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50 Designs That Are So Terrible, They Should Have Gotten Someone Fired (New Pics)
“It's through mistakes that you actually can grow. You have to get bad in order to get good."
Paula Scher, one of the most influential graphic designers of our time, once uttered those words in reference to design. And while I’m sure she was being honest, I think some designers really took those words to heart and somewhere along the way abandoned the “getting good” part of their plans.
Below, we’ve gathered some of the most atrocious examples of design that have been shared on this subreddit that’s dedicated to roasting terrible design. From signs that induce headaches just from trying to read them to ovens that melt their own knobs, apparently, there are plenty of bad designers out there who need to grow a bit (or a lot) before they start producing excellent work.
Be sure to upvote all of the photos that make you want to fire a designer somewhere out there, and let us know in the comments what the worst examples of design you’ve ever seen were. Keep reading to also find an interview we were lucky enough to receive from graphic designer, writer and the man behind Identity Designed, David Airey. Then if you’re interested in checking out even more examples of horrific design, you can find some of our previous articles on the same topic here, here and here.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Why Would You Do This?
RELATED:
#2
This Playground Is Built In A Hole And Fills With Water When It Rains
#3
My Local University Has A Number Of Human Sculptures On Roofs Of High Buildings, Often Mistaken For Real People
Katie Lutesinger 3 years ago
Bet you it's an art installation which is supposed to make an Important Statement about suicide or something like that.
#4
You've Seen Crappy Elevator Button Designs Before. Get Ready For The Crappiest Elevator Button Design You've Ever Seen
#5
What Was Wrong With Blue Water?
#6
Not Sure The Cover Artist Read The Book?
Echidna learns extreme ironing 3 years ago
Makes you wonder if even the publishers read the book...
#7
The Shadows Of The Numbers Are In A Different Font Than The Numbers Themselves
#8
Couldn’t Figure Out Why I Kept Grabbing The Wrong Size Out Of The Multipack Box… Then Realized All 3 Sizes Come In All 3 Colors!
#9
Are You 25 Feet Tall, Own A Multimillion Dollar Yacht And Want To Hand Wash Your Yacht Fully Clothed While Out To Sea? We Have An Inflatable Dock For You!
#10
Oven Vents Directly Onto The Knobs, Making Them Discolored And Burning Hot To The Touch.
#11
This Ad In My Print Copy Of The New Yorker
#12
1 Person Is Ok, 2 People Is Ok But In Red
#13
Not Sure Who's Allowed To Park Here
#14
The Ad Literally Says, "Modern Kitchen, Great Layout, Bright And Spacious!"
#15
Insane Menu At An Insane Sandwich Shop
#16
Terrible Sign Color Choices
#17
7ft Pool Holds An Entire Family. (Legs Not Included)
blobby_grrl 3 years ago (edited)
Damn these unrealistic body standards expecting us to have no legs!!
#18
If Only There Was A Letter In Flame That Could Resemble A Flame
#19
Supposed To Be Finally 21 But Spacing Makes It Looks Like A 12
#20
A Catalog For A Clothing Company I Once Worked At. How Was This Cover Ever Approved?
#21
A Beautiful Hardwood Bridge We Built At Work. Wheelchair Accessible. Comes With A Nice Steel Pole Almost Smack Bang In The Middle. This Is What Happens When Architects Refuse To Change Their Plan Even When Common Sense Says Let’s Move The Bridge
Alexandra Davis 3 years ago
I always say that I wish planners/ architects/ builders etc had wheelchair users on their team that could test designs and show what is good and what doesn't work! I could send so many photos of poor planning for access for wheelchairs
#22
Investing Ad Shows A Picture Of A Negative Return Rate
#23
This Chicken Cookbook Has An Index Entry For Chicken
#24
This Awful Photoshop For A Slide I Saw An Ad For. Why Are They Wearing Normal Clothes In The Water? What The Heck Is Going On In The Background? So Many Questions!
#25
Feel Like This Airline Overestimates The Danger Of Rogue Origami Birds
#26
Who Wants A Nice Cold Formaldehyde Beverage? Someone Didn’t Think That Chemical Formula Through…
Oais Wright 3 years ago
Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula CH₂O and structure H−CHO. The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde, hence it is stored as an aqueous solution
#27
Slip And You’ll Break Your Neck Going To The Basement To Do Laundry At My Apartment Building
#28
Missed Opportunity For Using The Jesus Statue As "T" Rather Than "I", Which Would Be More Readable And Intuitive
#29
From A Baseball Stadium That Took 1.2 Billion Nt Dollars To Build, This Sure Exceeds The Expectations
#31
Parcours For Wheelchairs…
#32
Was Hit In The Ass Taking A Leak
#33
At First Glance I Thought The Can Was Badly Rusted. Turns Out It's Part Of The Graphic
Anon822209 3 years ago
I dunno. Makes me think of the cans in my great grandpa's house. Shows the longevity of the brand. I kinda dig it.
#34
The Best People Are Who People To Eat
#35
Dont Mess With Chile 🇨🇱
#37
Photoshop vs. Reality?
#38
The Almost Never Ending Airport Directional Sign.
