140 Times Common Sense Went Over The Heads Of These Designers (New Pics)

Ugly. Lame. Disastrous. This list of descriptions for epic design fails might not be exhaustive, but it’s enough to get you up to speed with the thought bubbles you can expect to pop into your mind as you’re scrolling through the images in this post, brought to you by us from this online group that’s dedicated to bad design. Good taste might seem like it’s common sense, but we’ve got all the proof in the world that this isn’t the case. Unfortunately, what looks awful to you and us and obviously doesn’t function well isn’t always apparent to the designers behind the disasters.

Remember, upvoting a photo here means that you love how fantastically horrid it looks. Be sure to let us know which of the worst design mistakes caught your eye the most, dear Pandas. In need of more proof that your own sense of taste is actually really, amazingly good? You’re in luck. You can find our other posts about truly awful design decisions right here, here, as well as here. Got any photos of bad designs around your house? Drop us a pic in the comment section.

Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.

Bored Panda spoke about the principles of good design, the line between quality and bad design, as well as human beings’ intuition to automatically feel what’s designed well with Tim Antoniuk, an Associate Professor of Design Studies at the University of Alberta.

#1 Homogeneity Sucks

Image credits: reddit.com

#2 These Barriers Designed To Prevent Cyclists From Passing Through

Image credits: reddit.com

#3 This School Mental Health Survey

Image credits: reddit.com

We’ve spoken about Dieter Rams’ 10 principles for good design before. And even though we wholeheartedly agree with them and believe they’re timeless, some of them could be adapted to better reflect how much the world has changed over the last few decades. In short, there are some new nuances that designers should take into account.

According to Antoniuk from the University of Alberta, Rams “does a great job” determining what makes design great. However, this doesn’t mean that Rams was able to foresee exactly how the world would change.

“That said, given the speed of change that we encounter today in our lives in the digital environment that we live in, I believe that some great design is not necessarily timeless. One example is seen in Interface Design, Ux Design, and in-service design. As new layers get added into our lives, things naturally have an evolutionary cycle. This is different from furniture which naturally can be more ubiquitous and designed to fit the human body. There is a great deal of fuzziness in this discussion but I do believe that the essence of this idea is true,” the Associate Professor explained.

#4 So The Fire Alarm Caught On Fire Earlier

Image credits: reddit.com

#5 This Kid Friendly Hand Sanitizer Package. Looks Like One Of Those Apple Sauce Things

Image credits: reddit.com

#6 Spoiler

Image credits: reddit.com

In Antoniuk’s opinion, there is such a thing as good and bad product, furniture, and interior design. But degrees of preference create a gray area where a clear line between quality and a lack thereof should exist. “The gray area comes in when people start to talk about taste and about degrees of aesthetic. I may love the design of Bauhaus furniture, for example, while somebody may feel that it is too cold and void of personality. Not unlike great art, I believe that much of what came from this era is ‘great design,’ in part because it represents an era and a philosophy. When we start to mix in discussions of taste and preference, that is where the gray areas of good and bad design get blurred.”

Antoniuk also believes that people can intuitively “feel” and sense good design. “Quite often, this relates to ergonomics and the usability or functionality of the products and services and systems. Having said that, I think far too many people expect poor design that doesn’t really work well,” he told Bored Panda.

Listen beautiful relax classics on our Youtube channel.

What’s more, he believes that good and bad design are skills that can be learned, especially when we start diving deep into the realm of aesthetics. “For me, great design is what Dieter [Rams] talks about—it is also intuitive, it is deeply sympathetic and empathetic to the user at all levels, and at some level, it is emotional. It is a catalyst for giving us feelings.”

#7 I Can’t Even

Image credits: reddit.com

#8 Don’t **** Your Dog In This Park

Image credits: reddit.com

#9 Dial 999 For… Oh

Image credits: reddit.com

Suzanne Labarre of Co.Design has a similar take in that she also believes that Rams’ principles could be updated. While Labarre has the IT and tech industry in mind, the principles for good design are pretty much universal, no matter if you’re designing an app, setting up a building’s interior, or creating a brand new product.

In Labarre’s opinion, good design has to be transparent, easy to understand, and done in a way that empowers its users, instead of overwhelming them. Furthermore, Labarre puts a lot of emphasis on each designer’s responsibility for what they create: they have to be aware of the possible consequences their creations might have, both on the consumers and on society.

