Both the Miss Universe 2015 and the 2017 Oscars had surprise endings, resulting from the announcement of their respective major awards. A mishap in the cue cards’ designs caused the presenters to call the wrong winners to the stage.
The audience, as well as all the viewers worldwide, were quick to point their finger at the presenters for misreading the cards. But the real culprit is faulty typography, which expressly disregarded the typographic hierarchy.
Typography’s Main Purpose: Communication
The role of typographic hierarchy lies in the definition of typography. Typography is the art of arranging type. It is a form of design that makes written language or printed material readable and appealing. As such, Sieverscreative.com emphasizes the need to value communication within the design — and that’s what went wrong during the events mentioned above.
Typographic hierarchy helps communicate ideas and content effectively. It is a system of design techniques that sorts written ideas according to their importance. Techniques used can be as simple as creating emphases such as bold or italics, or as complex as choosing the font and color. What’s important is that the result should tell readers where to look and in what sequence. It gives visual cues that readers should spot at a glance.
Hierarchy in Web Design
Web design follows another element in the hierarchy. Because web pages are interactive, their design observes visual hierarchy. Visual hierarchy is the logical order of elements in a web page. It unites contrasting elements into a sensible whole. Most importantly, visual hierarchy lets browsers navigate a website with ease.
Hierarchy in web design benefits both the user and site owner. Individual HTML codes used to style text can detect the priority of your site’s content, giving your site a good chance of landing on the top sections of search engine results pages.
Clarity in Hierarchy
Observing typographic hierarchy can save people from a lot of confusion and misunderstanding. Without it, the message you’re trying to send will get lost in the reader’s eyes. Typographic hierarchy should provide visual appeal without sacrificing effective communication. Perhaps the suppliers of cue cards for The Oscars and Miss Universe can benefit from a typography workshop.
