Throughout history, people have had some truly remarkable ideas. Some brought entirely new objects, styles, and inventions into the world. Many challenged conventional ways of thinking, doing things, and seeing the world. Sure, they seemed a little unhinged at first—but the best of those ideas went on to shape our lives in ways we still recognize today.
These are not those ideas. What follows are the ones that should probably have stayed in the Notes app, languished on a Pinterest board, or stayed buried in the recesses of someone’s mind. Most probably never needed to see daylight, let alone get executed with this much precision and skill. And that’s what makes them so painfully impressive: somewhere along the way, their creators had every chance to stop, reconsider, or bail out. Instead, they doubled down—pouring heart, soul, and no small amount of elbow grease into something genuinely spectacular in its craftsmanship, if, erm, more than a little questionable in taste.
#1 People Are Divided- I Say It’s Still Great Execution
Image source: MA2_Robinson
#2 Can’t Say I’ve Seen Something Like This
Image source: Zzazy1
#3 Their Description: Rad Opossum Dragon Champ Stamp
Image source: HauntedGhostAtoms
Now look, when it comes to absolutely terrible creative ideas, I have no room to talk. I was once a young Fine Art student with more than my fair share of them. In some cases, my peers and lecturers could intervene before things got truly irredeemable, but looking back on some of the projects I completed is a whole other level of cringe. Granted, in art school, sometimes being weird, freaky, or a little “subversive” seemed like the whole point, but unlike the creators on this list, I wasn’t equipped with a whole bunch of technical skill to carry me through. I was still learning the craft myself, so there was no silver lining of impeccable execution to fall back on.
#4 Stegocat
Image source: Amavin-Adump
#5 Slug Nails
Image source: beaureal
#6 Is This What They Call Deflowering?
Image source: bigbabeonline
What I did learn in those years, and arguably more so in the years I spent tutoring other students, is that, as Loredana Crisan, Chief Design Officer at Figma, puts it, “becoming an expert isn’t just acquiring new skills or techniques; it’s curating a unique way of seeing.” This “unique way of seeing” is where taste comes into play—and taste can sometimes be a whole lot harder to pin down and cultivate than the mechanics of your craft.
#7 Have Fun Keeping It Clean
Image source: Last_Pay_8447
#8 Barber Has Skills But Wouldn’t Want My Kid Walking Around With This
Image source: MegaMindxXx
#9 Bruised And Veiny Nail Art
Image source: NexusRaven7
In my training as a printmaker, in particular, there were very specific, methodical steps—even rules—to follow, and by interacting with your tools and materials, you got a pretty good idea of how each of them behaved and what outcomes could be achieved. Taste, on the other hand, is far more elusive. It’s subjective, sometimes problematic, ever-changing, hard to teach, and often easier to recognize than to explain. Sometimes you only really know it when you see it—or, ahem, when it’s sorely missing.
#10 This Jean Bag Chair
Image source: ehzstreet
#11 This Level Of Commitment To Crocheting Is Impressive
Image source: alixcamille
#12 Staff Kitchen
Image source: Gedj
Taste itself, as Debora Deva writes for The Drum, “often resists simple definition,” with philosophers debating what we mean by it for hundreds of years (yes, really). Still, Deva offers a useful starting point: “In a creative context, it refers to a refined sense of judgment, an instinct for quality, coherence, and style that shapes every aesthetic choice.”
More simply, and perhaps even more helpful for our list today, she cites former Harvard dean Nitin Nohria, who describes taste as “the instinct that tells us not just what can be done, but what should be done.”
#13 Justin Beefer
Image source: Supergupo
#14 I Really Wanted This To Work For This Kid’s Sake. But Like, Why???
#15 This Hat
Image source: Intu24
That distinction between what can be done and what should be done is rather important here. As Tony Wang, founder of Office of Applied Strategy (OAS), a think tank and consulting firm that’s worked with the likes of Prada, Chanel, and Cartier, told Vogue Business, “Taste is conviction. It’s a broad way of describing judgment, discernment, and context—not just what you know, but how you apply it.”
In simpler terms, as Khoshnaz Kazemian puts it, “Taste decides where to go. Craft determines how well you get there.” And perhaps that’s the simplest way to understand what we’re looking at here: these people clearly knew how to get somewhere—and brilliantly, at that. It’s just that their sense of where they should be going appears to have been somewhat less, shall we say, reliable.
#16 I Can’t Think Of Anything More Millennial
Image source: ConspiracyBarbie
#17 Epoxy Coated Plywood Table
Image source: V8TITAN
#18 What’s The Matter Babe, You Haven’t Touched Your Shrekfast
Image source: DimitriTooProBro
Of course, having taste—and the skill to execute your vision—doesn’t mean everyone will love your work. Taste, as Crisan explains, is particular, and two designers can have completely different sensibilities while both demonstrating it. What their works share, she argues, is “care and intentionality behind every decision”—what they’ve chosen to add or leave out, which details they’ve invested in, and which compromises they’ve refused to make. That, she says, is where “taste lives.”
#19 Big Feet Wet, Little Feet Dry
Image source: AgentBlue62
#20 Soy Sauce Dishes
Image source: Clutch69420
#21 Fashion Meets Osha Compliance
Image source: KareemM0hamed0
For Crisan, “In the end, taste is care: caring for the user, caring for your craft, and caring about the end result. It’s a continual process of discerning between what lands and what falls flat, sweating the details, and being relentless about what you’re making and who you’re making it for.”