For Labarre, design is inherently political. Product design (whether physical or digital) has the ability to change how power is distributed in society. This feeds back into the point about how we should all be aware of how our designs can change the world. Naturally, this extends far beyond just chuckling at epic design fails—but even that’s great to wind down after a long day at work! Or… at your work desk (don’t worry, we won’t judge).

#10 This Woman Turning Into Fish Roll

Image credits: reddit.com

#11 You Either Wet Your Shoes Or Do Some Exercise To Cross This Bridge

Image credits: reddit.com

#12 This Electric Heater Can Melt It’s Plastic Casing When At Full Power

Image credits: reddit.com

#13 Everybody Loves Beach Basketball

Image credits: reddit.com

#14 ‘Daisy’s’ Might Want To Reconsider That Layout

Image credits: PokeHQ

#15 He Was Fined For Speeding, When The Car Was On A Tow Truck

Image credits: reddit.com

#16 I’m Pretty Sure That’s Not How You’re Supposed To Hold A Scythe

Image credits: reddit.com

#17 Behold, The Sensory Overload Car

Image credits: reddit.com

#18 Hammering His Own

Image credits: imgur.com

#19 Good Job Using The Computer My Dude

Image credits: reddit.com

#20 The Mom On The Right Looks Like She Got The Baby’s Head But Not The Baby

Image credits: reddit.com

#21 My Son Just Asked Me Why This Lady Is Reading Poop Magazine. I’m So Proud

Image credits: reddit.com

#22 What Not To Name Your Animal Charity In Bury, UK

Image credits: reddit.com

#23 I Spent 15 Minutes Looking For A Plug In My Hotel Room… The Only One Is Behind The Radiator

Image credits: reddit.com

#24 Kix Cereal Box Has A Masked Out Spoon To Give The Illusion There’s Cereal On Top

Image credits: reddit.com

#25 The Health Benefits Of Ginger Tea Include Cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease And More

Image credits: reddit.com

#26 This Is Shampoo

Image credits: reddit.com

#27 What Can Go Wrong If We Put The Power Button Next To The Most Used Key

Image credits: reddit.com

#28 Nothing Says Privacy Like Saloon Style Doors

Image credits: reddit.com

#29 Toilet Door With Another Door In It That Won’t Stay Closed

Image credits: reddit.com

#30 These Symbols Are Kinda Terrifying

Image credits: reddit.com

#31 Tell Your Wedding Guests To Die

Image credits: reddit.com

#32 Not All Heroes Cover Their Noses

Image credits: reddit.com

#33 Sub-Par ATM Placement

Image credits: reddit.com

#34 Google Says The New Icon Is A Wallet. How Is This Supposed To Be A Wallet

Image credits: reddit.com

#35 Found On Amazon

Image credits: reddit.com

#36 The Paper In This Sliced Cheese Makes It Look Like It Has Mold Spots

Image credits: reddit.com

#37 A White Background Does Not Really Fit With This

Image credits: reddit.com

#38 Yes, But Actually No

Image credits: reddit.com

#39 To Motivate

Image credits: reddit.com

#40 Ok Which One Of You Put Fn Key As The Most Bottomleft Key On The Keyboard Instead Of Ctrl

Image credits: reddit.com

#41 Imagine Having To Scrub Or Clean It

Image credits: reddit.com

#42 Because I Can See Through Stainless Steel

Image credits: yourightimwrong

#43 My School’s Official Anti Bullying Presentation. Every Title Slide Is The Same Way

Image credits: reddit.com

#44 This Sponge That Looks Like It’s Covered In Mold

Image credits: reddit.com

#45 Who Thought It Would Be A Good Idea To Replace The O In Dumbo With A Heart?

