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Friday, May 25, 2012

Company designs 'foolproof' envelopes for the Oscars

02/23/2012  | Reuters

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An Oscars envelope designed by Marc Friedland. COURTESY OF YOUTUBE/Marc Friedland Couture Communications
When it comes to the Academy Awards, literally nothing is left to chance and that includes the elegant winner's announcement cards and envelopes.

Designed by Marc Friedland, the envelopes are making a return trip to the Oscars after their successful debut at the 83rd Academy Awards.

With the countdown on to Hollywood's biggest night, workers at Friedland's studio are busy putting a high-gloss shine to the handcrafted materials, featuring iridescent metallic gold paper stock, with a red lacquered lining.

Friedland explained that he did "tweak" the envelopes after noticing a few of the presenters last year got caught up in the moment and fumbled when removing the winner's announcement card.

"At that moment, there is a lot of tension and a lot of excitement," said Friedland, founder and creative director of Marc Friedland Couture Communications. "So, we wanted to make it really foolproof, that no matter who is taking it out, it is easy to take out. But, everything else remains exactly the same."

While Friedland gets to create the announcement cards, he himself has no idea who will be bringing home the Oscar.

That's because a winner's announcement card is created for every nominee and then delivered to PriceWaterhouseCoopers - where only two partners at the accounting firm count the ballots. The actual winner's card is then inserted into the envelope with the others being thrown away.

"Those remaining cards get destroyed, so that they don't wind up on eBay or get auctioned off," said Friedland.

This year, the designer is also partnering with the Academy and Evite on Oscar party invitations that people can personalize and have digitally delivered for free for their own parties. They are available on Evite's new premium service called Evite Postmark.

The 84th Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
     
     
 
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