They say that the devil is in the details . Generally, this is said in a negative light — as in, small details can contain big mistakes . But sometimes, the opposite is true, and those small details are helpful or otherwise beneficial.
There’s enough bad design out there, so let’s take a break and celebrate the good design in our world.
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“Turtle Power!”
Whether you’re someone who’s well-versed in the ecology and life cycle of turtles, or you’re someone who just doesn’t want to see such adorable little critters get squished, I think you’ll be able to get on board with this design.
“Don’t know if this fits here.”
![Image credit: [deleted]](https://static.diply.com/NEARxTonanPscmTDwdnZ.jpg)
This most certainly does fit here. There’s a bridge like this in my hometown, but the sign is so close to the bridge itself that it doesn’t do much good. I have no doubt that this sign has helped save the bacon of a few trucks.
“In Norway you get a small amount of money for recycling bottles/cans. They’re often collected by poor people, homeless etc.”
Have you ever had an empty bottle, but had nowhere to recycle it? In Norway, this is clearly not such a big problem.
“An easy way to ask the company to repair wheels.”
Without these tags, shopping carts either wouldn’t get fixed, or employees would have to take time out of their days to test each and every cart wheel. With this method, everything just kind of works out.
“This toilet paper roll contains a mini paper roll to carry with you, instead of an hollow cardbord roll!”
In a world where every package of TP contains X amount of rolls, but claims it contains a larger amount of theoretical rolls, it’s nice to see a roll of TP that gives you your money’s worth.
“The books at the bottom are flipped at an angle you don’t have to bend down to see.”
![Image credit: [deleted]](https://static.diply.com/LtSO3sqqzCKVumOoeCD2.jpg)
This might not be the look you’d want on your bookshelves at home, but aesthetics aside, it’s a great, functional way to store them at the library.
“Found in the ladies restroom.”
Stuff like this should be in place at every bar. Not only does it help women feel safer, it’s also a simple mechanism to introduce to the bartenders and wait staff — they just need to memorize a couple of unique phrases.
“This library hung a Dewey Decimal reference sign for everything you want to know, but don’t really want to ask.'”
Libraries are a fantastic resource not just for research, but also for general life advice. This sign provides, at a glance, a reference for some of those more difficult topics.
“China’s largest e-commerce company uses its boxes as flyers for missing persons.”
Online shopping has exploded in popularity over the past couple of decades, so it makes sense that box manufacturers have found new ways to utilize the real estate on their products.
“A ‘NEW’ sign indicating that the speed limit has changed.”
Speed traps are a fairly common sight on the road, but this is like an anti speed trap. Rather than surprising you with a new, unexpected speed limit, it alerts drivers to the fact that things have changed.
“Thanks, Google Chrome. Very cool.”
Chrome has become more and more of a resource hog as it’s matured, but I still appreciate little touches like this. Nobody has time for those invasive, computer-crashing ads that you’ll see on some websites.
“The Xbox Series S has little bumps so it’s easier to find which port you need they are not visible.”
If you have a home theater, you know what it’s like to blindly grope along the underside of your TV and A/V devices to find a certain input. This simple touch on the Xbox Series S alleviates things somewhat.
“This sight seeing binocular is for the colorblind.”
I don’t know what it’s like to live with colorblindness, but I gather it can be a confusing experience at times. With a simple bit of color correction, this allows colorblind people to see the true colors of Tennessee.
“These birdhouses that work as roof shingles.”
These shingles look like they use a little more material than the typical shingle, but they do the job of…shingling…just as well, and come with a built-in bonus of containing a little birdhouse and perch.
“Parking app in Portland area won’t let you pay during free and holiday periods.”
Have you ever paid a bunch of coins into a parking meter, only to find that you didn’t need to pay to begin with? Well, in a world of parking apps, that doesn’t need to be an issue.
“Giving their answer to the question in the thumbnail.”
The typical YouTube video would have a title like, “We used WHAT method to cook rice?!?!!!1!” and a thumbnail of someone with an exaggerated expression. We could use more YouTube videos like this one.
“The font size on my contact packaging increased with my prescription.”
If you need corrective lenses, you get it: you don’t want to be made to feel like you’re blind, but sometimes, you just need those fonts to be a little bit bigger.
“Color coded bracket pairings in Excel, a godsend!”
I’m not an Excel user, which is a good thing because I’m terrible with numbers. That said, color-coding different equations to help isolate them from the larger equation seems like an excellent design choice.
“UK nightclubs serving drinks with lids after recent cases of women’s drinks being spiked.”
Bars don’t typically serve drinks in a sippy cup, and the open design of the typical cup makes them prone to getting spiked. These simple paper covers are a way to prevent this.
“The Ikea office chair I just bought has a housing for the allen key.”
Ikea and allen keys go together like, well, Ikea and Swedish meatballs. When it comes time to tighten those Ikea products, it’s nice to know that the trusty allen key is never far away.
