How Good Typography Could Have Prevented the 2017 Oscars Mix-Up

Warren Beatty and Annette Bening may have read the wrong winner for 2017's Best Picture, but the blunder was hardly their fault. The Oscars award show is a very high-pressure, time-sensitive live performance, and the cards that the presenters carry (the ones that say the names of the winners) are the one thing that cue those nervous presenters in on what name they should be announcing.

What it really comes down to is this: if the cards had been designed with better, more thoughtful typography, there should have been no question that Beatty and his wife had been given the wrong card. A well-designed card would have made that clear at the very first glance.

Vox breaks down what the card designer did wrong, and how it could have been better, in this video...


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