Image credits: reddit.com

#46 My Son Is Too Terrified To Learn Anything From These Speech Therapy Worksheets, And Frankly I Don’t Blame Him

Image credits: reddit.com

#47 Every Time I Get Used To One, I Screw Up The Other

Image credits: reddit.com

#48 It’s Even Smaller In Person

Image credits: reddit.com

#49 Hmmm

Image credits: reddit.com

#50 Yeah, I’ll Just Jump Over That Real Quick

Image credits: Pxelchen

#51 So I Just Bought This Chair And None Of The Reviews Mentioned This

Image credits: reddit.com

#52 I Texted Two Zeros Multiple Times Before I Realized That Was An O

Image credits: reddit.com

#53 A Sticker From The Grocery Store. It Says “Smile,” And Tries To Use A Distorted Shopping Cart To Make A Smile. However, The Wheels On The Cart Pull The Brainwaves Into Thinking The Face Is Upside Down. Coincidentally, This Is The Face I Made When I Saw It

Image credits: reddit.com

#54 Entrance Could Be Tough

Image credits: reddit.com

#55 I Noticed That My Roommates Toaster Is Melting Itself

Image credits: reddit.com

#56 It’s A Justin Bieber Couch

Image credits: reddit.com

#57 This Terrible Example Conversation

Image credits: reddit.com

#58 New Bike Road

Image credits: reddit.com

#59 Anyone Got A Grey Hi Vis I Can Borrow

Image credits: reddit.com

#60 Design For Thermal Trousers. Looks Like He Pulled Them Down And Took A Dump

Image credits: reddit.com

#61 Fleshy Shower

Image credits: reddit.com

#62 The Legs Are The Exact Same Length Even Though One Is Bent

Image credits: reddit.com

#63 The Dividers In This Stall Are Way Too High Up. They Could See My Thighs

Image credits: squishysockz

#64 Apparently North Is Opposite To East

Image credits: reddit.com

#65 So My Sister Had A Clemson Mask Made For Her

Image credits: reddit.com

#66 Facebook Home Screen – No Wonder People Don’t Use This

Image credits: reddit.com

#67 And Sometimes People Use The Left Part

Image credits: reddit.com

#68 Art On Netflix For “Seventh Son”

Image credits: reddit.com

#69 School Does Some Renovations. New Outside Area Has The Tables In A Lower Section Surrounded By A Step Up Of Pavement. Guess What Happened When It Rained Two Days Ago

Image credits: reddit.com

#70 Time The Pulse To The Watch You’re Not Wearing

Image credits: reddit.com

#71 This Poster At My School

Image credits: reddit.com

#72 Honey, You Really Shouldn’t Have

Image credits: anlyin

#73 They Said The New Office Seating Would Be Great

Image credits: foul-owl

#74 A Tight Squeeze

Image credits: reddit.com

#75 These Snow Boots That Have Bottoms That Don’t Release Snow. They Turn Into Ice High Heels After 2 Steps

Image credits: reddit.com

#76 Steps That You Can’t See

Image credits: reddit.com

#77 If Only Louisiana Looked Like A Letter Of The Alphabet

Image credits: reddit.com

#78 5 Steps

Image credits: reddit.com

#79 No Broken Legs I Know Of

Image credits: slepsteRwasTaken

#80 Gum Protection

Image credits: reddit.com

#81 The Way This Makeup Ad Collage Was Composed Makes It Look As If There Was A Cyclop Woman On The Bottom Left Corner

Image credits: reddit.com

#82 Give Thonks

Image credits: reddit.com

#83 Picked Up My Little Brothers Toothbrush Today. Not The Best Way To Shorten A Word

Image credits: reddit.com

#84 Czech Philharmonic’s Benefit Concert On April 25 2020

Image credits: Design You Trust

#85 Make Love Not

Image credits: reddit.com

#86 A Bench That You Can Easily Drop Your Phone Into, It’s Also Extremely Uncomfortable

Image credits: reddit.com

#87 Bike Stand At The Local Metro Station Is To Narrow To Fit A Normal Wheel

Image credits: reddit.com

#88 What If You Could Poop Into Donald

Image credits: reddit.com

#89 Two Windows Of My Workplace Are Constantly Fighting For The Honor Of Being The One Who Is Going To Be Opened

Image credits: reddit.com

#90 How Big Is This Backpack Exactly

Image credits: reddit.com

#91 Found On Real Estate Listing: Interesting Bathroom Layout

Image credits: reddit.com

#92 This Candle Melts Its Own Container

Image credits: reddit.com

#93 Nearly Blew Threw This Intersection!

