Jose Carillo's English Forum

English Grammar and Usage Problems => Use and Misuse => Topic started by: Joe Carillo on January 29, 2017, 06:45:20 PM

Title: How Steve Harvey can make sure of announcing the correct Miss Universe tomorrow
Post by: Joe Carillo on January 29, 2017, 06:45:20 PM
(http://josecarilloforum.com/imgs/MissUniverse_Manila-2017.jpg)
Miss Universe candidates parade in their evening gowns during a preliminary competition
in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines January 26, 2017.
REUTERS/Erik De Castro

BREAKING COMPANION STORY (January 30, 2017):
This time, Steve Harvey happily got it right! (http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/252790/this-time-steve-harvey-happily-got-it-right/)

So Steve Harvey is again hosting the Miss Universe Pageant, this time to be held in Manila tomorrow, January 30? That guy therefore gets a great chance to redeem himself from his stupendous blunder in last year’s finals in Las Vegas, announcing Miss Columbia as the wrong winner instead of our very own Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach. In a post in the Forum last December after that universe-shaking fiasco, Forum member Gerry T. Gelacio collated four articles by graphic design experts who were unanimous that poor Steve was done in by a badly designed reading card for the winners. Let’s hope and pray that the Miss Universe pageant organizers, their program designers, and Steve himself won’t miss this reading so they can all be cued to do the announcements just right this time around.

Below is Forum member Gerry Gelacio’s December 23, 2015 posting on “How Plain English could have prevented the Miss Universe 2015 fiasco” (http://josecarilloforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=6571.0):

Plain English isn't only about text; it includes visual design. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Plain English Handbook (http://www.sec.gov/pdf/handbook.pdf) puts it this way:

“A plain English document reflects thoughtful design choices. The right design choices make a document easier to read and its information easier to understand. The wrong design choices can make even a well-written document fail to communicate.

“Some documents suffer because no one knew how basic design decisions, like typeface selection, dramatically determine whether or not a document is easy to read. Other documents suffer because expensive design features give them artistic appeal, but at the cost of obscuring the text. In a plain English document, design serves the goal of communicating the information as clearly as possible.”

(http://josecarilloforum.com/imgs/steve_missu.png)

The following articles contend that a badly-designed card led to Steve Harvey mistakenly crowning Miss Colombia, instead of Miss Philippines, as Miss Universe 2015:

“Don’t Blame Steve Harvey: Bad Design Caused the Miss Universe Fiasco" (https://medium.com/hh-design/don-t-blame-steve-harvey-bad-design-caused-the-miss-universe-fiasco-e55d33f4218a) (article discusses banner blindness, positioning of elements).

“Look at Steve Harvey’s Card – He Was Set up to Fail” (http://thehustle.co/steve-harvey-was-set-up-to-fail-in-miss-universe)  (the author provides two alternative designs that emphasize increasing the font size)

“Steve Harvey Didn’t Ruin Miss Universe, Bad Design Did” (http://nextshark.com/how-bad-design-wrecked-steve-harveys-universe/) (the author provides a redesigned form that’s both functional and artsy).

“We asked design experts if Steve Harvey's Miss Universe flub can be blamed on the ballot card” (http://www.techinsider.io/design-experts-on-steve-harveys-miss-universe-flub-2015-12) (one expert blames flush right positioning of the winner’s name as the culprit and compares the card to the 2000 butterfly ballot).