10 Most Ridiculous Design FAILS
Five Bananas
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Reddit user UltraLaser23 took to the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit to share a hilarious design fail. The user explains that they grabbed a book called “My First Numbers Book” for their young daughter, hoping to teach her about counting. One of the pages in the book contains a drawing of bananas, mentioning that in the photo there are a total of 5. Only, a closer inspection proves that that is not the case. There are actually six bananas in the picture, which seems like a massive oversight for an educational book about counting. As UltraLaser23 says, “Proofreading this book couldn't have been that hard.”
Massaging Towel Lady
We return to Reddit for another hilarious blunder, this one involving what seems to be a human-towel hybrid! Ok, not like that though. User Cream77 shared a photo to the r/CrappyDesign sub of what looks like an advertisement for a spa. The bottom picture shows a man and a woman getting a massage, with one major caveat - the woman’s back has morphed into a rolled up towel! There’s no way this wasn’t intentional. The transition is just way too smooth and seamless. Honestly, we don’t know if this is a design fail or a design win.
Lisa Jackson Deserves to Die
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They say never judge a book by its cover. Well, we’re not going to judge the book itself, but we’ll certainly judge the cover! Lisa Jackson is a successful author who has written dozens of romance novels, including the “To Die” series. The series’ sixth entry, “Deserves to Die,” was published in 2014. Unfortunately, this title resulted in a pretty funny gaffe that would have book store browsers doing a double take. The title is placed directly underneath Jackson’s name, resulting in the unintentional wording “Lisa Jackson Deserves to Die.” Maybe they should have put the title somewhere else, or design it in a different color?
He’s Not Saving Anyone
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The trolley problem is a classic thought experiment that asks a difficult question - would you intentionally kill one person to save many? This problem is often depicted visually, with a train barreling towards a large group of people. One person stands nearby with a switch that can alter the train’s course, causing it to veer towards one person standing apart from the larger group. This diagram is trying to do the same thing, only they severely messed up the design of the track. Here, the train would take a brief detour to its left, hit the lone person, then continue on the curved track to hit the larger group. Maybe this is the reverse trolley problem - would you kill many to save one?
The Farting Peep
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Even the big names aren’t immune to graphic design fails. Peeps are a very popular marshmallow candy made by Just Born, Inc., and they are often consumed around Easter. This particular box, picked up by Reddit user mmcalli, was cotton candy flavored. To help visualize this, the graphic designer put a pink cotton candy stick right beside the giant Peep on the packaging. But this cotton candy stick was hilariously misplaced, making it look like a little fart cloud coming out of the Peeps’...well, you know. And therein lies the importance of physical placement.
Chewable Hair, Skin & Nails
Apparently CVS sells strawberry lemon flavored hair, skin, and nails. Well, of course they don’t actually sell that, as that would likely fall under some major federal violations. But we’d forgive you if you thought otherwise, considering the bad design of the packaging. Front and center are the words “chewable hair, skin & nails.” This is a horrible design on multiple levels, with even the words “dietary supplement” being hidden in the bottom left corner and camouflaged by the background. As it is, it looks like CVS is selling human body parts, and…well, that’s about as big a design fail as you can get.
Black & Gold Cans
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Black & Gold is an Australian budget brand that sells hundreds of home essentials, ranging from insect killer to cooking spray. The brand’s graphic design is, suitably, black and gold, with their spray cans being a bright yellow with black lettering. It’s certainly eye-catching, but it could also result in some major and potentially life-threatening confusion. We used insect killer and cooking spray as examples, because those are the two items seen in this picture. Both cans look nearly identical, and it would be very easy to mix one up with the other. The last thing you need sprayed on your frying pan is insect killer.
The Elevator Switch
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There are major workplace violations, and then there’s this. Reddit user katewhiteshark shared a hilarious but worrying photo to the r/OSHA sub. It depicts a regular, unassuming light switch with a bizarre note reading, “Please do not turn off the light switch. It also operates the elevator.” We just have so many questions. Why is the elevator operated by a light switch? Why is it where any regular person can access it? Why is it not contained by a lockbox? How did it pass the safety inspection? Hopefully this was just a joke, because we can’t imagine someone messing up this bad!
Spider-Man Tissues
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Sometimes graphic design straddles the line between unfortunate and genius, and these Spider-Man tissues are a great example. Kleenex released some Spider-Man boxes that see the web slinger hanging upside down with his lower half aimed towards the box’s opening. This resulted in a rather hilarious blunder, as it looks like the tissues are coming out of his behind. Funnily enough, this is anatomically correct, as spiders weave their webs from the spinnerets located near their rear ends. Someone either didn’t consider what this would look like, or they knew exactly what it would look like and planned accordingly. We don’t know which is funnier.
Tail o’ the Pup
When it comes to design fails, it doesn’t get much funnier than the iconic L.A. landmark Tail o’ the Pup. This hot dog stand opened all the way back in 1946, and after a brief stint inside Valley Relics Museum, it reopened in 2022. A brilliant example of novelty architecture, the stand is shaped like a hot dog, complete with two buns and a purple dog in the middle. It’s very cute, but when viewed from the wrong angle, it could easily be misconstrued as something else. Something far more graphic and inappropriate for public streets.
