Print Pros Share Their Worst Typos Ever

What is the worst typo you’ve ever printed or sent to a customer?

• We accidentally had “f*ck authority” – spelled out in full – on a kids’ wallpaper. In defense of my team, the phrase was hand-written very sloppily and very hard to read – it was easy to miss. Now we make sure to double check any writing thoroughly! — Tracey Hiner, Black Crow Studios
• We once made a rush set of signs for a duct cleaning service for a client to use at a trade show. Unfortunately, the word came out “duck” and wasn’t caught during our QC stage. The client laughed so hard they are looking to amend their mascot to a duck. — Derek Atchley, Atchley Graphics
• Instead of using Greek text, a graphic designer was being a little too creative and wrote a funny story as a placeholder for a product description. Of course it was not caught and we printed a few thousand brochures for an event that featured his story. The last we heard, he was at Kinkos trying to staple pages into the book. — Ryan Clark, Direct Edge
• I don’t have one, but I do recall one by another printer in Spanish that translated into a bad word. — Carmen Rad, CR&A Custom
• I can’t put it in print. LOL. — Tim Bezner, Westmount Signs and Printing
• I had a customer’s trailer that had the words “Lower Prices, Higher Standards.” I got a call to get to the truck yard, one of our installers had just finished installing the logos and text. As I drove through the guard shack, there was the trailer turned to face me: “Higher Prices, Lower Standards.” I could not strip the lettering fast enough and get new lettering in place! The fleet manager had that photo above his desk for the next 6 years. — Kim Magraw, Vivid Sign
• We have one that wasn’t so bad. It was a parade banner. We printed “Honorary Marshall” with 2 l’s. — Tommy Melendez, Master Graphics NYC