Marc Friedland

Marc Friedland (born December 13, 1959) is an American designer of social expressions and personal communications, based in Los Angeles, California. He creates invitations, stationery and branding for celebrities, companies and non-profit organizations. He is best known for producing the iconic winners’ envelope Academy Awards.
Personal life
Friedland was born in Woodbridge, New Jersey to Jean Perlow Friedland (1920- New York) and Joseph Marlow Friedland (1913-1980 Lublin, Poland) and is the youngest of three sons. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami and Master’s from UCLA School of Public Health. While seeking a profession in the health field, an inspiring art class shifted his life's direction. He resides in Beverly Hills.
Career
Founder of his namesake studio, Marc Friedland Couture Communications, and his agency Creative Intelligence, Inc., Marc Friedland has created custom invitations, visual branding and social marketing for 27 years. He also serves as the Chief Style Director for Evite Postmark. Referred to as the "godfather of the invitation" Friedland enjoys a client list that includes Fortune 400 individuals and companies, organizations, philanthropists, and cultural institutions, such as Los Angeles County Museum of Art, UNICEF, Wynn Las Vegas, and many celebrities from entertainment and sports, including Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks and Heidi Klum.
In the mid-1980s, Friedland began his career creating hand-painted greeting cards for Los Angeles boutiques, a technique that extended onto sneakers and vintage tuxedo jackets as a form of popular wearable art. His 1986 commission of 24,000 hand-painted covers for the stationary publication Status magazine led to 5,000 hand-painted invitations for the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in downtown Los Angeles. The event saw the debut of his clear vinyl envelope and mixed media, establishing his niche and launching his business with nonprofit gala events and high-profile projects.
The Oscar Envelope
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences commissioned Friedland in 2011 to design the iconic Oscar envelope for the winners in the 24 categories of the Academy Awards. The handmade envelope is an iridescent metallic gold paper stock, with red-lacquered lining featuring a pattern of Oscar statuettes stamped in satin gold leaf and sealed with a shiny red sticker and red ribbon. In 2013, Friedland also designed the official invitation to the Academy’s Governors Ball. It marks the first time the Academy had a specially-designed envelope which previously was a plain ecru card and envelope. Friedland describes his design as “imbued with a rich air of luxury, reminiscent of the glamorous golden age of Hollywood.” When Tom Hanks presented at the 83rd Academy Awards, he said: "These envelopes are works of art in and of themselves."

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