Web Pages That Suck - learn good web design by looking at bad web design

Submitter’s comments: Even on a higher-resolution display, there are still two scroll bars.  Some text is graphic while other text is text.  Large graphics make for a slow download. How did they get people to pay for ads on a site as bad as this?

Vincent Flanders’ comments: On my portrait monitor system (width is 1200 pixels), there’s just one horizontal scrollbar which, of course, sucks. I looked at it on my landscape monitor and the page is approximately 1419 pixels wide. This certainly isn’t responsive web design.

The text is that marvelous gray known as #666. However, because the text is large you can actually read it. Kudos, I guess. On the other hand, the “Attendee Comments” on the top right can’t be read.

Primary Care Education

Submitter’s comments: I’m afraid I have Daily Sucker nomination.  While checking the hours on a (really good) local restaurant, I couldn’t help but notice their web page is absolutely terrible.  Just awful.  I can only assume the owner puts all his talent into the food (which is excellent).

Vincent Flanders’ comments: It figures that the food is excellent—the site isn’t. Sigh. Look. Hire someone, buy a template, do anything but don’t do it yourself. It’s like that commercial for a product or service that I can’t remember (great ad, huh?). It has a doctor playing violin in a string quartet. Obviously, it isn’t going to work. You’re not a designer so stay in the kitchen where you belong.

Bavarian Brathouse

Submitter’s comments: Site looks nice. Plain, but nice. Kinda like an old-fashioned ice cream palace. Unfortunately that is all there is to the site, the home page. Also, all that text is actually images.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Not sure if it’s true Daily Sucker material. It might be nice to know what types of pastries and ice cream are available, but I’m the type of guy who would just go. On the other hand, Using graphics for text is definitely on Web Design Checklist 1: 165 Mortal Sins That Will Send Your Site to Web Design Hell.

Churn

Submitter’s comments: They need to update their website.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: It’s a Flash-based website and there’s very little here that requires the use of Flash. Certainly not the Flash-Splash page. There is at least one video and it’s fine to use Flash for video. In fact, Adobe is only focusing Flash on gaming and premium video.

Now, more than ever, Flash isn’t the best solution for websites. Use it for what it’s meant to be used for—games and video.

Arctic Sunwest Charters

Submitter’s comments: It is meant to be a site about history but has all that unnecessary, jarring gumpf.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: I had never run across the word “gumpf” before. Love it. “Random junk.” I think it’s a subset of Over-the-top Web Design. There are OTT websites that have a consistent theme and then there are Gumpf OTT—or GOTT websites—as in “Mein GOTT.”

There’s way too much crammed on one ugly page. I’m not sure they’ve licensed the likenesses of Clint Eastwood are Arnold Schwarzenegger and it’s just plan horrible looking, which is a shame because I really liked the Anglo-Saxon English class I took and to have these representatives screw it up is a bit sad.

Oh, the site is mildly NSFW (I think). Depends on how politically correct your company is and how much bathing suits offend. On the other hand, there might be worse pictures. Dunno because I have no reason to stay on the site.

Mercia Tourist Board