Design seems like such a simple, elementary thing when you think about it, but hordes of people keep getting the basics wrong, often with hilarious and side-splitting results. Buildings are hard to design, as are other objects, but we usually take the lettering and layout of sentences and phrases for granted, as though everyone will be able to understand us no matter how.we.words.our.place.

Well, the truth is, designing text so it’s readable isn’t as easy as you’d expect. There’s a system to it. There are processes that must be followed. Typography rules that ought never be broken. Except that those rules are broken all the time by some oblivious people. Bored Panda collected some of the best examples of incredibly bad text design that is wonderfully enjoyable to make fun of. From lame ads to funny posters, nodofy is safe from bad design. So upvote the best/worst fails, see if your friends can figure out what’s actually written, and let us know in the comments if you've seen design fails that compare to these ones.

We know how much you enjoy these funny fails concerning design, so you can read Bored Panda’s previous posts about them here, here, here, here, and here.

#1

How Do I Apply?

How Do I Apply?

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Vic
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5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The person preparing this sign was surely tripping on something..

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    #2

    Noted

    Noted

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    #3

    Apparently Scary Jesus Is A Thing

    Apparently Scary Jesus Is A Thing

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    Vic
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    When you are on a fishing trip. Walks on water behind you and goes BOO!!

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    One of the online communities where similar text design fails are shared daily is the subreddit ‘Don’t Dead Open Inside,’ which prides itself on collecting the most egregious examples of signs and media that don’t make any sense if you read them normally. The community, which was established in May 2014, is large, having grown to over 513,000 members.

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    Bored Panda reached out to the 'Don't Dead Open Inside' subreddit moderators. According to one of them, the community was inspired to form because of the 'Don't Dead Open Inside' frame from the very first episode of the hit TV show The Walking Dead.

    According to one moderator, people make mistakes while designing text because "they're either not thinking or they want to be original. Our main mission statement is to show them that they are wrong."

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    They also had advice for those individuals willing to step up their game design-wise: "People in the west read left to right, then top to bottom. Do not "liven up" your text by making it "quirky". Hard to read means lost attention which translates to lost revenue."

    #5

    This Terribly Worded Sign I Saw Today. Sorry, I’ll Pick Up My Dog’s Poop... Wouldn’t Want To Ruin Your Child Eating Experience

    This Terribly Worded Sign I Saw Today. Sorry, I’ll Pick Up My Dog’s Poop... Wouldn’t Want To Ruin Your Child Eating Experience

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    #6

    Well, Uh... I Guess That's A Good Motto

    Well, Uh... I Guess That's A Good Motto

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    Canva has some handy tips for those of you willing to up your design game when it comes to words. For example, Canva suggests that you limit the number of fonts that you use and use simple ones, rather than complex ones that might not mesh together well.

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    #9

    Baby Needs Beers & Wines

    Baby Needs Beers & Wines

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    Spacing, something most of us rarely think about, is also important and can bring about radically different effects simply by eliminating the negative space between letters, words, and sentences.

    #11

    This Habitat For Humanity Van

    This Habitat For Humanity Van

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    #12

    So My Campus Had A Suicide Awareness And Prevention Day

    So My Campus Had A Suicide Awareness And Prevention Day

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    Meanwhile, colors are equally important: use them to your advantage to create harmony between different parts of the text. Use contrasting and complementary colors. Lines can be used to guide the reader’s attention and create symmetry; however, badly used lines can turn a sign or a design into a catastrophe. Think you’ve got all that? Good. Let us know how you’d fix the text designs in this list.

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    #13

    No Safety. Smoking First

    No Safety. Smoking First

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    #14

    Who Else Is Donating To End Children?

    Who Else Is Donating To End Children?

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    #15

    Don't Save A Life. Be Afraid To Give Blood

    Don't Save A Life. Be Afraid To Give Blood

    youllneverfindmeman Report

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    #16

    Do I Push?

    Do I Push?

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    #17

    If You Hard, Then You Hard

    If You Hard, Then You Hard

    Vengedpotty Report

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    Vic
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yeah what can you do about it.. not like you control it..

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    #18

    Sorry Guys, You Can’t Let Your Pets Cook Bicycles Here

    Sorry Guys, You Can’t Let Your Pets Cook Bicycles Here

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    #19

    Hood On vs. Hood Off

    Hood On vs. Hood Off

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    #20

    Please Do Not Take It Home. Leave Litter Here

    Please Do Not Take It Home. Leave Litter Here

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    Grapeling
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    What do they LeArN in environmental management these days???

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    #21

    Just Purchased This Low Quality Fried Chicken At The Grocery Store

    Just Purchased This Low Quality Fried Chicken At The Grocery Store

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    #22

    If You Were In A Car, Would You Know What Accident To Do?

    If You Were In A Car, Would You Know What Accident To Do?

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    Holosexual
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is so stressful no I wouldn't know what accident to do, this is too much responsibility

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    #23

    Smash Immigrants Welcome Racism

    Smash Immigrants Welcome Racism

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    #24

    Honey, I Think We're Supposed To Turn Right

    Honey, I Think We're Supposed To Turn Right

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    #25

    I Only Saw The Left Window At First And Got Very Confused

    I Only Saw The Left Window At First And Got Very Confused

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    #26

    This New Wall Art In My Office

    This New Wall Art In My Office

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    #27

    Our To Help Trollies You Move

    Our To Help Trollies You Move

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    #28

    7 Surprising Black Ways To Use Beans

    7 Surprising Black Ways To Use Beans

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    Hello it Smee
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I get the stupid title, but seriously black bean smoothies sounds gross!!!!!!!

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    #29

    So I Fart Old Dust

    So I Fart Old Dust

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    #30

    They Are, In Fact, A Particular Sub-Species Of Rock

    They Are, In Fact, A Particular Sub-Species Of Rock

    192747585939 Report

    #31

    The Design School I Graduated From Sent This Postcard Out

    The Design School I Graduated From Sent This Postcard Out

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    #33

    When Your Gym Tryies Hard To Motivate You But Fails To Make Any Sense

    When Your Gym Tryies Hard To Motivate You But Fails To Make Any Sense

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    #35

    Vicious Inc... What?!

    Vicious Inc... What?!

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    #37

    From Afar, This Sign Has A Completely Different Meaning

    From Afar, This Sign Has A Completely Different Meaning

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    #38

    Wet Private Clay Parties

    Wet Private Clay Parties

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    #39

    Burn Increase

    Burn Increase

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    #40

    Never Ever Ever Beef. Frozen Always

    Never Ever Ever Beef. Frozen Always

    ManWitoutSocks Report

    Note: this post originally had 108 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.

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