BAD* graphic design blog

Only for the most serious of graphic designers *amazing

[puppy95]

Radiohead In Rainbows 2007

[michaelmoonsbookshop]

just some of the the changes in design for the Penguin Symbol on old Penguin Paperbacks 

[dinkywinks]

he did a little dance and for this crime he was imprisoned in a bubble

[luxflora]

They liked his little dance so much they gave him a spotlight

[anasandorpygoscelis-deactivated]

family album

[delgrosso]

[web-swan-deactivated20250829]

pink web graphics, folders, and icons 𑄽♡୧ by Heyvoz (2011)

[fuckthecrystalgoblet]

What is the actual sexiest punctuation mark?

;

—

&

{ }

~

‽

…

*

Voting ended onMar 14, 2025

[belovedapollo]

bought this gem secondhand and can’t get over how stunning it is 🪐 reblog is okay, don’t repost/use

[dostoyevsky-official]

[tsunflowers]

book from the sky (tianshu) xu bing, 1989-91

I was so excited to see a copy of this in real life bc it's something I studied in art history. this is a book that was typeset and printed by hand using wooden blocks but every one of the characters was invented for the sake of the piece and does not correspond to any word in the Chinese language

[tsunflowers]

yes. he invented and hand carved 4000 characters. it is a CRAZY project that resulted in an intentionally unreadable book. I love it

[curioscurio]

Xu Bing you're legendary to me !!!!

[potabo]

I feel like we're underselling it a little here

[deadpeatbogbody]

im dying over this thread of algorithmically-generated/otherwise low-effort Kindle covers

[deadpeatbogbody]

[guildenstern]

don't forget

[yourasshurtdone]

grossly inappropriate copy of animal farm that is on my nightstand at this very moment

[gingerlamppost]

the a modest proposal one is insane fucking *gets on one knee* we should eat irish babys

[escuerzoresucitado]

[endreal]

Well this post is pretty seriffic :)

[badassworms]

All of them

[asciidot]

i keep thinking about the graphic designer pride flag

[asciidot]

it has captivated me

[sandmandaddy69]

[homunculus-argument]

If any part of your plan involves the words "nobody could be that stupid", please be prepared to be proven wrong at any minute at a moment's notice. Pay in mind that the person determined to prove you wrong may already be aware of this assumption, and is already approaching your current location at an alarming speed.

[the-real-seebs]

"it will be fine if people just"

people will not just

[alarajrogers]

In 2011 I attended an event called Bmore Fail, in which entrepreneurs in Baltimore talked about their failures and what they learned from them.

What I learned is that there is an inflexible rule about how people interact with systems. If your system would work perfectly if people Just Would, and yet they Don't, then your system is bad and you should feel bad. Systems must be built with an eye toward "will people actually do this"?

Recycling was a thing when I was a child. (The 70's.) In my home in New York State, you could carry recyclables to a recycling center. Nobody did. Now in 2024 Baltimore there is a trash truck that comes every week to pick up my recyclables, and I and my neighbors fill our cans with objects that can be recycled, because a system was developed that was easy for busy people to do, and there's a lot of social pressure to do it -- but the social pressure wouldn't exist if it wasn't easy to do. Only the most crunchy granola people bitched at you if you didn't recycle in 1979, when it required a lot of effort. Now it is considered kind of on par with spitting in the street or leaving a dirty diaper on the diaper changing table in the bathroom instead of throwing it out, if you don't recycle.

Your job as the system creator is to make it as easy as possible for people to do the right thing, and as hard as possible to do the wrong thing. This is why web forms have data validation (but too much data validation actually makes the forms harder, so hit the spot in the middle.) And if you want people to adopt social change, whether it's environmentalism, accepting gay people, or whatever, make it as easy as possible. And don't guilt people about not doing it until it's as easy as possible; instead phrase things more like "wouldn't it be cool if". It's not the fault of the individual that they can't get things done in a bad system. Fix the system.

[the-real-seebs]

if users regularly fuck up using a tool you made, and your answer is "you're holding it wrong", the next question you should ask is "why did i make this tool so it's easy to hold it wrong?"

[arrghigiveup]

TiL (click to go to the thread, which probably has more interesting tidbits I missed).

Bonus:

[drst]

These are my people.

[petermorwood]

Betting I’ve reblogged this before. Betting I’ll reblog it when it turns up again.

In addition to the print terminology stuff: the visual shorthand icons and ad graphics for something about writing are still often pen-nibs, fountain pens and typewriters…

…while graphics of a monitor, keyboard and mouse remain visual shorthand for computing…

…even though most writers now use monitor /  keyboard / mouse or even laptop / touchpad.

In addition, headers for “this blog / website is about writing” are often in one of the many imitation typewriter fonts complete with smudges, or just Courier.

The start and end call icons on most / all smartphones is still the handset of a classic desk telephone, and sometimes the open-app icon is a complete phone.

The term “hang up” for “end the call” refers to something even older - one of these…

And of course the Save icon is indeed a 3½ inch floppy disc.

Why it wasn’t a 5¼ floppy is a mystery. The icon version is just as distinctive.

Also, why various OP updates never changed “Save” to the graphic of a CD / DVD or flash drive is another mystery, and nowadays a Save icon should probably be a cartoon cloud.

Graphics and terminology are funny things.

[nehirose]

reblogging this again for EVEN MORE information.

[porcupine-girl]

I’m mostly entertained by the guy who thinks you need to know that “case” means “box” in French as though that’s not what it means in English.

[catgirlforeskin]

skeumorphism my beloved

[bizships]

It’s fascinating. This post alternately made me feel old and taught me something. Tumblr is amazing.

[redcurlzbychoice]

And because we continue to use signs of ancient hardware, youngsters come up with questions like “why is the icon for ‘save’ a vending machine with a can of soda?” (One day I’ll find that post and link it)

[senes-aeterni]

me when I━

sayonara you weeaboo shit

[creepymutelilbugger]

even the samurai are being dodge rolled ⁉️ bushido has fallen …

[selfunaware]

not a hyphen -

not an em dash —

not a bold em dash —

box drawings heavy horizontal….. ━

[mollyjames]

Thank you that was bothering me

[smash-or-pass-objects]

Smash or Pass: Ampersand

smash

pass

Voting ended onApr 8, 2024

[heirtocragflame]

Objectively one of the most fuckable punctuation marks

[pallidprincess]

kind of a milf

[sometiktoksarevalid]