I had a similar experience the other day. I was at Wal-Mart (do NOT get me started on those idiots. Just. DON’T.) when I realized that the miserable NEANDERTHAL at the register had clearly made a few mistakes — I had purchased two hairdryers (I have extremely long hair deal with it) and yet they were NOT in my bag. So I took out my receipt and scanned it for inconsistencies:
What I saw made me FLIP. THE. FARK. OUT.
I was seriously shaking with anger. I cannot believe — cannot believe — that a company as large as Wal-Mart could get away with just awful design. Postponing my hairdrying for yet another day, I rushed out of the car and back to my Tesla. I was home in no time, and I fired up several instances of every version of photoshop that I have. It took 17 hours, but this is what I came up with:
Wal-Mart? This one is on the house. Try to learn a little something.
First of all - color. Make it pop, yes? NEW typeface (Futura, good for everything). And did I feel constrained by the so-called “size” of the receipt? Also, simplified the information - you don’t need all that crap about coupons and taxes and whatever. Simple numbers, clean, DONE. Function follows form, natch. Lastly, a little bit for the consumer to think about. Is that so hard? Thinking? Have we really fallen so low that we can’t reflect on Eastern Folk religion just because we’re at a big box store? Bringhurst must be spinning in his grave.
Damn That Television commenting on A Better Boarding Pass, in MetaFilter (thanks Phil!)
I have been laughing about this for the last five minutes straight. Tears-in-eyes laughing. Go click on the comment link to see the resulting receipt for even more hilarity.
