One of the crowning achievements of the internet is its ability to link different countries, races, and cultures. Running a company from Australia, I’ve got information and advice from people the whole world over, and used it to adapt and change my business, build great websites, and build a global presence.

Unfortunately, there’s one global message that hasn’t hit every country yet, and that’s the importance of good design. Bad websites are out there, EVERYWHERE. It’s not just limited to Geocities sites anymore, but every geographic corner of the web. These 14 websites are my personal most hated favorite.

#1 – DrivingSkills.on.ca – Canada

Canada is a first world country, right? Seriously — I know Americans like to joke about it, but Canada isn’t a country built on sticks and mud. Somehow, this website looks like it was build in a cave, on a computer powered by a moose on a treadmill.

Want to read the content? Oh wait, you can’t thanks to the annoying horizontal scrolling. Here’s a top tip for amateur web designers out there: have your pages scroll in ONE DIRECTION only.

#2 – BW-Hilchenbach.de – Germany

Every now and then, a website that’s so bad it simply hurts to view comes along. This masterpiece is one of those websites. Got some great music on? Prepare to have it disrupted by the endless, looping sound of… err… something.

Good luck if you can find your way around this website. Sure, the background isn’t too much of a clash, but those animated .gifs really make it a design masterpiece.

#3 – Amazing Thailand – Thailand, obviously.

Look, I know Thailand is a patriotic country, but do you really need an army of waving flags, flashing national lights, and infuriating color schemes on your page? Sure, a couple of pictures can add a bit of flair, but not when they’re all shaking, bouncing and desperately competing for your attention.

Here’s a top tip if you’re making a tourism website. Guide the viewer towards the content that matters. Ten thousands animated .gifs competing for your attention? It achieves nothing but a migraine for anyone unfortunate enough to come across your website.

#4 – HavenWorks.com – USA

If your screen has anything less than a 19000000×120000000 resolution, don’t click the link. If you like being able to read, don’t click the link. If you value your vision, don’t click the link. If you’re a designer, please please don’t click the link.

I can’t even comment on this one. If you want to see the pinnacle of poor design, click the link. Don’t say I didn’t warn you — this one is bad. If you’ve got a block of free time, say thirty years or so, you could even try to read every article on the front page.

#5 – AboutTimeWeb.com – Australia

Need an exercise in cognitive dissonance? Look at this page, then read the content.

Yes, it’s the sales page for a web design agency. A design agency staffed by the blind, one would assume. For just a couple of thousand dollars, you can have your website built by an agency that values the real important things: poor usability, clashing colors, and text so large it drills a hole into your brain.

This one just escapes all logic or rationality. These people design websites for a living. While this may come off as a simple case of absolutely no self awareness, look at the bright side of it. If you’ve ever wanted to start a business in a field that you have absolutely no experience in, About Time Web proves that you really can succeed without any skills or abilities, or, well, any sense.

#6 – Zimbabwe Government Office – Zimbabwe

Take a look at that website, and then take a look at the URL. Yes, this is an official government website, designed to promote and inform the world about Zimbabwe. Judging by how effective the design is, it’s about as great a promotional tool as any of the media coverage Zimbabwe’s got in the last five years.

Want a sure fire way to get a great website? Pay a designer 10 billion dollars to finish it. Unfortunately, in Zimbabwe, this strategy seems to fall flat on its head, and builds a website that not only includes the worst of the web (animated .gif flags, anyone?), but manages to send an even worse impression of a country that already has a significant PR problem.

#7 – Web_4_All – Poland

Some guidelines for this one:
- Don’t view it if you’re epileptic.
- Don’t view it if you don’t like being hypnotized.
- Don’t view it if you value your life.
- Don’t view it if you’re color blind — you’ll see nothing.
- Don’t view it.

Poland is home to some beautiful cultural sites, stunning architectural works, and other hugely pretty pieces. Unfortunately, this website doesn’t keep up the tradition. If you’re a hacker, please take this one down.

#8 – Allan’s Homepage – Denmark

Flashing lights, a bright blue background, and dripping blood animated .gifs. Need I say more? Personal homepages haven’t exactly set the bar especially high. We’ve all seen the terrible Geocities websites that newbie designers cranked out during the 1990s. But this takes the cake. Pop-up right at the start, dancing strip-o-gram .gifs, and broken links all over.

Have you got faint memories of your personal homepage from decades past? Type the URL into your browser now, and see how well you did next to Allan. Even the most amateur Geocities website must have better design principles and usability than this mess of mush.

#9 – MIAUK.com – United Kingdom

This is a serious warning to any people hurt by flashing lights: DON’T CLICK THE LINK.

This appears to be a band’s website. I’m not certain since I didn’t get past the first page, but I’m assuming it’s that. Try to guess what their music is like from the background graphics, annoying banners, and just about everything else on their page.

Having trouble? Click through to their Myspace page, and enjoy another layout that makes your brain bleed. Wannabe musicians, take this advice: make your page readable. There’s nothing worse than losing potential fans because they couldn’t navigate their way past your first page.

#10 – Bali Real Estate – Indonesia

Bali is an island renowned for its delicious natural beauty, scenic beaches, and incredible ancient sites. Unfortunately, this real estate website lets those beautiful selling points go to waste, and delivers a bland, confusing and outdated layout.

Looking over this website, I was sure that I’d seen the design before. Then it suddenly clicked — I had seen it! I’m fairly certain this design was popular with real estate websites in, errrr, around 1994. Still, if you’re stuck in the 90s and you need a holiday home, give this real estate website a try.

#11 – Noise.cz – Czech Republic

I wasn’t sure whether to put Czech Republic or Czechoslovakia for the country, since this website looks like it was designed before the Iron Curtain fell. About as attractive as a Soviet apartment block, this website shows all that’s bad about web design. As an aside, if you’re a fan of black and orange, black and orange, and black and orange, you’ll probably be in heaven.

I’ve got to hand something to them, they’re picked the perfect domain name for their website. It’s all about noise, but unfortunately this design seems to be the noise that’s preventing people from getting to the signal.

#12 – Err…. something – Turkey

Read that domain name out loud and you’ll win… ugh, something. If you’re a fan of scrolling both vertically and horizontally, you’ll be in heaven here. Similarly, if you’re a fan of advertisements that simply never leave you alone, you’ll find something to love on this website.

Anyone else? Avoid it like the plague.

#13 – Didigam Villavo – Colombia

Remember the end of the first Star Wars? You know, the bit where Luke Skywalker was racing down the trench, ready to blow up the death star? It seems to me like that’s where this web designer for their inspiration for the background.

Seriously, this one is bad beyond any comparison. Sure, there are other bad websites out there, but they seem to be the result of incompetence more than a complete lack of taste. Whoever designed this is good enough to program in flash, but tacky enough to have absolutely no sense of design, whatsoever.

#14 007 Museum – Sweden

You’d think that MI6 could build a better website than this. After all, Q has built all kinds of high-tech gadgets over the years. Unfortunately, this 007 website falls short of just about every web design standard imaginable. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Here’s a message to every budding web designer out there. If you’re looking for inspiration on what to do, run as far away from these websites as you possible can. However, if you need a clear benchmark of failure, these should serve as your design anti-inspiration for many years to come.

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4. Remembering Your Reader in Web Design
5. 30 Stunning Examples of Websites with Beautiful Gradients