There’s sound design. There’s terrible design, “over-designed things.” And we can usually intuitively tell the two apart just by looking at it. But wait! There’s also ‘design design,’ a bizarre category that straddles the line between quality aesthetics and truly awful taste. Some designers don’t know when to stop designing their designy designs and go way overboard. Are we starting to sound redundant and over-complicated? Good, now you’re getting it!
The best (worst?) of these ‘designy designs’ end up being shared on the r/DesignDesign subreddit, an intriguing online community that both celebrates and criticizes this errr VeRy InTeReStInG aNd ArTiStIc ideas for products and furniture. We’ve collected some of the most bizarre and original pics to share with you, A&D followers.
Scroll down, upvote the designs that impacted you, and if you love what you see, consider becoming a member of the subreddit.
We contacted Matt Johnson, Ph.D., the Consumer Psychology Blog, and the Human Nature Blog host, for insights on balancing the designer’s vision for their product and what would appeal to consumers. He told us that, at its core, user experience is about empathy. Johnson is a professor of consumer psychology at Hult International Business School and Harvard University and the author of ‘Branding that Means Business.’ Read on for our interview with him. (H/T)
01. Wall Outlets With Extension Cords Built Into The Wall
02. Stacked Seating At A Restaurant
03. Hidden Fire Extinguishers
We were interested to learn more about the balance between what a designer wants from their product and what consumers look for. We asked Professor Johnson what can help designers maintain a more grounded, user-friendly perspective.
“Ultimately, good UX is an act of empathy. You have to filter your creative vision for the product through the lens of the consumer’s needs, unique preferences, and tendencies. This means creating a balance between your aspirations for the product (e.g., what you think it could be) and how it will intuitively seem to the end user (how the user will be used),” he explained to us.
“By inviting the consumer into the design process and getting feedback along the product development journey, the result is much more likely to strike this balance.” However, if there’s only poor communication, you might end up with a disconnect between the two. Something that Piterskii-Punk-Wall accurately showed in their comic right over here.
04. Found On The Designp**n Frontpage
05. OK, I Think I Found The Ultimate Decanter. This One Keeps Me Awake At Night
06. Drink The Rainbow
Johnson, the host of the ‘Neuroscience Of’ blog, told us that the best and most beloved products integrate both perspectives: the designer and the consumer.
“If the balance is tilted too far in the direction of the creator’s vision, as opposed to the user’s intuition and needs, it comes off too much as a standalone work of art, and not as a functional product,” he said.
“This feels immediately obvious to the consumer: it reflects an idea from a specific individual but lacks the necessary translation to the broader world. In a word, it feels too much like ‘art,'” the professor told us. He noted that this is perfectly fine and valuable in its context. However, there’s a necessity for this additional layer of consumer empathy in the world of consumer products.
07. A Nature-Inspired Bathroom
08. Imagine Going Through All The Trouble Of Publishing To See This
09. Swinging In The Conference Room
As we see it, two main issues are at play when discussing designy designs, aka over-designed products. Both explain, at least in part, why some creative professionals go entirely overboard.
The first is a question of theory vs. practice and how even the best-laid plans don’t necessarily translate into reality. The second is about the relationship between the designer and their (real or imagined) audience—aka the end-users and consumers.
You might have an utterly fantastic idea for a product or piece of furniture in your mind. Maybe you’ve even sketched it out! But even though the concept looks impressive on paper, it might not be the best fit for consumers. Something that any creator would be terrified to learn only after launching the idea into the market.
10. A Car Fender Bicycle
11. Possibly One Of The Worst Staircases I’ve Ever Seen
12. Door Knob Design That Gives You A Fish-Eye View Of The Room Ahead
Maybe what you’ve come up with is more akin to art and is radically impractical to use daily. Or the item is incredibly complex and unintuitive to the average shopper on the high street: something that you might not realize because you’ve spent so long on the design, you know it like the back of your hand. It’s a case of design short-sightedness where the professional can’t see the forest for the trees.
Meanwhile, the professional designing the product might be completely disconnected from their intended consumers. This might happen due to a lack of information on buying trends or less-than-stellar communication between them and their customers. That means the designer is essentially stuck inside a bubble with only their ideas to consider, with very little (if any!) outside feedback.
