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Design exists to solve problems—functional ones, aesthetic ones, or both. But sometimes, instead of improving things, it creates even more problems than it fixes. And if you need proof, just look at this subreddit dedicated to design fails, where people share examples that are so bad, they almost circle back to being good.
Bizarre typos, baffling text placements, confusing instructions, questionable interiors, stairs that seem actively out to get you—it’s all here. Scroll down for the full parade and upvote the best ones. Or the worst ones. At this point, there may not be much of a difference.
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#1
Those Are Five Steps Or More
RELATED:
#2
Long Invisible Steps
#3
When You Skip The Typography Section Of Your Groupon Graphic Design Course
Grape Walls of Ire 10 hours ago
With all the divisiveness in the US, it's sure nice to have fart jokes as common ground.
#4
It's Like A Fun Maze For Blind People!
#5
The Place I’m Staying Has Running Water On Top Of A Cabinet That Doesn’t Have A Sink
#6
This Building's Billboard Lights Point Straight To My Bedroom
#7
I Know It Is Sold By Weight, And Contents May Settle ... But Maybe It's Not The Best Idea To Put The Clear Window In The Middle Of The Package?
#8
Grocery Store Barcode Scanner Was Scanning Its Own Advertised Barcode, So They Had To Cover It With Permanent Marker
#9
Half Of The Dosage Instructions For Persil Washing Powder Are Printed On The Strip You Tear Off To Open The Box
#10
Coasters From A Local Designer, But The Sand Is Elevated So The Cups Fall Off
#11
Watched A Dozen People Try To Push This Door Open Today During Brunch
Full disclosure: I tried to push it open, too. The push plate was not a push plate, the door handle is on the right. All they have to do is spray paint that plate black to fix the issue.
Literally every customer who came in pushed the wrong side initially. And to top it off, every sticker and sign on the door is symmetric so there's no hint for which side of the door opens!
Best banana bread pudding French toast in the world, though, so I forgive them.
#12
Transparent Sticker With Writing On Mirror
#13
The Woman Was A Man. And The Girl Was An Adult
Luke || Kira (he/she) 5 hours ago
The camera looks into the future where the girl grew up and the father happily transitioned
#14
Instruction Manual References Parts By Diagram Number, But Diagram Isn’t Labeled
R Dennis 3 hours ago
I just put together a popcorn machine with a cart. It had stickers on each piece, but they don't correspond to the instructions (Parts 6-12, but stickers 15-21). After putting it together, 6-12 were stamped on the edges of the part, but hard to see under the powder coat paint.
#15
Which Way To Temple 38? Or Group F? Took Me Half A Day To Figure Out That These Signs Are Both Pointing Straight Ahead
LizzieBoredom 1 hour ago
This is what happens when the guy in charge of making arrows doesn't get a raise.
#16
Stairway To Heck
#17
This "Sudoku" Christmas Tree Decoration Is Clearly A Bingo Card
#18
Record Label Sumerian Records Uses An Image Of The Sphinx
#19
Bathroom And Kitchen Combined
Toujin C'Thlu 11 hours ago
Even the cheapest studio apartments have a separate kitchen and bathroom
#20
Austrian Elevators Are Hard To Understand
#21
My Soul Just Fell Down These Stairs
#22
This Promotional Shot Makes It Look Like The Pump Is Malfunctioning And Causing Major Leakage
#23
The Buttons To Change Temp On My Fridge
#24
This TV That Is Way Too Far From The Bed And Obscured By The Wardrobe @ A Scotland Hotel
#27
My Local Park Benches Made Of Stainless Steel. Too Cold To Sit On In Winter, Too Hot To Sit On In Summer
Kali Chaos 11 hours ago
Because making it even harder for the unhoused to survive is a totally righteous hill to die on /s
#28
Eye Drop Bottle Does Not Note That It Is Eye Drops
#29
The Button For The Third Floor Is Located At The Very Top Of The Elevator Panel
Slop Generator 11 hours ago
the builders forgot the third floor during construction and had to put it on top of the building when it was almost done
#30
The Words On The Display Of The Marzipan Museum In Germany
#31
This Birthday Plate Where The Balloon Strings Just Look Like Hair
Jackie Lulu 3 hours ago
I have plates like this. The design is a vine that looks like hair and it catches my eye every time!
