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The Oscars Showed Us Why Typography Matters

I was unaware that during the 2011 Oscars, the wrong winner for best picture was announced. This was a concatenation of two big problems: the announcer was handed the wrong card, and the cards typography was not designed in a way that made reading easy. I have been on stage during a performance multiple times in my life, both for musical and theatrical events. In all of these events, I knew exactly what I was going to do and when I was going to do it. This is not the case for the announcers of the winners as they do not know the winner before they walk out on the stage. For this reason, it is very important for them to be able to read the card they are handed. With the amount of stress that is present, especially with millions watching, the information that is important should be eye catching. The information rather than the Oscars logo should have been prioritized and given more typographic importance.


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