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Working in the design industry carries a certain degree of glamor. People from the outside may describe such jobs as “cool” and “fun,” with no idea about what really goes on behind the scenes. 

So, to give everyone a lucid enough idea of what it’s like to blend creativity with a client’s expectations, here are posts from the Designers Humor Instagram page. With more than 980,000 followers, it is touted as the “largest design meme account on the internet.” 

If you’re a designer and would love something to mindlessly scroll through during your break, here are some posts we’ve collected for you. And even if you’re not working in the field, these are relatable enough to draw out a few chuckles from you.

#1

A humorous text post stating that graphic designers are safe from AI, because clients can't describe what they want.

designershumor Report

SM
Community Member
3 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This goes for things like writing apps too. The only apps that are going to be created this way are going to be the simplest apps. The jobs will shift where such tools help the actual expert to do their jobs, but they aren't going to be replaced by AI. And AI also has a way to go on even properly interpreting accurate descriptions.

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    #2

    Meme contrasting book cover with a graphic designer's reaction, highlighting design humor.

    designershumor Report

    Abel
    Community Member
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think that some book cover designers hate mankind and culture. "You had one job ánd you brought a design that it looks like it was made in hell!"

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    Most of these memes express one of the many frustrations and stressors of design professionals: meeting client demands. 

    According to creative designer and Alarcon Pro Painting founder Bryan Alarcón, most of these difficult situations stem from two reasons: clients are unable to clearly communicate what they want, and they set deadlines without due consideration for the creative process.

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    #4

    A person dressed in a transparent PNG costume reflecting design humor from an IG page.

    designershumor Report

    LakotaWolf (she/her)
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I only see a floating strap and a floating phone in this photo! How strange! ;)

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    #6

    Design humor meme of Rafiki dropping Simba, representing a designer receiving a .doc file instead of a vector logo.

    designershumor Report

    LakotaWolf (she/her)
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    When customers ask for receipts or invoices from my family's business, I save them as PDFs and send them over. Recently, we had a customer who said she couldn't view or open the PDF and she kept calling my sister asking us to "fix it". There was nothing wrong with the PDF when I viewed it myself, but the customer kept saying it was "printing extra pages" when she tried to print it. I wasn't about to try to walk a customer through changing her printer settings over the phone, so I opened the PDF file, screenshotted it, saved it as a JPEG, and sent her the JPEG, which she apparently was able to print just fine. I díed a little inside that day XD

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    “Endless revisions resonate so strongly amongst us not just due to the subjectivity of design, but mostly because it's a common frustration for many creatives,” Alarcón told Bored Panda. “And frankly, what makes it all the more heartbreaking is knowing that many of these endless revisions could have been avoided if only sufficient time and detail were requested and provided.”

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    #7

    A split image depicting design humor. The left shows a woman on a plane, labeled "Client Expectations." The right shows her looking into a washing machine, labeled "Client Budget."

    designershumor Report

    Abel
    Community Member
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And you can do it cheaper with a a plastic toilet piece and a random pic. You only need to be creative!.

    #8

    Graphic design humor meme with Kylie Jenner saying No when asked for design favors.

    designershumor Report

    SM
    Community Member
    3 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I think this goes for a lot of jobs, people want something for nothing.

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    #9

    A sign for BEST STYLES above a meme face, poking fun at kerning in design, illustrating design humor.

    designershumor Report

    WindySwede
    Community Member
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    'Lady screaming at cat'-meme *both perplexed*

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    Alarcón did clarify that creatives also have their fair share of faults. One of them, he says, is when designers accept challenges they don’t understand, resulting in an “endless circle of fixing” in revisions. 

    “If creative designers can put away their fears and worries that they may not appear professional enough by asking “too much” of the client in terms of explanations, then this avoidable circle of revisions will indeed be avoided,” he said.

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    #10

    A classic painting depicting design humor about a client touching a designer's screen, causing frustration.

    designershumor Report

    Michiel nospam
    Community Member
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Oh, I used to have to say this all the time, back in 2006. In 2026, ppl find other people's surfaces gross and leave them alone. Happy.

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    #11

    Design humor pie chart showing designers rarely update their portfolio.

    designershumor Report

    ChiLing saysHi
    Community Member
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I received news this morning that the website I use for my portfolio (that I do not update anymore but yk to keep it published is a why not situation) will no longer be supported for my country so um...😬 Ouch

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    Ultimately, it’s about building a harmonious relationship, whether you’re the client or the designer making things happen. Marc Caposino, CEO and founder of the UI/UX agency Fuselab Creative, shared tips on how to approach it. 

    “Clients should bring the real problem to the table, not dictated visuals,” he said. “In return, designers should set their egos aside and explain the logic behind their choices in plain, jargon-free language, rather than expecting the work to speak for itself.”

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    #14

    A meme with a woman looking distressed, representing design humor when Photoshop isn't responding after 5 hours without saving.

    designershumor Report

    taarna23
    Community Member
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I have ctrl-s so ingrained that I will often do it accidentally while writing a long post online.

