Bad typography has ruined more than just the Oscars

How bad graphic design changed award shows, elections, and your medicine cabinet.

The 2017 Oscars ended with a pretty shocking mix-up. Announcer Warren Beatty incorrectly named La La Land as the Best Picture winner, and the mistake wasn't revealed until crew members had already started giving their acceptance speeches. A lot of things went wrong for the snafu to happen the way it did. But what if typography was one of them? A better announcement card design could have made for a very different Academy Awards show — not to mention a much less embarrassing Miss Universe show for Steve Harvey back in 2015. But the implications of bad typography don't end there: poorly designed ballots in the 2000 presidential election arguably could have swayed the outcome, and illegible type on medicine bottles could be causing nearly 500,000 cases of drug misuse per year in the U.S.

[ihatemyname]

Bet i’d say something like “and the moonlight for best oscar goes to picture”

[mluqman]

I had no idea bad design was one of the reasons Bush became President

[MoonlightGlimmer]

In short: Make the Design CLEAR. CLARITY over fancy design.

[EmyN]

I love when Vox covers these underrated subjects

[Lerkero]

People are lazy. We need graphic designers to save the world

[GlassGhost]

I don't even understand why W.B. gets the blame for the Oscars mix-up, he's not the one who announced the wrong name and hesitated because he knew something was wrong

[leemercury]

The orange pill bottle really is odd - in Australia most meds come in unique boxes and sometimes distinct bottles. It must be hard to distinguish between medicines, just asking for trouble.

[lanaistheneworange]

Moral of the story:
Graphic designer still has one job.

[PhoebeHB]

I actually cannot fathom who thought it was a good idea to have arguably one of the most important pieces of information on that card ('best picture') so impossibly small and right at the bottom. After seeing that, I'm surprised there haven't been more mess-ups like this year.

[acester]

When I say art is one of the most important things on earth I'm usually talking about small things like this that people really take for granted.

[TEMSproductions]

Bad design always makes the user feel as if it was his fault a misuse, when in reality is the designers fault...

[martag]

"Better typography could have changed US history" - let that sink in.

[cheongziyong]

More videos on typography and design in general, please. Good design is always unappreciated, as it's designed to be _easy_, _frictionless_ and _out of mind_. Unsung heroes deserve more.

[fenhen]

“1st Runner up” Jesus, who wrote that? Just awful.

[soylentyellow]

Why not simply print on the outside of the envelope what's on the inside?

Look, here's the envelope "Best Actress", over there is "Best Movie".
Impossible to mix them up, even under high pressure.

[bronwyngreen]

In Australia, our pills are packaged in boxes/blister packs. It's easy to read the box, and even generic brands use different colours for different drugs. Many boxes even come with braille on the outside.

[JLJL]

Alternative video title: How bad typography got us the Iraq war and killed hundreds of thousands of people

[killlamas]

Don't people go to school for Typography? Aren't these people trained?? America is constantly giving me a headache.

[iammuzzi]

"As with a lot of design, it's hard to notice things that are done well until they aren't there anymore." <- thiss

[IsomerMashups]

Suggestion: MAKE THE CARD A SCRIPT IN LARGE FONT.

"The award for best goes to for