School. It's somewhere we all have to go, whether we like it or not. They could at least make it a pleasant place to be, couldn't they? Well not really, no. Most public schools are formulaic, functional places that hardly make students want to be involved in the learning process, let alone inspire creativity, and the joy of knowledge.
With budgets being further slashed under conservative governments in the U.S. and UK, the situation in these countries at least isn't looking up. Not only are students and teachers dealing with boring architecture design, dilapidated school buildings and classrooms, but many also have to live with shortages of basic materials too, prompting teachers to leave the profession en masse. So much for caring about the next generation!
Bored Panda has collected a list of examples of school designers either taking shortcuts, not caring, or needing to go back to school themselves. From thoughtless toilet placements to hilariously offensive murals, these students can at least have a wry chuckle at the ridiculousness of crappy design.
Scroll down below to check these design fails out for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
This post may include affiliate links.
German School
So we've seen the consequences of bad design, so what makes for good design? There are a few basic principles to stick to if you want to make sure your design is practical, relevant and makes sense!
According to Dieter Rams, a German industrial designer who was responsible for the design of Braun’s consumer products for many years, there are 10 principles of good design, also known as the '10 commandments.' Even though they were written long ago and technology has advanced beyond his wildest dreams, Dieter's principles still apply today!
New Statue At A Catholic School
This School Bus Ad
Furniture designers Vitsoe have worked closely with Dieter Rams for decades, and helpfully summarize his founding principles of good design with the following explanations:
Good design is innovative The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.
Good design makes a product useful: A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasizes the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.
Good design is aesthetic: The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being. But only well-executed objects can be beautiful.
It's Even More Fascinating When This Shit Happens In A Design School
Hangers At School...
Good design makes a product understandable: It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory.
Good design is unobtrusive: Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.
Good design is honest: It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.
"A Man Plowing A Field" On A Local School Building
Interesting Take For A School Quote
Good design is thorough down to the last detail: Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the user.
Good design is environmentally-friendly: Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimizes physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
Good design is as little design as possible: Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity.
So three you have it, pretty simple right? If you are tasked with designing something and want to avoid the hilarious mistakes found in this list, check these principles off first and you should succeed!
Being Helpful For The Blind
The Way My School Installed The New Projector
The Absolute Crap Design Of My School. This Is The Place Where Every Hallway Intersects
And dangerous in case of fire. Hopefully there are a lot of emergency exits in the building.
This School Just Renovated The Toilets At Their Gym
The Pie Graph In My School's Newspaper
High School Gym In Pontiac, Mi. There Are No Words...
This Machine At My School Sound Painful
My Schools Attempt At Being Multicultural
My School Has This Mini Park Inside It But No One Can Get Inside
Our School Has Fantastic Fans
Seen At My School
My School Locker Can’t Even Fit My Backpack Because Of Those Shelves
Front Door Of A Middle School
Extreme Entrance To School Gym
One-Way Window Tint At School, So We Can't See Shooters, But They Can See Us
It's really sad that their first thought has to be about someone using this to massacre them more easily.
School My From Words Inspiring
There Is So Much Wrong With This Map At My School
Our School Must Be The Crappiest Design I've Ever Seen!
The Wall Decoration At My High School, Red Is Supposed To Represent The Freshmen
The Pamphlet For My School's Special Needs Program
My Schools Fine Arts Department Had Some Interesting Stickers
This Graph In A High School Year Book
This Is On Our Wall In The School...
These Signs Are All Around My School, Let's Sell Some Children!
At First Glance, The White Lettering On This Pride Poster At My High School Blends In With The Yellow Background. Changes The Meaning Drastically
The Mirror At The Men's Bathroom At My School
This Door In My School
My High School’s End Zone For Over 90 Years
This Person In My School Book
Off Centre, Misspelled, Hard To See Road Markings At A Local School
My Friend's New Locker Has A Huge Pipe Running Through It
Stalls In School's Bathroom
"High School"
This Graph In My School's Yearbook...
