Categories / Inspiration

What Designers See Vs. What Everyone Else Sees

Laura Busche Last updated: April 9, 2024 · 1 min read

Let’s face it. Once you become a designer the world starts looking a little different. What used to look OK suddenly makes your eyes burn, and tools you had no idea about become the most amusing parts of your day. Where others see chocolate, you see packaging… where others see Comic Sans you see fire. Life did really change, didn’t it? We’re right there with you, and here are 12 situations you’ll probably relate to: WhatDesignersSee1 WhatDesignersSee2 WhatDesignersSee3 WhatDesignersSee4 WhatDesignersSee5 WhatDesignersSee6 WhatDesignersSee7 WhatDesignersSee8 WhatDesignersSee9 WhatDesignersSee10 WhatDesignersSee11 WhatDesignersSee12


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Laura Busche

Brand strategist. Creating design tools to empower creative entrepreneurs. Author of the Lean Branding book. MA in Design Management from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

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39 Comments
  • All true, that last one though! That gave me a chuckle :) 10 years ago
  • Nice! 10 years ago
  • Personally I think it's a popular misconception that designers have the innate ability to see things different while other non-designers don’t. 10 years ago
  • Designers DO see what others don't, but it's the meta that others wouldn't give a shit about anyway if pointed out to them. 10 years ago
  • hhhh Yes it's true 10 years ago
  • unpaid hahahaha, try to let your bills unpaid :D 10 years ago
  • Love this. Especially the one about Photoshop quitting... and the one with the restaurant menu! 10 years ago
  • Me: What color is your logo? Client: Blue. Me: Is it a spot color? Do you have a Pantone number? Client: (as if stating the obvious) Uh... it's just blue. 10 years ago
  • Am I the only one that doesn't use a mac? 10 years ago
  • Another misconception: Designers love Apple. As an ENFP w/ ADHD and OCD who for obvious reasons LOVES minimal design, I cannot stand the lack of customization iPhones have. I have no interest in iOS 9. Android all the way. 10 years ago
  • Also, that Comic Sans / Papyrus combo made my Monday THAT much worse. Thank you for that. A holes . ( ^-^) 10 years ago
  • Yes, designers DO see things differently from non-designers! All my non-designer friends read words... I see fonts, kerning, letter spacing, word spacing... especially bad examples made by wanna be designers! UGH! 10 years ago
  • I opened my email, and my Monday gift was there - marketing guy emails me saying he loves my work but I should use a "redder red" to an already beautiful bright red headline...really? I almost started chewing tin foil, then I saw this article and made me laugh.. life is good again :) 10 years ago
  • So true! 10 years ago
  • I'm completely lost on the restaurant menu / fire exit connection... 10 years ago
  • Robert - Restaurant (Comic Sans) + Menu (Papyrus) = run for your life! 10 years ago
  • Took me a moment too Robert; I got stuck on the not quite perfectly tilted plate with everything ligned up on horizontals and verticals... then saw the comic sans, then saw the papyrus... ya, double gross. 10 years ago
  • So true... I've got all the symptoms of a graphic designer. Love it! 10 years ago
  • I don't see much of that, does that mean I am not a graphic designer? 10 years ago
  • Funny hehe 10 years ago
  • Photoshop quit unexpectedly!!! too funny and brutally true 10 years ago
  • Bahaha these are all so true. Funny post. 10 years ago
  • LOL! GREAT! I, too, love the PS/cars crashing. That's funny! They all are! I know people see things differently, but, I'm not sure what it is, right or left-brain dominance, whatever. I once saw a series of paintings at a street fair/art festival. Every painting was of some sail boat or another, but, they were all in fog! That can't happen! If you have wind for your sails, there is not any fog. It can't settle in with wind blowing. I noticed that because it is 'impossible', I suppose, and have learned to be 'realistic' with stuff I do, like shading and such. Great READ! 10 years ago
  • This is good. The Restauraunt one really hit the spot 10 years ago
  • Lovin' this post! And the Comic Sans one? I just experienced that one, to wit: "Can we use Comic Sans? I always liked that font" Cue the fire exit stage right please!!! 10 years ago
  • ha ha ha awesome man 10 years ago
  • The last one, hahaha!! 10 years ago
  • LMAO! Love this! Really brightened my day! 10 years ago
  • :) great 10 years ago
  • LOL. :) 10 years ago
  • Hah! Loved the "crash and burn" and the colors = treasure chest... 10 years ago
  • being 'just' a human that rejects the thought of being just or first and foremost one entity (designer, writer/author, fotographer, coffeelover, artist or whatever) i'd like to add that every person sees the world through his/her passion and therefore always and necessarily sees and adds elements of her/his world to the construction of that same world. i'm remembering this statement of a typographer who said something like "other people look at people, i look at letters". that's what interest and passion do. also i'm thinking of Ludwig Wittgenstein who said "Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt" (> The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.) One could add: that's also the case with interest and passion: the less passion the more you don't see or: less passion less world. that being said: i love this place and it's capability to enrich one's mind (i.e. world). happy working! 10 years ago
  • Just noticed! 9 years ago
  • All true. 9 years ago
  • Love all of them! Especially the last one 9 years ago
  • ohh, that last one!! GOLD!! 9 years ago
  • All the facts! 7 years ago