Design is hard. Whether itโs an advertisement, a poster, a piece of furniture, or a building layout, a tremendous amount of thought goes into making it all work. Or as seen with these 50 fails, sometimes, designers donโt give their work much thought at all. Here are 50 times designers tried but failed.
1. How to make new friends
Who doesnโt love peeing near to someone else? Those urinals are close enough for two people to touch butts, which is everyoneโs public bathroom nightmare. I think people would go out of their way to never use this bathroom.
2. Quit school!
This motivational advertisement is supposed to encourage people to stop smoking, but unfortunately, itโs on the back of a school bus. Instead of encouraging better habits, it looks like itโs encouraging school dropouts.
3. Best fish and chipsโฆuhโฆ
Okay, we see what they were going for here. But something got lost in the translation. Itโs awkward enough to make you do a double-take as you look at it, ruining its effectiveness.
4. Designed by an evil genius
This looks like a trap: the fire escape is safe and accessible from all the windows in the building. Unfortunately, it leads right into a cage, which isnโt going to be very helpful if thereโs a fire.
5. Wait, what do I do?
The longer you look at this, the less sense it makes. All I know is that Iโm supposed to close the door. But the reasons for that? I have no idea.
6. Thanks, I hate it
Katerina Kamprani is an artist who intentionally makes objects designed to be useless and therefore frustrating. Just take these terrible rain boots that would be completely worthless in a rainstorm.
7. How to avoid unwanted visitors
Do you hate having unwanted visitors? Hereโs one way to deter them. Just put your front door somewhere where no one can ever reach it. Of course, you wonโt be able to leave, either.
8. Itโs too bad there was no more space for this banner
This banner has an important message, but itโs a little difficult to read. Itโs like the people who made it didnโt know there was an entire blank wall right there.
9. This is one way to get rid of all your Legos.
Note the warning up at the top: suitable for children to know the difference between plastic and sweets. Parents everywhere know that this is a quick way to their kids visiting the emergency room with a tummy full of blocks.
10. โIโll just go out the back door.โ
This door serves absolutely no purpose. Maybe that space once had a balcony but now itโs the worldโs most dangerous surprise drop? Hopefully, they keep it bolted from the inside.
11. That is unfortunate.
Thereโs not a thing wrong with this advertisement โฆuntil you open the car door, that is. Then it sends a somewhat different message. Donโt tell your mom why youโre snickering.
12. I feel like someone should have spotted this
Hey, whatโs the worst possible place you could put the blow-up valve on any balloon, let alone a figure from a popular childrenโs movie? Well, the creators of this one found it.
13. You wouldnโt understand
The fashion world is complex and subjective, so not everybody gets it. If you snickered at โFashion Fart,โ maybe youโre just not an artist. Nah, just kidding, we snickered too.
14. I donโt see the problem here
This bag is supposed to say โShoes nโ shoes,โ but the unintuitive placement of the S makes it look an awful lot like โhoes nโ hoes.โ Itโs awkward enough to make everyone do a double-take as they walk by.
15. BLMCK
Okay, weโre assuming thatโs supposed to say โBLOCK out Cancerโ or โBlack out Cancerโ but why on earth did anyone think they should put an M letter tile in the middle? If you have to stop and translate, itโs probably not a great design.
16. Something bad happened to Peppa
Peppa Pig is a popular British childrenโs cartoon about a young female pig and her family. Sheโs known for having two eyes on the side of her head. Sheโs not known forโฆthis horrifying nightmare.
17. This poster is a good camouflage for real words
Oh, get it? They tried to make a play on words with โflagโ and โcamouflageโ because of patriotism. They could have done it by bolding the word or putting the letters in a different color, but they went another, more confusing route.
18. For anyone who wants to shower in Gojo
As you can see by the door frame right beside it, this soap dispenser is miles above where any normal personโs hands are. For whatever reason, someone thought that was the perfect height for hand soap.
19. Thatโs definitely how I feel about fitness
Oh, it says โE-fit,โ as in โelectronic fitness.โ We donโt know exactly what that means, but we do know the design is probably not supposed to say โEff it.โ
20. Well this is upsetting
Hey, have you been looking for the perfect bathing suit for this summer? How about this horrifying anatomically correct one? Itโll be a conversation starter for sure as people gaze at your intestines.
21. If you reach the top of the stairs alive, you get a prize
The worst possible time to trick someone into losing their footing is on a flight of stairs. The best way to do that? Whimsical step designs like this one.
22. Long-armed person entrance โ that away
This helpful sign towers above everyoneโs heads, showing them the way to the entrance of the building while also forever scarring their children with its nightmare arms.
23. How to scar your children forever
Have you ever wondered โWhatโs the worst, most terrifying design for a playscape ever?โ Well, donโt worry. These designers found it and used it. Now youโll never forget. And neither will those poor kids who had to climb through it.
24. Paging Dr. Tobias Fรผnkeโฆ
A couple of things could have been done to avoid this horrible design fail. A different font, capital letters, and lowercase, or just making sure there were no spaces at this worst possible place.