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    #15

    AI art showing 4KB RAM in 1969 vs 8GB RAM now, humorously depicting design software struggles.

    designershumor Report

    HeavenlyPowerUp
    Community Member
    1 day ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We have more power in the palm of our hands than NASA when they sent people to the moon, and we use it to "REEEEEEEE," at other people across the world for disagreeing with an opinion.

    But since burnout appears to be the overarching theme among these memes, Caposino also offered suggestions for preventing it while staying creative. His advice for designers: embrace terrible first drafts to bypass the pressure of perfectionism early in the project. 

    “Knowing when to stop endlessly tweaking pixels and step away from the screen to live life is the ultimate cure for creative burnout,” he said.

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    #19

    Satan greeting a person who makes fake transparent PNG images, a relatable design humor meme.

    designershumor Report

    LakotaWolf (she/her)
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Back in the 90s and early 2000s, I was in charge of making the advertising photos for my family's small business. I remember being so happy when I could find clipart or stock photos that had a transparent background. Then when I'd open it in Paint Shop Pro (hey, Photoshop was expensive) I'd see it was a fake transparency and the background was actually the checkerboard squares XD

    #25

    Panettone color swatch 7510 C, a design humor post.

    designershumor Report

    Justin Case
    Community Member
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is a "play on words". Panettone is a traditional Italian sweet bread that originated in Milan. Pantone is a standardized color matching system with each color having an assigned unique code number.

    #26

    Bugs Bunny as a king on a throne, a design humor meme about clients loving a design with no changes.

    designershumor Report

    David Paterson
    Community Member
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "No work of art is ever completed, merely abandoned".

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    #28

    Design humor showing a restaurant sign with some letters out, captioned When Photoshop CC crashes.

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    Michael Largey
    Community Member
    3 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "You can get anything you want / At Delores' restaurant"

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    #33

    A collage showing design studio humor, featuring items like a ping-pong table, alcohol, a dog, and a coffee machine.

    designershumor Report

    StrangeOne
    Community Member
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I can hear the clap stomp hey through all this.

    #37

    Drake meme showing 'CTRL + C, CTRL + V' rejected and 'CTRL + CCCCCCCC, CTRL + V' embraced, as design humor.

    designershumor Report

    Hyacinth (Any pronouns)
    Community Member
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I got a gamer mouse with programmable extra buttons because I liked the lights, but being able to set those side buttons to ctrl+c and ctrl+v has saved me minutes of my life since I got it about four years ago. I also have the center one set to ctrl+s because that's the save shortcut in my art program. Best thing I've ever spent money on.

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    #39

    A meme expressing design humor, with a graphic designer looking confused after a client asks to be surprised with a logo.

    designershumor Report

    UnclePanda
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "We love it!" ~ Castle of Grayskull Dentists

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    #40

    A dictionary-style definition for 'Designer' as design humor, highlighting requests for free work.

    designershumor Report

    StrangeOne
    Community Member
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I feel sorry for the psychiatrists and psychologists. They would literally have to run away to not be hassled in doing free work.

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    #42

    A text message conversation showing design humor about a client trying to open an .ai file in Powerpoint.

    designershumor Report

    David Paterson
    Community Member
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Well, given that the client is guaranteed not to have Adobe Illustrator, sending them an .ai file is going to be pretty useless isn't it.

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    #44

    A person in a balaclava kneeling with a laptop, representing the act of illegally downloading Adobe, a moment of design humor.

    designershumor Report

    UnclePanda
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Some the best software and worst licensing schemes in history.

    #47

    Black baseball cap with white text that reads You wouldn't steal a font, showcasing design humor.

    designershumor Report

    CarnwennanB312 (Meg)
    Community Member
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yeah, I would. Let's not lie to ourselves here. When that font it missing from a clinet's design file I download that thing off DA fonts and never look back.

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    #48

    A meme with design humor: Arthur character looking tired, representing the reality of a freelance career.

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    CloPotato
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 days ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Making me see my reflection when the screen isn't even black is diabolical. Yes it's past midnight and I'm just taking a small break.

    #50

    A two-panel map meme showing an airplane changing course, illustrating design humor about clients needing help.

    designershumor Report

    David Paterson
    Community Member
    2 days ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    If you did your job well then the client wouldn't have to try to do it. Now would they.

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    #52

    Ty Dolla $ign tweet about 'Girl music' on a pink background, featuring a female symbol as part of design humor.

    designershumor Report

    LakotaWolf (she/her)
    Community Member
    Premium
    2 days ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "The music that girls really want to hear" - ah yes, because "girls" are all the same with all the same taste in music. Girls really are just a hivemind colonial organism similar to a Portuguese man o' wár - we're all just identical units making up one organism called "girls" - /s in case unclear XD EDIT: I just want to mention that I was so caught up in the awful-sounding explanation text that I didn't even notice how godawful the logo is! holy shít!

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