Artist Creates Funny Travel Posters for National Parks Based on Their Bad Reviews

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

America’s National Parks are famous for their natural beauty, but not everyone gets the hype. In fact, some less “outdoorsy” types have even gone to the trouble of leaving bad reviews of their experiences. When discovering the snarky comments online, designer Amber Share decided to create a series of hilarious travel posters featuring their remarks, titled Subpar Parks.

With a degree in graphic design and a love for typography, Share renders each tongue-in-cheek poster with colorful, retro-style graphics. When we last featured her work, the artist had just created a poster for all 61 National Parks. Today, she continues to create graphics for other American landmarks, as well “disappointing places” all over the world. Her portfolio includes a poster for Kosciuszko National Park in Australia, which is apparently “Not Epic.” And in another poster for the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park, Share included the review of one disgruntled visitor who claimed it was “Amazingly Boring.”

Although Share is exhibiting the 1-star reviews, she hopes her works “put a positive, fun spin on such a negative mindset.” A nature lover herself, she uses her art to raise awareness of the beauty of the National Parks, and she regularly donates to the National Park Foundation.

When she posts her work on Instagram, Share often comically explains why she disagrees with the bad reviews. For her Fire Island National Seashore poster—with the text “A bit of a let down”—Share writes, “I really don’t get how you could be let down by a beach where you can sail, swim, fish, hike, camp, canoe, kayak.” Her Lake Mead poster includes the quote, “Nothing scenic about it.” However, the artist disagrees. On Instagram she writes, “Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the U.S., formed by the uber-famous Hoover Dam! If that’s not cool enough, the National Recreation area actually contains a second lake (Lake Mohave) and covers part of 3 different deserts! Sounds like a pretty damn good place to spend a day or two if you ask me.”

Check out Share’s Subpar Parks series below and follow her on Instagram for even more. If you can't stop giggling at these posters, you can buy your own copies via Share’s online store.