Soon his envelope proposal passed up the hierarchy of the Academy. With his background ... to show you what I mean,” Friedland says. A design was created, very soon thereafter accepted, and ...

One possible explanation for the backstage confusion that led to the epic screw-up of the Best Picture envelopes at Sunday’s Academy Awards: the new design for the envelopes themselves.

Friedland's specialty envelope, standing at 1/8 inch thick and weighing a 1/4 pound, made its debut at the Oscars in 2011. The creative director put together an exclusive design to bring gravitas ...