14+ Design Fails That Should Never Have Passed The Planning Stage

I took design courses in college. Nothing super in-depth, but enough to have some knowledge of graphic and product design.

But even if I had absolutely no background in design, I would know that these products and advertisements are just plain failures.

1. I'm all for household products with built-in closures, but sometimes I'd rather risk losing the cap.

Reddit | iniflonra

Take this toilet bowl cleaner, for example. This is a product where you literally put the nozzle up under the toilet bowl rim. I don't want that piece to also be the part you twist to close it!

2. This seems okay at first glance, and I'm all for wifi and charging on public transportation.

Reddit | nomatron

But the way they decided to display the wifi symbol is questionable. The sign is literally telling us that the signal is poor. Not sure if that was intended.

3. A tip for all graphic designers out there: Don't use a Venn diagram theme if you don't know how it works!

Reddit | Reddit

Because otherwise, you'll be advertising a very different thing then your client may have intended. That list really doesn't overlap with their values, does it?

4. This sign breaks two basic design rules.

Reddit | CmdTakeDown

It's already dumb to put Braille on a sign way up by the ceiling. No one can reach it! But that doesn't really matter anyway, because that Braille is printed on flat.

5. This is just so very wrong.

Reddit | Harkule

The sculpture has that weird "meant to be cute, but just looks creepy" baby face problem, but if I had to choose an end to put a coin slot, I would not have chosen the butt crack.

6. This is an accident waiting to happen.

Reddit | JohanCruijfff

Yes, the building appears to be abandoned, but when has that ever stopped curious kids — and adults, tbh — from exploring? At least make some attempt to block it off!

7. Yum, cannibalism.

Reddit | Bdglow

Presumably this is a children's spinoff of another store, but maybe they should have spent a little more time at the drawing board before going ahead with this sign design.

8. Why does this require a math equation?

Reddit | SilverWaterG

Frankly, a kid still in school and learning integers fairly recently is more likely to get this math equation correct than most of the adults I know, myself included.

9. If the Incredibles family looked like this, I would have made superheroes illegal too.

Reddit | MrCornseed0611

These are terrifying! I'm not sure if these are old figures repainted to "look" like the characters or if they're just terribly made, but what child would ever want to go near that mutant Jack-Jack?

10. I think I know why this park has no kids around...

Reddit | Kaeyne

Sure, the smallest kids won't understand why this is hilarious to the older kids or horrifying to their parents, but someone signed off on this idea and money was spent to install it.

11. Many small apartments have strange layouts, but this sink is ridiculous.

Reddit | xAwokenMachinex

It looks like, in an attempt to add more counter space, the landlord forgot that actually being able to reach the sink is an important kitchen feature.

12. This list wouldn't be complete without a terrible public bathroom stall.

Reddit | brainBaby456

Not sure how wide the door gap is when closed, but that probably doesn't matter since the only people able to get into the stall are super skinny and desperate.

13. This can't possibly be to code...

Reddit | JosephvonEichendorff

This isn't so much a single design fail as it is a failure of basic standards and planning. It's an electrical fire just waiting to happen, and is damn ugly to boot.

14. The Charmin bears just keep getting weirder.

Reddit | likezoma

Either the whole package needed to be opaque or the bear needed to be on a side that didn't display the open rolls, because the bear now has boobs.

15. Why bother matching the shower surround with the base?

Reddit | International_Worker

If it constantly leaks because there's a GIANT gap below the door, just install a second drain in the floor to catch the overflow! Ugh.

16. This water gun may not hold much H2O, but it's full of subtext.

Reddit | MellOhCee

At least it's vintage. I'd like to think that after this initial mistake, people realized that a human figure should never be made into a water gun again.

17. Yet another example of why you can't just slap a cartoon character on something and call it a day.

Reddit | DroidAttackOnTheWook

Why couldn't the clock be on Buzz's face? Mickey-faced clocks have been around forever!

18. The Croc thing has officially gone too far!

Reddit | kittenmeatz

Even though they aren't pretty, I totally get why Crocs are popular. They're comfortable. But besides how ugly this bag is, who would ever carry things in a bag with holes in it?!

19. I think there was a communication issue here. 

Reddit | Andyb1000

It's not just that you need to have an accessible washroom. It's that it has to actually be ACCESSIBLE. I don't have enough facepalms.

20. Protip: If you've already made up a silly name for your company, don't make it worse with your logo.

Reddit | basedinspoons

Like, my brain could not make those letters turn into a word. If it weren't for the URL at the top, I'd never guess it was "Uniconomy."

21. Part of me understands the wish to preserve an ancient well even while building atop it, but...

Reddit | SkoomaDesu

I don't care how sturdy and well-installed that clear cover is, you couldn't pay me to walk across that well.

22. Toilet running or won't properly flush? Too bad.

Reddit | MrtonyEA

Because you're never going to get the lid off the tank to check for the problem. Also, the tank lid is massive compared to the actual tank.

23. This garbage can has slots for sorting recycling, but it all goes in the same bag.

Reddit | juicyyiam

And since one of the slots is for trash, this isn't even a case of the recycling being sorted at the depot. It's all going into the dumpster.

24. "You are my my sunshine. My my only sunshine..."

Reddit | robotshoemagentabark

This is actually a simple mistake, but the biggest problem is that it made it to production and onto store shelves without anyone noticing.