#32
No Room To Store The Wrench That Comes Outside The Plastic Container As Demo
#33
This Mailbox Speaks For Itself
#34
Safety Is Chimney Check Your Clean
Slop Generator 11 hours ago
"Safety Is Chimney" is a safety concept I've never been familiar with
#35
Imagine The Logistics And The Cleaning
#36
It's Pepper, It's Red, But We Decided To Assign Red To The Cheese
#37
I Guess We Dont Need Spacing Between Go On
#39
This Was Not A Fun Experience
#40
Apparently This Is A Promo For A Writer's Festival
#41
Drano Suggests To Use 1/3 Of A Bottle, But Markings On The Side Are In 1/4 Increments
Bill Swallow 12 hours ago
This is gonna be great for all those morons who were certain that a 1/3 lb burger was smaller than a 1/4 lb burger.
#42
Page Folds On Africa In Global Hunger Map In My Textbook
#43
Wear No Clothes Sign Is Actually A Penalty Warning
#44
On The Mcdonalds’ Monopoly Game They Removed The ‘Go To Jail’ Character’s Whistle But Left His Cheeks Blowing
LakotaWolf (she/her) 10 hours ago
He's ... blowing on his hot coffee... cup... to cool it down... yeah, that sounds about right XD
#45
Do You Want A Zero Protein Diet? Look No Further
#46
Weird 90° Power Supply Plug That Doesn't Have Enough Clearance To Fit Correctly Into The Intended Outlets. Need To Buy An Extra Cable To Use It
#47
I Was Wondering Why My Niece Always Zones Out Halfway Through While Counting On This Toy, Until I Noticed
#48
Our Small Shopping Centre Has Really Good Direction Signs
#49
Public Notice Where The Font Is The Main Obstacle To Being Informed
#50
The Wear On This Sticker Where People Have Pressed It Instead Of The Actual Functioning Button
David Paterson 9 hours ago
Our local toilets have the same problem. What looks like a button is a label. What is actually a button looks like a naff decoration.
#51
A Playground Where You Can Get Burned In Summer
#52
If You Ever Wanna Watch Yourself
Bunny Wood 12 hours ago
Its the low down toilet paper in men's bathrooms that gets me...Who is this for? Tiny midgets? If so-where is the ladder to the flush button???
#53
My Family Took Me To The Titanic Exhibit For My Birthday
Peeka_Mimi 10 hours ago
I would love that but I'm a history nerd. I am going to take myself to the Colorado History Museum for my birthday.
#54
Hip-Pinching Chairs: I’m A Skinny Guy & These Bang Into My Hip Bones. How Can They Possibly Be Comfortable For Anyone Wider?
#55
Three Different O Widths Hurts My Brain
LakotaWolf (she/her) 9 hours ago
It's like running out of O letters on the outdoors billboard thingy and having to use zeroes, except someone did that intentionally in a computer graphic when they didn't NEED to XD
#56
These Leviton Switches Have Raised Lettering That Love Gathering And Keeping Dirt In Them
#57
This Balloon Is 26 Inches Wide. That Is Neither 2 Feet Or 1 Person Tall
#60
Infinity - Spotted In The Wild
#62
My Pants Pockets Are Only As Deep As The Bottom Of The Opening, So Anything I Put In Them Will Fall Out
#63
Missing Numbers On Kids Height Measurement
Multa Nocte (she/her/86 47) 1 hour ago
Is that a too small distance between 1000 and 1150 or am I reading that wrong?
