermark."

Reddit | TheStandardPlayer

Hot tip: the watermark goes away if you actually pay for the picture. So, basically, this place let all of its patrons know that it's okay with cutting corners to save a buck.