Oscars switch from sparkly look to flowing, organic production design

Nominees, for example, were shown on screen with an intricate set of layers and curved lines in the lower left of the screen.

For the lower third-style graphics used under winners and to introduce films themselves, the flowing look was used to create a gentle, slightly asymmetrical carved that could be shown in gold and blue. 

The curved look was also used in the ‘split screen’ design used to showcase simultaneous feeds of nominees. In these frames, the presenters were tucked into an open spot in the upper left of the screen, where each nominee was showcases in a diagonal polygon — a design element that comes from the ‘A’ in ‘Oscars’ — which, for several years, has had the crossbar removed and an outside of the statuette in its place.

It’s worth nothing the Oscars kept a mix of the curved and angled look on the outdoor red carpet area. The red carpet step and repeat area, for example, kept the triangular segmented look, while pillars with the same structure were scattered outside the Dolby Theatre. The audience boxes, meanwhile, were fronted with curved bases and headers, however, while video towers incorporated the wispy graphical look.

For the ‘in memoriam’ segment, most of the curved elements were shed to keep the look simpler, letting the imagery of the people and typography dominating the look.