13. Holy F**king S**t
14. No Way This Can Go Wrong
15. Apartments In Amsterdam
However, another possible explanation for this disconnect between designers and consumers can be attributed to a more human factor. Namely, arrogance. It’s perfectly fine, even praiseworthy, that you’re confident about your work and feel pride in your achievements. Unfortunately, this can sometimes overshadow the end goal of what’s being sold, namely, that people want to buy and use what you’re offering.
Perhaps the creator feels they have far better taste than the would-be buyers. So they want to ‘enlighten the masses’ (or something equally as pompous). Here’s the thing, though. Even if it’s a well-intentioned idea to educate people about good taste, there are different ways to do it.
To put it mildly, it’s not the best idea to brag to everyone how much more educated and intelligent you are while poking fun at them for being tasteless. However, when you come from a place of humility and a genuine desire to help, others are more open to what you say.
16. Imagine What It Looks Like In Fall
17. Another Silverware Set… Another Useless Spoon
18. A Banana Slide That Trains Your Determination. If You Get Lost, Your Crotch Will Die
At the same time, no matter how successful and well-received a designer’s work might have been in the past, it doesn’t guarantee that their next idea will be good. Multi-functional furniture might not have the mass appeal they hope it will, meaning it’ll remain a niche product for very niche buyers.
Similarly, even if your lovingly-crafted cutlery set is pleasant to look at, it might be utterly atrocious to eat with, so you’re left with a decorative piece that few people like.
19. Injury Attorney’s Dream Staircase
20. Just No
21. This Is The New University Building Of Freiburg That, At The Same Time, Blinds The Road Traffic
The r/DesignDesign subreddit was founded a few years ago, mid-July of 2018. Since then, they’ve amassed a following of 120k Redditors. The moderators running the show stress that the pics shared by the community members have to be, at the same time, examples of excellent and awful design. There should be a balance between the two.
22. Found On Fb… I Can Hear This Image
23. Books And Bath
24. Let Me Find My Keys
Meanwhile, the mods ask their members to avoid reposting other people’s photos too much. “Reposts are OK as long as the post hasn’t been submitted in 6 months or more than three times,” they set out the rules. That way, the content’s kept fresher and helps avoid people farming attention just for the sake of attention.
25. A Balcony Without Sun Or Fresh Air Is Just A People Shelf
26. Oh Yes, Reverse-Lamp
27. These Would Be Awful To Use
The taste might be subjective (e.g., preferences for minimalism or maximalism), but there are many things that we can agree on that do and don’t make much sense. If a product is user-friendly, ergonomic, intuitive to use, and matches our expectations, then we can say that it’s an example of good design.
28. Just No
29. For Me, The Juicy Salif Is The Pinnacle Of Design Design
30. This Hallway Must Have Looked Awesome On The Blueprints
On the flip side, something that’s more like a puzzle that requires an IQ of 160 to figure out won’t get many smiles from the crowd (unless they bought it precisely because they love over-designed, over-complicated stuff). Put the user first, and you can’t go wrong. Put your designs above them, and you might end up in the grey zone where quality and awful taste meet.
31. Does This Count?
32. Reinventing The Pint
33. When You Want The Guarantee Of A Broken Neck From Your Staircase
34. This Fire Pit Doubles As A Side Table When You Tip All The Ash On The Floor
35. Splash-Proof Urinals
36. W Fart Free Water
37. The Lucky Knot Bridge In China
38. Why? Just Why?
39. Thanks, I wouldn’t say I Like It
40. A Bookshelf To Store Some Pebbles Or Something
41. Because A Hat Would Be Far Too Complicated
42. This Sink. Spotted On A Facebook Ad
43. A Maze Of Concentric Circles On The Back Of The Phone Fitting Its Earphones Perfectly
44. This Luxurious Toilet
45. Clocks
46. Dear God, I Just Needed To Pee
47. Love Designy Cumbersome Round Ware
48. I Saw This On Insta
49. That Looks Comfortable
50. Stock Market Bench
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