Communication is about clarity. The more muddled the message—the more confusion you’re bound to see on the reader’s face. When it comes to the signs you see in public, you normally expect all of them to be brief, precise, and informative. Alas! Nothing could be farther from the truth. Far from everyone’s a pro when it comes to writing and advertising skills, and the ‘Useless, Unsuccessful, and/or Unpopular Signage’ Facebook group is proof enough.

An online group bringing together nearly 191k members, the UUU Signage project has been around since November 2014. Since then, it has collected a vast archive of some of the very worst and funniest signs to be found on Planet Earth. We’re featuring a selection of the very best ones, so go on, have a scroll and a glance. Don’t forget to upvote the signs that made you laugh and made you more confused than you expected, and if you’re a fan, go ahead and join the UUU Signage group.

I had a friendly chat about the most important things when making a sign—any sign—with Lisa McLendon. She is the William Allen White Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications and the coordinator of the Bremner Editing Center at the University of Kansas. You'll find the insights she shared with Bored Panda below, dear Readers.

Remember… keep it simple—keep it short—keep it clear.

#1 On The Community Noticeboard At My Local Shops

Image credits: Sarah Strahan

#2 Just Press Three 333 Times

Image credits: Nigel Champion

#3 I’ve Been Called Many Things In Life. But This Is A First

Image credits: Cailey Bisgould

Lisa, from the University of Kansas, highlighted to Bored Panda that when it comes to making signs, clarity and brevity are essential. This is because you don't have much time to get your point across and you need to be quick and sharp with your messaging.

"Clarity and brevity are essential. You only have a second or two to get your message across, so you want people to understand quickly with zero confusion," she told Bored Panda.

#4 An Employee Caught Me Taking This Pic And Said “Ah Yes, Another One Of Our Many Exciting Deals!”

Image credits: Lauren Carrigan

#5 Oh No

Image credits: Vivian Minus

#6 I Didn't See A Cat Going Out But I Did Observe A Walrus Sashay Towards The Door

Image credits: Kori A Butler

I was also interested to get Lisa's opinion about the types of egregious mistakes that the people putting up various signs should avoid.

"Don’t carve an error in stone. It’s embarrassing and expensive to fix. Proofreading before you produce, whether it’s stone or not, is absolutely necessary," she said that we should take the time to look over our work before making any permanent decisions. Proofreading is far cheaper than fixing a mistake later on.

Lisa also noted that the font that we choose for our sign is incredibly important. "Choose your font with readability in mind. It should be clear and readable at a distance; you don’t want to make people puzzle through a swirly script," she said.

#7 Yeahhhhh Right

Image credits: Stephanie Croshaw

#8 Found Some Paperless Towels At Walmart Today. What Will They Think Of Next?

Image credits: Hansen Murphy

#9 When You've Had Enough Of Your Man

Image credits: Kelly Sedlak

The UUU Signage page is part of the wider ‘Useless, Unsuccessful, and/or Unpopular’ community that encompasses a variety of different niches, from ads and screenshots to memes.

The group’s admins and mods note that they’re only interested in photos that people have taken themselves. So, for instance, screenshots have no place here (in fact, there’s an entirely separate UUU group for them specifically). Original content and exploration are encouraged. All for the sake of documenting signage that should have us laughing all the way till the weekend.

#10 Spotted At A Local Dollar Tree A Few Years Ago

Image credits: Kerri Kay

#11 I Have A Bad Feeling About This Rest Stop Bathroom

Image credits: Anna Hicks

#12 Make Good Choices

Image credits: Kate Anderson

It’s easy to sit back and chuckle at some of the silly (and sometimes downright mental) mistakes some sign-makers have made. However, we’ve all been in situations where we’ve made similar mistakes, for everyone to see and gently poke fun at.

Perhaps we didn’t edit our text enough (or at all…) because we were exhausted. Maybe our proofreading skills weren’t up to scratch anymore (thanks a bunch, Fifth Cup of Coffee). Or maybe, just maybe, all those silly mistakes snuck into our sentences the moment our backs were turned.

Frankly, I like this last theory the most, even if it’s the least likely. It suggests that there’s a Greater Force at work here, sprinkling chaos into our otherwise orderly word structures.

#13 Baa Baa Black.. Clam?

Image credits: Howard Davies

#14 The Mechanic Left This In My Girlfriend's Car After Being Serviced... The Car Is Still Dirty

Image credits: Michael Dylan Faas

#15 No Thanks

Image credits: Kerri Saterfield

A while ago, I had another chat about editing, proofreading, and kerning (it’s the spacing between letters, Pandas) via email with Lisa from the University of Kansas.

"Word placement, typeface, and kerning are crucial for effective, professional-looking logos and layouts. If it’s just a few words, all-caps is fine, but it’s harder for people to read longer blocks of text in all caps. It’s also harder for people to read italic or highly stylized type, or type along a curve instead of a line,” Lisa explained to Bored Panda.

#16 I've Never Seen A Bumper Sticker I Wanted More

Image credits: Melissa Anne

#17 Pfantastic Signage

Image credits: Aaron Schiff

#18 Is This The New Saying Now?? Mandela Effect?

Image credits: Taylor Mcclelland

What’s more, Lisa noted that we should look at all the ways in which our words could be misread or read out of order if they’re circled or stacked on top of one another. Meanwhile, if the kerning happens to be too tight, some of the letters could merge into different symbols and result in some (hilariously) embarrassing misreadings.

One example of this is writing the word ‘FLICKERING’ in all caps. If the kerning is too tight, the ‘L’ and the ‘I’ merge into a ‘U’ and… well, it’s fairly obvious what happens, isn’t it?

#19 This Was A Couple Years Ago...and I Know What They Meant But... Still

Image credits: Dave Brideau

#20 Please Don’t Follow Anybody Home

Image credits: Shravan Sunil

#21 This Is The Kind Of Secret Doctors Don't Want You To Know

Image credits: Samuel Maffit

Lisa suggests running a spell-check to catch any typos. It’s a very obvious step, but not everyone does it. However, the tool isn’t omnipotent. “Spell-check won’t catch typos that result in a word that is still a word, just not the word you want,” she warned that you should still get someone else to proofread the text.