Launch Recite Me assistive technology
A glass jar filled with a thick, yellowish-brown preserve and topped with a burgundy lid. A band of folded paper scraps, featuring images of cabbage and fragments of text, is wrapped around the centre.

Heike Bollig shows us his collection of amusing manufacturing mishaps

—
Date
24 April 2012

We’ve all found that one weird Hula Hoop in the bag where it’s not a hoop at all but rather an ironed out, flat piece of hula. We always say we’ll keep things like that and maybe send it to someone but we never do – we’re too hungry to be that proactive.

These kind of manufacturing mistakes happen all the time and for some reason it’s kind of fascinating which is why Heike Bollig’s ongoing project, Errors in Production, is such an intriguing cavalcade of manufacturing misfortune. Since 2004, Heike has been cataloguing a variety of products from beer bottles to tortellini that in some way have suffered during production such as a multiple labels, a malformed shape or packaging with no product at all. It shows us that sometimes machine can get it wrong, or maybe how sloppy quality control is getting.

A gold-coloured screw with a bent, undulating shaft. It is set against a plain white background.
Above

Heike Bollig: Screw (crooked, incorrectly milled)

An open book with pages that have been cut and folded into three-dimensional, geometric shapes. The white paper creates a series of sharp peaks and valleys that rise from the flat text.
Above

Heike Bollig: Book (incorrectly cut)

Two bottles of Becks beer stand side by side against a plain white background. One bottle is brown glass and the other is green.
Above

Heike Bollig: Brown Beck’s beer bottle (incorrect bottle)

A small white ceramic cup with a tapered base and two circular handles. It is set against a plain white background.
Above

Heike Bollig: Espresso cup (two handles)

A plain, circular brass-coloured coin or token centred on a white background. The surface is matte and devoid of any visible markings.
Above

Heike Bollig: Nickel (blank coin)

A set of pink and white dentures rests on a plain white background. The prosthetic teeth are slightly misaligned and worn.
Above

Heike Bollig: Marshmallow teeth (deformed)

A single piece of yellow pasta, shaped like a rounded pouch, sits against a plain white background. The surface is embossed with a subtle, abstract relief pattern.
Above

Heike Bollig: Tortellini (no filling)

A white plastic fork lies horizontally against a plain white background. The fork has a thick, matte handle and three short, blunt tines.
Above

Heike Bollig: Disposable fork (tines too short)

A plastic-wrapped packet of Sainsbury’s chives lies on a plain white background. A pink label reads “Sainsbury’s Chives” alongside product information and a best before date.
Above

Heike Bollig: Chives (sealed empty)

Share Article

About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

—

Rebecca Fulleylove is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art, design and culture. She is also senior writer at Creative Review, having previously worked at Elephant, Google Arts & Culture, and It’s Nice That.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.