#39
“No Farting On Pregnant Women”
#40
Absolutely Beautiful Architecture Of The Place I Had To Piss In
#41
The Cup That Nibbles Your Lip With Its Little Teethies
#42
This Is Death Waiting To Happen
#43
God Is Goo.
#44
We Have To Decode What The Shirt Says
Lucía Sosa 3 years ago
It's not the will to win that matters- everyone has that it's the will to prepare to win that matters ?
#45
Uh... Fearsome? Roarsome? Rfarsome?
#46
Interior Design Of This Bus
Thomas E S Thomas 3 years ago
Every month there's a tour bus out of Salt Lake City that ferries naturists to and from Las Vegas. I wonder if that's what their bus looks like afterward under black light.
#47
It Just Looks Depressed
#48
I Think It’s Trying To Say Dumbo
#49
Don’t Smoke The Propane!
Octavia Hansen 3 years ago
REALLY? After all these years people still have to be told this? Let 'em smoke and decrease the surplus population.
#50
Happy Birthday Ha
#51
Bought This Geometry Set For My Son, To Help Him In School. Comes With This Map Of The World That Has So Many Countries Spelt Incorrectly. I Don't Know What Country Yogo Is In Europe, But It's There. Panama Is Spelt Banama, But I Suppose They Do Grow Bananas There. Vietnam Is Shown As An Island
#52
Not Sure Why They Flipped The Second M But I Guess “Masters Of Woisture” Works Too
#53
I Don't Feel Very Beautiful Staring At That Logo
#54
This Carpet In A Hotel Elevator. It's Not Damaged, All The Hallways Are Like This Too
#55
Fishing For Dinosaurs. Out Of A Police Car
#56
Putting The Helmet On His Knee Makes It Look Like There Are 2 People In The Silhouette
Chucky Cheezburger 3 years ago (edited)
Ok... so thats what the younger folks are calling it these days...Im gonna go see if my wife wants to go for a walk...
#57
Unbalanced Pan… Only Stands Correctly When There Is Weight In It - Pretty Annoying And Even Dangerous With Hot Oil
#58
Most Dos And Don'ts Are In The Wrong Columns
Amanda Rose 3 years ago
Do parental exercise after office. Think that is how the baby happened in the first place.
#59
Face Cutouts At An Aviary
#60
The Emoji Is Just Crying Red Tears Don’t Worry…
#61
A Bench That Doesn't Drain
#62
Small Town Tried To Make A USA Flag Design, But Got The Paint Job From The French Flag.
#63
The Tim Hoe Use - Supposed To Read 'The Time House'
#64
The Photoshopped Beer Is Worse Than The Actual Product (Being Poured Into Coca Cola Cups)
#65
Who Thought It Was A Good Idea To Put An Image Of 7 Churros For The Sign Of 3 Churros
#66
My Baby Brother’s Play Mat Isn’t Correct ,or Is It?
#67
Cross Post From R/Design, Asking For The Font Name. They Were Roasted In The Comments
#68
I Tutor Esl Kids, And This Is The Worksheet I Was Given To Use. The Clip Art Was An Instant Red Flag, But It Got So Much Worse.
#69
Saw This Posted To A Community Page, Its Hideous
#70
Lets But Some Overpriced Icecream At This Nightmare Fuel
#71
Stair Blocks My Cabinet
#72
I’m Pretty Sure That’s Not An Octagon
#73
Stanley Measurement Tape With Size Of The Roll Described In Inches And Tape In Centimeters
#74
I Found This In The Mall Arcade
#75
A Chair With Closed Holes. So The Dust And Dirt That Enters It Stays !
#76
The Amount Of People Who've Fallen Down These Is Continuing To Grow
#77
I Dont Think I've Been To A Mcoads Before
#78
Don't Go With, Fight It, The Flow
#79
The Sign On This Coffee Shop Is Terrible. I Can't Even Read The First Word. I Can't Imagine They Thought This Through
#80
I Spent Half My Meal Trying To Decipher This
#81
Brace For Inter Wwith?
#82
Lomo Hale Vere Tess (No, That’s Not Latin)
#83
Very Confused Messaging. Why Strike Out The Part That Leaves It Meaning The Same?
#84
Super Thin Spoon That Turns To Spaghetti When Hot
#85
Urinals At An International Airport
#86
Terrible Font On This Musical Festival Announcement
#87
The Post Was Built *after* The House Was
#88
Mixing Upper And Lower Case Doesn’t Work In All Circumstances
#89
Saw On Pinterest. Not Only Copy Pasted But They Look Upside Down As Well
#90
This Doorhandle. I Don't See A Reason Why It Wouldn't Be Normal
#91
A Fast-Food Place Signboard (With A Poor Choice Of Word Layout)
#92
Wait... Who's Dying From What Now?
Manomnomnom 3 years ago
At least no one seems to have died from car accidents according to this...
#93
The Liquid Bleach Place On Our Washer Collects Water And Rusts :/
#94
This Floor In A Shop I Was In Made Me Very Dizzy
#95
Just Don't Do It Correctly.
Manomnomnom 3 years ago
"Do, or do not. There is no try." Just like there was no try on the part of whoever made this diagram.
#96
Putting Letters Like This Almost Never Works, Why Do They Try?
#97
I Have Lots Of Data On A Bad Hardware, Now What
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