50 Times People Committed Horrible Design Decisions (New Pics)

Even though taste can be a very subjective and individual thing, there are some universal design rules that help differentiate between ideas that work and ones that are bound to fail miserably.

At its core, bad design is about an inability to do what’s expected of it. Say, for instance, if a product is unwieldy or hard to use, or a poster doesn’t inform the audience of what it should.

Design legend Dieter Rams had 10 principles of design that practically everyone in the field knows. According to him, good design should be innovative, instead of rehashing the same old ideas over and over again. As such, designers need to start thinking outside of the box, instead of focusing only on derivative projects. Otherwise, you’ll end up stagnating.

In the meantime, products have to be useful, as well as aesthetic. And these two concepts have to flow into one another. Designers who focus purely on aesthetics will find that nobody will want to use their products because they’re user-unfriendly.

Meanwhile, products that are purely functional might appeal to extreme minimalists, but others might steer clear of them due to how bland they look.

Rams believes that well-designed products should be easy to understand. Someone who looks at them should immediately know what they do and how to use them. Ideally, the products would also be designed in such a way as to make them last as long as possible and be eco-friendly to avoid waste.

The same principles broadly apply to architecture and public spaces as well. "A modern design should not only look beautiful, but it should also be functional and serve a purpose,” the founder of the ‘Call it Design’ project on Instagram explained to Bored Panda during a previous interview.

“A well-designed space should feel open and uncluttered, with each element having a purpose and contributing to the overall aesthetic," the design expert said.

"[The] space should not only be beautiful and functional now. It should also stand the test of time and continue to look relevant and modern for years to come,” they told us about the importance of thinking ahead into the future.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about the designs featured in this list, dear Pandas. Which ones did you personally think were the worst of the bunch and why? Were there any products or graphics that you thought weren’t all that bad? Scroll down to the comment section to share your opinions. In the meantime, for some more splendidly horrendous design fails, take a peek at Bored Panda’s earlier posts.