Perceptual Blindness in Design

It is not always users that fail to see some particularly “cool” aspect of design, failure to notice which leads to failure in product use. Designers are people too and are just as prone to cultural and perceptual blindness — total inability to notice additional (sexual) meanings hidden in their designs.

Below are examples that I’ve been collecting from email forwards over the last few years. The general groups are toy packaging, store signs, logos, religious strangeness (especially with cultural shifts in time), product labels, and in particular strange dentists’ ads… Enjoy!

Toy Packaging and Design Fails

Store Signs Fails

Logo Fails

Religious Fails

Labels Fails

Doctor Signs Fails

Thank you all who contributed to this post!