Communication is about clarity. The more muddled the message—the more confusion you’re bound to see on the reader’s face. When it comes to the signs you see in public, you normally expect all of them to be brief, precise, and informative. Alas! Nothing could be farther from the truth. Far from everyone’s a pro when it comes to writing and advertising skills, and the ‘Useless, Unsuccessful, and/or Unpopular Signage’ Facebook group is proof enough.

An online group bringing together nearly 191k members, the UUU Signage project has been around since November 2014. Since then, it has collected a vast archive of some of the very worst and funniest signs to be found on Planet Earth. We’re featuring a selection of the very best ones, so go on, have a scroll and a glance. Don’t forget to upvote the signs that made you laugh and made you more confused than you expected, and if you’re a fan, go ahead and join the UUU Signage group.

I had a friendly chat about the most important things when making a sign—any sign—with Lisa McLendon. She is the William Allen White Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications and the coordinator of the Bremner Editing Center at the University of Kansas. You’ll find the insights she shared with Bored Panda below, dear Readers.

Remember… keep it simple—keep it short—keep it clear.

#1 I Didn’t See A Cat Going Out But I Did Observe A Walrus Sashay Towards The Door

Image credits: Kori A Butler

#2 Just Press Three 333 Times

Image credits: Nigel Champion

#3 I’ve Been Called Many Things In Life. But This Is A First

Image credits: Cailey Bisgould

Lisa, from the University of Kansas, highlighted to Bored Panda that when it comes to making signs, clarity and brevity are essential. This is because you don’t have much time to get your point across and you need to be quick and sharp with your messaging.

“Clarity and brevity are essential. You only have a second or two to get your message across, so you want people to understand quickly with zero confusion,” she told Bored Panda.

#4 When You’ve Had Enough Of Your Man

Image credits: Kelly Sedlak

#5 An Employee Caught Me Taking This Pic And Said “Ah Yes, Another One Of Our Many Exciting Deals!”

Image credits: Lauren Carrigan

#6 On The Community Noticeboard At My Local Shops

Image credits: Sarah Strahan

I was also interested to get Lisa’s opinion about the types of egregious mistakes that the people putting up various signs should avoid.

“Don’t carve an error in stone. It’s embarrassing and expensive to fix. Proofreading before you produce, whether it’s stone or not, is absolutely necessary,” she said that we should take the time to look over our work before making any permanent decisions. Proofreading is far cheaper than fixing a mistake later on.

Lisa also noted that the font that we choose for our sign is incredibly important. “Choose your font with readability in mind. It should be clear and readable at a distance; you don’t want to make people puzzle through a swirly script,” she said.

#7 Make Good Choices

Image credits: Kate Anderson

#8 The Mechanic Left This In My Girlfriend’s Car After Being Serviced… The Car Is Still Dirty

Image credits: Michael Dylan Faas

#9 Please Don’t Follow Anybody Home

Image credits: Shravan Sunil

The UUU Signage page is part of the wider ‘Useless, Unsuccessful, and/or Unpopular’ community that encompasses a variety of different niches, from ads and screenshots to memes.

The group’s admins and mods note that they’re only interested in photos that people have taken themselves. So, for instance, screenshots have no place here (in fact, there’s an entirely separate UUU group for them specifically). Original content and exploration are encouraged. All for the sake of documenting signage that should have us laughing all the way till the weekend.

#10 Spotted At A Local Dollar Tree A Few Years Ago

Image credits: Kerri Kay

#11 Yeahhhhh Right

Image credits: Stephanie Croshaw

#12 Someone Had Enough

Image credits: Samantha Tame

It’s easy to sit back and chuckle at some of the silly (and sometimes downright mental) mistakes some sign-makers have made. However, we’ve all been in situations where we’ve made similar mistakes, for everyone to see and gently poke fun at.

Perhaps we didn’t edit our text enough (or at all…) because we were exhausted. Maybe our proofreading skills weren’t up to scratch anymore (thanks a bunch, Fifth Cup of Coffee). Or maybe, just maybe, all those silly mistakes snuck into our sentences the moment our backs were turned.