#64
Please Excuse The Mess Made, Memories Are Being
#65
The Elevator In This Brand New Parking Garage
Luke || Kira (he/she) 5 hours ago
Press them in a secret sequence and it'll take you to a parallel universe
#66
Ritz’s Guide To A Serving Size
#67
What Could Go Wrong! (Btw It’s Pitch Black Until You Hit The Light Switch)
#68
They Proudly Presented The New Logo Of The Austrian Football Association (Öfb)
#69
Apparently That's A 'C'
#70
It’s Definitely “Brugre”, Right?
#71
This Odd One Out Puzzle Doesn't Have An Odd One Out!
#72
Bathroom Of An Appartment I Was Viewing For Rent
#73
Kids Lingerie 🤔 Not A Good Design
#74
I’m No Dogologist But…
#75
Sweet Home Home!
#76
What Was Even The Plan Here?
#77
You Switch It Off By Positioning The Rod Exactly In The Middle, No Locking, Free Movement In Any Direction, Opposite To Switch It On
LakotaWolf (she/her) 9 hours ago
My mom installed a faucet just like this in the other bathroom in this house where I live. I hate it XD If you move the faucet rod one half-centimeter too far, the water temperature goes to scalding in an instant.
#78
Mmmm Colour-Blind Simulator
#79
Lunchbox Company Uses A Woman Making Juice To Show Their Product Is Hand Washable
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 6 hours ago
And a woman looking in a regular oven to show it's microwave safe, AND a man looking in a FRIDGE to show it's freezer safe... almost none of it is correct.
#80
This Company’s URL Can Be Any Combination Of These Letters. Guess Which One It Is!
#81
No Pain No Paizza
#82
Regularly Updated Billboard Near My House
#84
The Dice Shaker That Comes With Yahtzee Is Exactly Two Dice Wide And Has An Internal Edge That The Dice Constantly Get Stuck Behind
#85
Because Potty Training Needs More Splatter-Producing Elements
#86
The Pre-Cutting On The Paper LEGO Bags Is Pointless
#87
In The Bathroom At A School I Work At…
#88
The Emojis Make The A’s Look Like O’s
#89
Happy New Year Everybody!
#90
This Bingo Card From The Female Lead That Was Definitely Designed By Someone Who Has Never Played Bingo
#91
An Advertisement In My Office
#92
I’m Not A Design Bruh, But I Couldn’t Even Read This
#93
Ah Yes, Let's Just Extend The Railing For Some Reason
#94
Spotted At Seaworld, They Used A Y Shape To Represent A W. So Now It Reads "The Yhale Shop" Shop Instead Of "The Whale Shop"
#95
Belgian Urban Design
Bunny Wood 11 hours ago
Weird-here in Australia Trees are obliged to cross at Traffic lights...
#96
These Storage Steps In A Homemade Tiny Home Look Like An Accident Waiting To Happen
#98
This Plaque Is Having An Identity Crisis
#99
This Birthday Card I Saw In A Store In Switzerland For $5
#102
So Is It Off Or Set To 60 Watts?
#103
I Just Bought This Thinking It Was Washing Detergent. Nowhere Does It Say Its Fabric Softener
General Anaesthesia 6 hours ago
Nowhere Does It Say Its Fabric Softener. Nowhere does it say washing detergent, either. Either way, it's probably safest not to drink it.
#104
Impossible To Read "What Are We" Without Knowing What You're Trying To Read
#105
My Friend Just Had A Baby And She Has This Sign Above Her Crib
#106
Curb To Trip On Between The Sidewalk And Crosswalk
Johnnynatfan 4 hours ago
The detectable warning pad is there for a reason. If they made the curb flush to the pavement then blind people would have a hard time figuring out where they were in relation to the cross walk.
#107
What Good Is The Design If The Words Aren't Legible?
#108
The Official Coat Of Arms Of Zambesia, An Unrecognized Region In Southern Africa Striving For Independence
David Paterson 9 hours ago
The main problem is that Zambesia is too easily confused with the totally unrelated Zambezia. And with Zamnesia.
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