Image credits: reddit.com

#94 Canada Flag

Image credits: reddit.com

#95 This Hideous Statue Of Tinker Bell

Image credits: reddit.com

#96 I’ve Said It Before And I’ll Say It Again: Quotation Marks Are Not For Emphasis

Image credits: reddit.com

#97 A Bench At A Metro Station

Image credits: reddit.com

#98 This Is An Elsa Paper Lantern For Our Country’s (Vietnam) Moon Festival

Image credits: reddit.com

#99 Nothing Says “Tough” Like Rolled Up Pant Legs

Image credits: reddit.com

#100 This Couch In Our Hotel Room. And No, It Does Not Separate

Image credits: reddit.com

#101 Marge Simpson Has Two Mouths On The Official Simpsons Pyjamas

Image credits: reddit.com

#102 As A Designer Myself, This Makes Me Dizzy Just By Looking At It

Image credits: reddit.com

#103 An Alternate Path For Disabled With Steps

Image credits: reddit.com

#104 Babies In Jars

Image credits: reddit.com

#105 ND Filter That Amazingly Adds Structures When Used

Image credits: reddit.com

#106 Disney Font Puts The Fun In Funeral

Image credits: reddit.com

#107 A Nail Or A Screw

Image credits: reddit.com

#108 Let’s Do Lunch

Image credits: reddit.com

#109 This Barber Shop Where You Can Give A Small Child An Adult Hairstyle And Bears Trim

Image credits: reddit.com

#110 Friends Don’t Let Friends Get Cheap Ink

Image credits: reddit.com

#111 This Tablecloth That Looks Like A Hair Carpet

Image credits: reddit.com

#112 If You’ve Ever Thought Kids Getting Hurt One At A Time Isn’t Efficient Enough, Here’s An Idea

Image credits: etthat

#113 Fart Superior Written With Flames? Red Splash?

Image credits: reddit.com

#114 The Design On The Christmas Coke Makes It Look Like Wet Paint

Image credits: reddit.com

#115 Thought You Had To Read It In A Circle. Took Me A Minute To Figure It Out

Image credits: reddit.com

#116 Lario And Muiji

Image credits: reddit.com

#117 I Hope My Kid Is Half This Happy

Image credits: reddit.com

#118 Headphone Adapter Advertised On Phone That Already Has A Headphone Jack

Image credits: reddit.com

#119 What Gave It Away?

Image credits: TiptronicS

#120 Cumcuber

Image credits: reddit.com

#121 A Diagram About An Elgato Capture Card That I Found In An Article

Image credits: reddit.com

#122 Someone Paid Money For This To Be Their Sign And Logo/Mascot. I’m Convinced This Is Drug Lord’s Money Laundering Business

Image credits: reddit.com

#123 This Graph Posted By Atkins On Twitter

Image credits: reddit.com

#124 Where Do I Walk

Image credits: reddit.com

#125 I Don’t Think These Images Are To Scale

Image credits: imgur.com

#126 Literally Reads “1 Person Per Elevator”

Image credits: reddit.com

#127 This Jack-O-Lantern Light Requires 3 Batteries, And Each One Has Its Own Compartment

Image credits: reddit.com

#128 If You Didn’t Know, 718 Billion Is Only A Little More Than 266 Billion

Image credits: reddit.com

#129 How Do You Spell Christmas

Image credits: reddit.com

#130 The Cdc Wants You To Get Shingles, Apparently

Image credits: reddit.com

#131 Olaf Had Too Much Snow

Image credits: reddit.com

#132 This Bathroom With Too Many Stairs

Image credits: reddit.com

#133 These Stairs Carpeted With A Pattern That Makes It Hard To See The Edge

Image credits: reddit.com

#134 Nemo? What Happened

Image credits: reddit.com

#135 This Ergonomic Seating Diagram Has 90 Degree Angles That Look Like 120 Degrees

Image credits: reddit.com

#136 Banning Single Use Plastics, Including Wooden Coffee Stir Sticks

Image credits: reddit.com

#137 Daily Pill Organiser. No Chance Of Any Confusion

Image credits: reddit.com

#138 Really Bad Ad Design For Cancer Treatment

Image credits: reddit.com

#139 Youtube Music’s Like And Dislike Button Are Inverted From Youtube’s

Image credits: reddit.com

#140 Got This Cool Temporary Tattoo

Image credits: reddit.com

#141 Do I Have To Say Anything?

Image credits:

Source: boredpanda.com

No votes yet.
Please wait...
Loading...