Frankly, I like this last theory the most, even if it’s the least likely. It suggests that there’s a Greater Force at work here, sprinkling chaos into our otherwise orderly word structures.

#13 I Have A Bad Feeling About This Rest Stop Bathroom

Image credits: Anna Hicks

#14 No Thanks

Image credits: Kerri Saterfield

#15 Lmao You Go Girl

Image credits: Ashley Rosado

A while ago, I had another chat about editing, proofreading, and kerning (it’s the spacing between letters, Pandas) via email with Lisa from the University of Kansas. 

“Word placement, typeface, and kerning are crucial for effective, professional-looking logos and layouts. If it’s just a few words, all-caps is fine, but it’s harder for people to read longer blocks of text in all caps. It’s also harder for people to read italic or highly stylized type, or type along a curve instead of a line,” Lisa explained to Bored Panda.

#16 I’ve Never Seen A Bumper Sticker I Wanted More

Image credits: Melissa Anne

#17 This Is The Kind Of Secret Doctors Don’t Want You To Know

Image credits: Samuel Maffit

#18 Found Some Paperless Towels At Walmart Today. What Will They Think Of Next?

Image credits: Hansen Murphy

What’s more, Lisa noted that we should look at all the ways in which our words could be misread or read out of order if they’re circled or stacked on top of one another. Meanwhile, if the kerning happens to be too tight, some of the letters could merge into different symbols and result in some (hilariously) embarrassing misreadings.

One example of this is writing the word ‘FLICKERING’ in all caps. If the kerning is too tight, the ‘L’ and the ‘I’ merge into a ‘U’ and… well, it’s fairly obvious what happens, isn’t it?

#19 This Was A Couple Years Ago…and I Know What They Meant But… Still

Image credits: Dave Brideau

#20 Is This The New Saying Now?? Mandela Effect?

Image credits: Taylor Mcclelland

#21 Oh No

Image credits: Vivian Minus

Lisa suggests running a spell-check to catch any typos. It’s a very obvious step, but not everyone does it. However, the tool isn’t omnipotent. “Spell-check won’t catch typos that result in a word that is still a word, just not the word you want,” she warned that you should still get someone else to proofread the text.

#22 Do Not Teach Fish Man He Will Destroy Us All

Image credits: Hunter Kinder

#23 I Don’t Even Know

Image credits: David Bjorklund

#24 Um… I Guess?

Image credits: Caleb Hilston

#25 I Honked

Image credits: Andrew Shanks

#26 Pfantastic Signage

Image credits: Aaron Schiff

#27 Okay

Image credits: Kate McKay

#28 Pennsylvania Department Of Transportation Trying To Be Relatable

Image credits: Evan Waite

#29 Baa Baa Black.. Clam?

Image credits: Howard Davies

#30 We Don’t Pay A Living Wage, But Work Is Work Right. This Is A Circle K By The Way

Image credits: Kevin Laviolette

#31 Whatever Gets Them In Therapy I Guess?

Image credits: Robin Caligiure

#32 When You Want To Insult The Customer But Have To Be Politically Correct

Image credits: Nicole Eckstrom

#33 Well That Escalated Quickly

Image credits: Chyleigh Harmon

#34 Typical Capitalism. Manufactured Scarcity

Image credits: Miles Izzo

#35 “We Gave It A Second Thought And Decided That You Guys Suck”

Image credits: Rachel Mower

#36 No Touching Vaggies

Image credits: Catherine Robertson

#37 This Was In Front Of My Town Hall For A Couple Weeks Before Anyone Realized And It’s My Favorite Thing To Ever Happen Here

Image credits: Ariel Sullivan

#38 Fish And Chizz??

Image credits: Sam Doble

#39 Are You Speaking From Experience, Sir?

Image credits: Vera Bruursema

#40 This Has Big “I Think Dogs Should Vote” Vibes

Image credits: Jessica Kracoff

#41 They Look A Bit Too Orange To Be Lemons

Image credits: Daniel Nicolo

Source: boredpanda.com