20 Design So Bad That 'Fail' May Not Be A Strong Enough Word For It

Ashley Hunte
A mug with a rounded bottom.
Reddit | ShadowMint742

I'm constantly astounded by the sheer amount of bad designs in the world. Like, how can so many people be so bad at designing things, and get away with it?

On the plus side, there are so many design fails out there, that you're never going to run out of hilarious pics to look at. Like the ones in this list.

"An unfortunate sink placement."

Two people taking a picture of two sinks in a public bathroom that are too close together.
Reddit | doranoon10

Ah yes, nothing like having two sinks that are so close together, they can't be used at the same time. I guess someone could use the one on the left if they wanted to stand around awkwardly.

"Free but only with a paid subscription."

A screenshot of someone trying to download a free asset for a program, only to find that they need to pay for it.
Reddit | jjjackross

Any program that's designed to look like it has free features, but makes you pay for everything anyway, is straight garbage in my book. Just be nice to your users, please.

"Amazing."

A set of porch stairs. The railing on the stair is weird and diagonal.
Reddit | Wheremyphonecharger

I can't tell if I love this or hate it. Like, it's objectively very ugly. But it's kind of ugly in a way that's... charming? If that makes sense.

"h om eis wher ewear etoget her."

A clock with text that's supposed to read, "home is where we are together," but the text is in a strange layout.
Reddit | TheHeroxHD

If you don't want to stare at this nonsensical sign for too long, then I'll just tell you that it's supposed to say, "home is where we are together." If you do want to stare at it, then have fun, I guess.

"The handle to my measuring cup."

A measuring cup full of soup stock. The handle of the cup is hollow, which would allow liquid to escape from it.
Reddit | Wolvertoon

It's all fun and games until you accidentally fill the cup too high, and the contents end up spilling out the back. Who even designed this?

"Perfection."

The end of a staircase. The dowel on the railing is cut in half, and the ball on top is only partially secured to it.
Reddit | Wheremyphonecharger

This looks like somebody used what they had without actually thinking about how it was going to look. Sometimes, an extra trip to Home Depot will have your staircase looking... well, normal at the very least.

"Who sits here?"

A restaurant booth with no table, and seats that are too close to each other.
Reddit | Mr_Kowala

Judging by the music stand in there, this looks like a spot where they store things. But I have to wonder, why bother building a booth in that spot if it can't even be used?

"Nike T-Shirt has crumbs as part of the design."

Someone's Nike shirt, where the logo is designed to look like a crunchy Cheeto.
Reddit | Possible_Day_5896

I'm not gonna lie, I find this pretty gross. It would be like walking around with food stains all over your shirt, except the stains are supposed to be there. Just plain nasty.

"Fruit punch laundry detergent."

Minute Maid juice bottled in detergent bottles.
Reddit | NoMoreGoGurt

I don't think I could trust any juice that came out of a container like that. Sure, it probably isn't laundry detergent, but I still don't want to take any chances.

"Blursed kitten photoshopped into a blob."

A box for cat food with a strangely photoshopped cat on it.
Reddit | ****slayer76

Why does it look like someone put the head of a cat on the body of a hamster or something? I'm so uncomfortable, and yet at the same time I'm kind of intrigued.

"They installed the towel bar before the sink."

A hand towel ring against a sink that isn't high enough. The towel hangs directly into the sink.
Reddit | Then_Professional

My biggest bathroom pet peeve is when the towel bar is in the wrong spot. Like, what's the point of having one if you can't even use it properly?

"That time in 2010 when Gap decided to 'update' their classic logo and then changed it back after 6 days of outrage."

The Gap logo from 2010 when they tried to change it.
Reddit | thenewyorkgod

This literally looks like the went into PowerPoint — not a graphic design app, but literal PowerPoint — and slapped something together. No wonder they got shamed into changing the logo back.

"Stairs? Jairs?"

A set of stairs covered in denim jeans.
Reddit | jrd8n

There are plenty of stairs out there with carpet or runners on them. But this... this is an abomination. No one should ever put denim on their stairs.

I don't even want to think about what that'll look like when it's been walked on a few times.

"Gorgeous ship of the line etched into the bottle is covered by a sticker. The other side of the bottle is blank."

A bottle of Kirkland spiced rum with a label partially blocking a ship design on the glass.
Reddit | Survived_Coronavirus

I mean, considering the fact that it's rum from Costco, I wouldn't really expect too much from them. Maybe this is just a labeling error, though?

"That’s Chicago."

A piece of fabric with the Chicago skyline, labeled as New York.
Reddit | Tinyman445

Ah yes, Chicago, New York. That totally makes sense.

Either the person who made this was trolling, or they've literally never been to New York (or Chicago) before.

"The more I look at this house, the worse it gets."

The front exterior of a poorly designed house, with different sized windows, different bricks in sections, and a strange door.
Reddit | flopsychops

I would love to tell you exactly what's wrong with this house, but it's all of it. There isn't a single part of this exterior that looks good. I need to look away before my eye starts twitching with rage.

"Mug that can't be placed on its bottom. No, there is no base that comes with it to place it on, it's only the mug, I've asked the vendor."

A mug with a rounded bottom.
Reddit | ShadowMint742

Nothing like a mug that can't stand on its own to keep you on your toes. Either you finish that drink in one go, or you're going to be carrying around a mug of hot liquid for a while.

"How are you even supposed to read this?"

A wooden clock with letters around it that are supposed to read, Minneapolis.
Reddit | username5391

It reads, "Minneapolis." But, like, badly. I'm sure there were better ways for the people who made this clock to put the text on there, but they clearly didn't have any better ideas.

"Each card has a unique design on the back!"

Playing cards with different photographs on the back.
Reddit | sir_ente

This seems really nice in theory, until you realize that you can never play a game of cards with this deck because it's obvious which cards you have. And if they're just for show, then what was the point of having the suits on them?

"Got given a measuring tape without measurements."

A measuring tape along a table. The face of the tape is completely blank.
Reddit | Qazpaz_G

I'm really hoping that this is just a defective measuring tape, and there isn't someone out there trying to sell blank ones. Because that would be really pointless.