20 Terrible Design Choices Leaving Us Saying 'That Ain't Right'

Bad designs are almost always the result of someone making a careless decision. Either they didn't realize what they were doing, or they straight up could not care any less.

You just know that the people who came up with these designs didn't stop to think. Their designs may have been put out in the world, but that doesn't mean we have to like them.

A girlfriend is a what, now?

Based on the context, I'm pretty sure this card is using girlfriend in the girl-who's-friends-with-another-girl sense. But... girlfriend is also used in the romantic sense, which just makes this so much more confusing.

See, this is why I don't refer to my girl friends as my girlfriends.

A horrifying image that shows why placement is everything.

They could've done so many other things with this picture. Like, put it off to the side, for instance. Or, like, literally anything else. Because with the binder holes and loops, it makes this girl's face look a lot more monstrous than it should be.

A font can make or break a logo.

It's amazing how a font choice can turn something so innocent like "I cook, you'll drink the wine," into something a lot... weirder. That W looks a lot more like a U and R and, well, I think you know where I'm going with this.

Patterns and staircases never go well together.

I can't even imagine trying to go down those stairs. Going up, maybe. But going down? Not a chance. I like not having my back broken into a million pieces, thank you very much.

Nice in theory, but doesn't actually work.

In theory, using a quote, saying, or song lyric to make a Christmas tree shape seems like a good idea. But the execution of this one is... bad. It just looks like the jammed all the words in there to make the shape without thinking about how anyone is actually going to read it.

"A dirt basketball court. Some puddles after raining as a nice cherry on top."

You can't just stick a basketball net in any old place and call the job done. There needs to be, like, court lines and stuff. Actual concrete might also help. And of course, no puddles.

The way this image is divided up among these windows.

There's something really unsettling about this display. It might be the fact that this woman's face is all chopped up, though. The mouth is probably the worst part. Just doesn't look natural.

This sidewalk might be a little off center.

I'm not sure what would be worse: this, or a sidewalk section that's only a little bit off compared to the rest of them. The latter would probably be more irksome, but this is still really bizarre.

"So it's nice the braille says: 'today's weather'. But how do they know what the printout says..."

This was, like, 3/4 of a good idea. Any person with a visual impairment could understand that this is a sign that shows you what the weather's gonna be like. But... they wouldn't be able to read what the forecast says. I dunno, it seems a little insulting to me.

"How I can see into the next stall through the TP holder."

I bet you the people who designed this bathroom thought they were really clever, making it so that two stalls share the same toilet paper holder. But... they definitely didn't think it all the way through.

Suddenly, I'm not looking forward to the weekend.

I can't get over the fact that someone sat down in a room and decided that a snowflake would be a great substitute for the letter O. It doesn't really register as an O, like, at all. Enjoy your hell weekend, I guess.

"Choose your path wisely."

I take it someone printed the walkway and bike lane stamps totally wrong. I... actually have no idea where people are supposed to walk versus where they're supposed to bike. I can't be the only one who's confused, right?

"So if I can’t enter the entrance only how do I enter the entrance?"

Sometimes, changing the wording on a sign can work wonders. Like, if they'd put "exit" instead of "enter," it would be a lot clearer. But I guess some people don't care about petty things like clarity.

"The paper in this sliced cheese makes it look like it has mold spots."

Yeah, they definitely could've come up with a better design. Putting anything green, blue, or white near cheese is a recipe for disaster. Even if there's no actual mold to be found, it's ruined.

"This sink in a hotel I stayed at gave absolutely no room for my hands under the faucet."

I absolutely hate sinks like this. There's actually no room for your hands while you're trying to wash them. I mean, unless you like splashing water all over the counters, which is exactly what's going to happen here.

It took me way too long to figure out what this is saying.

A few commas would've helped. And maybe if the text was all the same size.

If you're stumped, it reads, "Hail bathroom user to the soap dispenser and be victors over colds, flu, norovirus."

This bike lane will definitely keep you on your toes.

If distracted driving exists, distracted biking must also be a thing. In any case, this is one way to make a cyclist pay attention to the road: just put a post in the way. Totally not a bad design at all!!!

Someone didn't follow the instructions correctly.

I guess the cake decorator literally put a picture of that other cake on this one. Instead of, you know, making the cake look like the one in the picture. That would've been too hard, I guess.

"Our Municipality made bike lanes for us finally!"

I wonder if a random curb in a bike lane is better or worse than a random post. Like, either way you're going to crash if you aren't paying enough attention, but I feel like this might be easier to miss.

"Bottom left is pedestrian sidewalk, center bottom area is parking, middle of the photo is two-way, 25 mph roadway, and the top... is parking on the other side of the street."

Unpopular opinion, I think streets should just be streets. None of this fancy "decorated street" nonsense. This is just going to confuse everyone!

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