This Sign At My School
After My School Had A Fire Alarm (Planned) I Noticed This
There Are Several Of These At My School And I Am Unlucky Enough To Be Right In The Corner
The Unfortunate Overhead View Of My School's Library Desks
if someone is desperate to be offended, they will be offended with everything
I didn't actually see the problem until I looked at the comments....they're just desks people
Load More Replies...from wikipedia: The swastika or sauwastika (as a character, 卐 or 卍, respectively) is a geometrical figure and an ancient religious icon in the cultures of Eurasia. Swastik is used as a symbol of divinity and spirituality in Indian religions. In the Western world, it was a symbol of auspiciousness and good luck until the 1930s, when it became a feature of Nazi symbolism as an emblem of Aryan identity. As a result of World War II and the Holocaust, most people in the Western World associate it with Nazism and antisemitism. The name swastika comes from Sanskrit word swastik (Devanagari: स्वस्तिक) meaning 'conducive to well being' or 'auspicious'.[10][11] In Hinduism, the symbol with arms pointing clockwise (卐) is called swastika, symbolizing surya ('sun'), prosperity and good luck, while the counterclockwise symbol (卍) is called sauvastika, symbolizing night or tantric aspects of Kali.
That is wrong Vicky. In Germany (or better europe) we don't have the same kind of skin-color related racism like in the USA, but we can be racist and hate each other although we all are mostly white. There are racist jokes about every neighboring country, and we have nine of them. The racism is different but it is just wrong to say we learned our lesson as long as we have political partys like the AfD being voted for. Some of us learned, some still think Hitler was a great leader. Again look at the AfD fanboys. It is disgusting.
Load More Replies...Nazis I mean. Altho pretty much the same thing
Load More Replies...Even if it didn't make a swastika it's not a good design overall since you must have free space on all sides of it, which makes them take up a larger effective area compared to if they were designed to be able to make "rows" of them.
And that spread people out a bit more so it's a bit quieter and less crowded than a row arrangement. That makes it a somewhat better design for it's intended purpose.
Load More Replies...The swastika was actually a symbol of peace and growth (with varying exact meanings throughout time), only recently perverted by the Nazi movement. In a desk design like this there is no wrong and it is exceedingly efficient, only people getting mad at everything. (This does not downplay the wrong that was committed by the nazi party and many others, NOT AT ALL)
I used to work at a Baltimore High School with the same view on Google Earth
Must have seemed like a good idea at the time
Load More Replies...This is good. Best way to make personal spaces and somebody thought about it enough to make sure it is not nazi svastika because side arms are shorter.
But those are dope desks. And the swastika looks cool, regardless of the s****y connotations from Shitler. Same with confederate flags. S****y people, pretty symbol.
I agree. Just because someone who is bad uses an object does not mean the object itself is bad
Load More Replies...Poster At My School. Lightbulb Looks Like A Noose
This Wrestling Painting At A High School
To be honest, only with the outlines wrestling always looks like a sex scene.
My High School Science Departments Lights
Found At My School
for people wondering what it says: You will never have this day again, so make it count
The Design School I Graduated From Sent This Postcard Out
Good thing you already know how to design because they can't help you there.
Note: this post originally had 80 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
Half these schools look like they were designed by middle schoolers. (11-13 year olds) right when potty humor is at its strongest
Another example of no one taking responsibility for seeing things are done right. Some of these are too stupid for words. The money spent on these mistakes could surely have been better used for education. A truly sad comment of our times and county.
I would like to point out that these are the only problems with my school. None are up to the admins.
And we wonder why kids in junior high and high school take drugs - it isn't to get high - it is to unscramble their brains!
I'm astounded at the stupid! Where was the logic, the inspections, the peer review? What a huge waste of the education budget.
My school has a pattern of tiles on the floor, but there are a ton of misplaced tiles. It’s infuriating.
Half these schools look like they were designed by middle schoolers. (11-13 year olds) right when potty humor is at its strongest
Another example of no one taking responsibility for seeing things are done right. Some of these are too stupid for words. The money spent on these mistakes could surely have been better used for education. A truly sad comment of our times and county.
I would like to point out that these are the only problems with my school. None are up to the admins.
And we wonder why kids in junior high and high school take drugs - it isn't to get high - it is to unscramble their brains!
I'm astounded at the stupid! Where was the logic, the inspections, the peer review? What a huge waste of the education budget.
My school has a pattern of tiles on the floor, but there are a ton of misplaced tiles. It’s infuriating.