Some designs reach so far for creativity that they land in the realm of the truly bizarre. Then, there are those that leave us utterly puzzled, wondering what exactly the designer or team envisioned in the first place. Pushing artistic boundaries is part of making an impact, but occasionally, the execution leaves us questioning if some wires got crossed along the way. Here’s a collection of design blunders that were either poorly executed or terribly thought-out.
1. “My landlord’s ‘carpenter’ hooked us up with this beauty today.”
2. Why is every hotel trying to prevent shower controls?
3. “These directional markers at my local hospital are Kiwi footprints. Unfortunately, bird footprints look like arrows, and they are going the wrong way.”
4. “Shoes that look like you always just stepped in dog mess.”
5. “It’s supposed to be a P.”
6. “My hotel desk drawer”
7. “Guess I’m paying for the upstairs neighbor’s heating.”
8. “Arbitrary stairs in the middle of a hallway”
9. “The armrest of my United Airlines seat has flight attendant call buttons. We are only 30 minutes into the flight, and they have already made two announcements not to push the buttons accidentally.”
10. “Whose brilliant idea was it to put the sleep button here?”
11. Maybe not the best design for a side table at a hotel where you place items in the dark before bed.”
12. “Tiger pattern on my kid’s onesie is actually Leopard.”
13. “Squirrel-proof bird feeder.”
14. “This two bed hotel room has a window looking directly into the shower.”
15. “They built a light pole in the middle of the road.”
16. “This one certainly stands out.”
17. “This sign’s design makes it almost indecipherable.”
18. “Which way to the men’s room?”
19. “What’s the caffeine strength?”
20. “This entire hotel’s room numbers are completely random.”
21. “The outside walls are thin warping sheet metal.”
22. “How should you park here.”
Drive over the curb. Looking at the tire marks on the curb, you wouldn’t be the first.
23. “This pathway doesn’t like the rain.”
They need to reroute that downspout.
24. “As as it gets.”
As camo as it gets.
25. “A neighboring building has a blindingly reflective light feature.”
This hurts to look at just in photo form.
26. “What floor are we at?”
I’m not sure, but if I’m reading things correctly, the elevator’s HP is down.
27. “Arbitrary stairs in the middle of a hallway.”
Apparently, these are called flood stairs. They’re there to keep water contained to one area if a flood or pipe bursts.
28. “Yes, all the windows please.”
29. “This Coffee shop is supposed to be named Rooted.”
30. “I still can’t figure out what this place is called or what it is.”
31. Which button am I supposed to use?
I get that one is to turn the power off, but the other button turns the power on and off. There’s no reason to have both.
32. “Someone found a way to make ‘press a button, get to a floor’ complicated.”
33. “The students at my course complained about not having enough privacy, and they decided to install glass doors to solve the issue.”
34. “I Needed a minute to figure out what it was trying to tell me. Artisanal.”
35. “This deviled egg dish has an odd number of egg slots.”
20 Times People Were So Specific It Was Awkward