25. This is terrible and they should feel terrible
There are so many different facets to this one. It looks awful and itโs a real tripping hazard. Can you imagine trying to ride a bike over this? It would have taken only the slightest amount of planning to avoid.
26. Um, about thatโฆ
In what might be the most ironic packaging ever, this screwdriver kit needs a screwdriver to open it. Since screws arenโt a normal part of product packaging, we have to wonder who came up with this idea.
27. Donโt make eye contact
Have you ever wanted to get up close and personal with someone else in a public bathroom? How about while theyโre peeing and youโre washing your hands? If this all sounds like a dream come true, weโve got a bathroom for you.
28. The perfect place for a pillar
Even something as boring as a retail store has a lot to think about in the way of design. You want to make sure your customers can easily and comfortably get around. You wouldnโt want, for example, a giant pillar in the middle of a walkway.
29. Because women are left always right
Oh, I get it. Youโre supposed to read from top to bottom. Unfortunately, thatโs not the way our eyes work, so it took me a good 10 seconds to figure it out.
30. We donโt quite have the concept of acronyms down
Didnโt we all learn how to make acronyms in kindergarten? The person who designed this poster must have been absent that day because itโs hilariously bad. Technically, it should be โIn the dining room we CUULโ.
31. The ellipses are a nice touch
This shirt was designed by someone who has no idea of what feminism is. But they know that itโs popular and that it includes buzzwords like โfemale,โ โfuture,โ โfemale,โ โfuture,โ and uhโฆ โfuture.โ
32. Itโs the thought that countsโฆ
This California town was trying to send a heartfelt message of support to towns suffering from wildfires. Unfortunately, they decided to express that in the form of red, fiery lights.
33. Well if you insist
It doesnโt matter how much you want to but you absolutely may not turn right here. Even if youโre possessed by an overwhelming desire to just gun the engine straight into the river, you canโt. Go somewhere else for that.
34. Um โฆthen I will use the British shop
There arenโt a lot of options on this website, but at least it offers the illusion of choice. You can either stay in the UK shop or go to the, uhโฆwell, the UK shop.
35. Applebeeโs is no longer family-friendly
Look, someone found the worst possible spot to put an electrical outlet โ right into the mural of a sports figure. Some poor employee has to think about that guy every day.
36. Hooray for cannibalism!
This one might be up for a little more interpretation, but you canโt deny that it does sort of look like this school cafeteria is pretty excited about eatingโฆpeople.
37. *screams into the void*
Here is another one of Kampraniโs intentionally useless designs, which is so aggravating that you can barely stand it. I just want to smash it into a million pieces, which I guess is kind of the point.
38. Drink your coffee TOGETHER
This is clearly intended to be a cute, meaningful design, but in practice, itโs a nightmare. What are you supposed to do, drink in tandem with your beloved? โOne, two, three โ SIP!โ
39. The wheelchair ramp of DEATH
Weโll give them credit for trying to make the facility accessible. Of course, anyone who tries to take that ramp on wheels will probably end up in the hospital.
40. How to ruin your floor while water punches you in the face
Theyโre trying hard to market this shower as a luxury item, but it looks terrible. No one has ever asked for six separate jets to hose them down in the middle of a bedroom. No one. Ever.
41. WHY
Look at this beautiful house! Itโs smart, stately, and old-fashioned. Except for one tiny detail โ the door doesnโt line up with the stairs. Itโs maddening.
42. Sounds delicious
We know they mean egg sandwiches and fruit smoothies, hopefully without any eggs. But thatโs not what the sign says. And itโs just weird enough to make you look twice.
43. Please, call me Wickd
The longer you look at this, the stranger it becomes. Not many women are at peace with being called โMrs. Wicked Witch.โ Even fewer are okay with being called whatever this mug says.
44. When your hips are also your shoulders
This is so laughably bad that I donโt even know what to say. My only advice is they should buy those hoodie-shorts immediately and wear them on every possible occasion.
45. No, you may not enter
Do you want to enter this room? Well, gymnastics are involved, as it turns out. Only the flexible can get inside โ and you have to stand on precarious steps while you do it.
46. And the award for โcares the least about their jobโ goes toโฆ
So little care was put into this that itโs almost mind-blowing. It shouldnโt be difficult to line one panel after another on the street in a straight line. Itโs so bad thereโs no way it wasnโt deliberate.
47. Just try not to land on 5, kid
None of the kids at the elementary school wanted to play hopscotch. Not since the day that Suzie plummeted through square 5 and was lost to the depths of the playground.
48. Oh no
Oh look, itโs the worst possible way to try to be trendy with your business name. Now that youโve got all the letters squashed together, itโs anyoneโs guess what youโre selling. You can bet no one will walk in!
49. Tea management with hot pannis
Thereโs no good part of this sign. Itโs terrible from the placement of the words to the misspelling of the word โpaninis.โ The result is a word salad thatโs pure gold.
50. Letโs make it as hard as possible to charge your phone.
Do you need to charge your phone? Youโll have to squeeze to the back of this cabinet and move food on the shelf aside to do it. Good luck!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