And maybe that’s what makes this list so fascinating. The care is clearly there. The craftsmanship is often undeniable. The creators made real decisions, invested real time and effort, and followed their ideas through to the bitter end. What’s left in question is the judgment behind some of those decisions—and whether, at any point, anyone stopped to ask: “Should we really be doing this?”
#22 The Ratocaster
Image source: Slick_Wally
#23 Apartment Hunting When, Pebble River
Image source: Dladd12
#24 Cursed Chainmail Mankini
Image source: EnbyViking
#25 Cockroach Latte. It Is A Great Execution But Why?
Image source: ReaganAbe
#26 Chocolate Bulldog Mousse
Image source: Badmajic
#27 Found This Gem On TikTok
Image source: Corn_Jelly
#28 Slick
Image source: alienvato
#29 Someone Literally Took A Picture Of Me And Designed This Cup After It
#30 Nails
Image source: andrfaa
#31 Stained Glass Puking Cat
Image source: [deleted]
#32 This Koi Fish Purse W/Baby Koi Coin Purse
Image source: theLoYouKnow
#33 Fiat 500 Boat
Image source: Blukale3
#34 She Has Actually Done What I Think She Has Done
Image source: xViZzip
#35 Glitched Shoes
Image source: gabsteriinalol
#36 When Nature Calls
Image source: Spicy_weenie
#37 Ant Mario
Image source: scopeta51
#38 I’m At A Loss For Words
Image source: -OptimusPrime-
#39 A Foot Stool
Image source: PermianExtinction
#40 We’re Making Italiano For You
Image source: hamstertoybox
#41 Michael Jackson King Of Pop
Image source: Mohawkamania
#42 Creepy Turtle Baby Hybrid
Image source: Not_aChump
#43 Pigskin Soda Can With Tattooed Branding
Image source: thjeco
#44 This Dentist’s Waiting Room
Image source: Panda_911
#45 I Don’t Understand Why
Image source: anon
#46 Thought This Might Fit Here
Image source: Razvix
#47 Saw This Car Filling Up At A Gas Station In Illinois And Did A Double-Take. The Top Tires Spin Too!
Image source: javems
#48 Long Time Lurker, Then I Saw This And Just Had To Share
Image source: dreaming-md
#49 “I Need People To Think I’m A Bond Villain”
Image source: BabylonLiaison
#50 Meet My New Guitar
Image source: ImpressiveEvening374
#51 Baby Cake
Image source: Stormingstreak
#52 Finally You Can Be A Proud Owner Of The Chernobyl Disaster Humidifier
Image source: NectarineNo2982
#53 This Woodwork
Image source: griffithdidnthwrong
#54 I Don’t Even Know
Image source: pandapersonUFO
#55 Painting I Found In A Shop. Should Have Bought It
Image source: kolfa
#56 Bobby Moon [king Of The Moon]
Image source: Lavendarcream
#57 Found In A Clinic In Rural Ukraine
Image source: ChiefofthePaducahs
#58 New Tats For The Boys???
Image source: TeacherTeacher85
#59 What Do You Think Master Kohga Will Say When I Show Him My New Socks?
Image source: Penguin_Joy
#60 The Barber Who Did This Is Using Their Talent For Evil
Image source: radiatelikethis
#61 You Like Some Raw Man?
Image source: BunnyLovesApples
#62 Blursed Lamp
Image source: jpugg
#63 Furbyture
Image source: thjeco
#64 I’d Rather Hold It
Image source: Last_Pay_8447
#65 Crocheted Nightmare Baby
Image source: JustANutMeg
#66 Impressed By The Skill, Horrified By The Look
Image source: kseniakisavna
#67 Actually Very Well Made, But Still
Image source: CoffeeMix54
#68 Dog Slippers Made To Look Exactly Like Your Dog
Image source: halinmemphis
#69 Cowboy Chair And Ottoman
Image source: g00dis0n
#70 Blursed Crochet
Image source: felixxxxy
#71 This Haircut
Image source: anon
#72 Corn Shaped Like A Plane At The Atlanta Airport (Not Oc)
Image source: vrphotosguy55
#73 Coffin Windows On Hospital Doors
Image source: anon
#74 Cavity Candy Corn Eearings
#75 If Someone Pulled This On You What You Doing
Image source: Disastrous_Tear9143
#76 Bri’moken
Image source: Accomplished_Tax_119
#77 Herbie Fully Loaded X2
Image source: theguytomeet
#78 What In Tarnation
Image source: DirrtyD23
#79 Crazy Socks
Image source: ohdearitsrichardiii
#80 Marketplace Find
Image source: anon
#81 Just Imagine The Amount Of Bacteria This Harbors
#82 Psychedelic Chessboard
Image source: Professional-Wolf571
#83 Who’s Rockin These Today???
Image source: Either_Audience6920
#84 This Fugly Horny Chair For $985
Image source: funky_fart_smeller
#85 Shovel Plate
Image source: VindictiveNostalgia
#86 Chainmail Suit
Image source: Notagenome
#87 The Worlds Most Uncomfortable Shoe
Image source: anon
#88 This Cardboard Armor
Image source: anon
#89 A Hellraiser Playground
Image source: ral365
#90 Armoured Crocs…
Image source: cricklecoux
#91 I See Your Cigarette Nails And Bring You…crochet Nails?
Image source: The_Tell-Tale_Tart
#92 New Piece Cost A Family, Guy
Image source: konstruera
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