- 11,329
- Marin County
I was thinking the other day how much I dislike the Connecticut license plate and ended up scrolling through various license plate design rankings with surprisingly varied results. I thought...well maybe lets see what GTPlanet's ranking would look like. I'm thinking we each rank our personal top 10 and bottom 10, that will establish the ends of the list (#1 ranking = 10 points #50 ranking =-10 ponts) and the ones that fall in the middle (no votes) will be in no man's land - where they belong. I'm not sure that's the best way to do it, but going multiple rounds seems like a pain and a poll doesn't give that much insight. Here is a page with all of them.
Alright, without further fussiness, here are my top 10:
1. New Mexico - A masterpiece of clean but impactful design that instantly conveys the Native American heritage of the state. It's not only good design, it's also very very pretty. Every variant of the plate is also fantastic! NM just slays the license plate game.
2. Colorado - Nearly as strong and impactful of a plate as NM, but with less special colors. It wouldn't make sense to use strong colors for this design, but I just don't love it as much.
3. Hawaii - It's just lovely, isn't it? Don't see them on the mainland too much, but this plate always makes me smile and want to go to Hawaii again.
4. Maine - I'm partial to it since I'm a Mainer originally, but as far as pictorial plates go, this one is the best. They kept it simple and clean, and I think it's quite nice.
5. Vermont - Impactful, clean, and somehow conveys the feeling of that state. It's like a little European feeling somehow. Also, fantastic typeface.
6. New York - It's a strong plate that doesn't get too cutiesie with the graphics. I think the old yellow plate was more powerful, but this one is a little less intimidating.
7. Nevada - I like the abstracted mountains, but the colors are a bit busy. Still a good plate.
8. Arizona - The colors convey Arizona perfectly, although like Nevada, it starts to get a little busy.
9. Montana - You can't get more simple than just drawing the outline of the state. But it works for me.
10. Oregon - This one has some has some potential, but doesn't quite come together. It should be great, but it feels a bit lacking - I think they should make it slightly more abstract, like Colorado's.
...
50. Ohio - The old plate would have landed in no man's land, but the new one is shockingly bad. Graphic design is not the same thing as art, especially bad art. Jesus. Plus the first run had the airplane backwards...
49. New Jersey - Looks like a faded dollar store sign. Yuck.
48. Connecticut - Look, I really don't like gradients as a graphics move. This one feels particularly sad.
47. Alabama - A beach? What? Also far too cartoony.
46. Iowa - Why on earth is there a city skyline on Iowa's plate? It doesn't make sense.
45. South Dakota - It's just not very attractive
44. North Dakota - Busy and garish
43. Wyoming - This one would be GREAT if it was just the cowboy on a simple background. But they went full clip art on the background and it looks terrible.
42. Kentucky - See Connecticut, but less off putting for me.
41. Illinois - Too much going on and the background elements are very indistinct and smear together.
40. Indiana - Again, far too busy. What is it with the midwest states?
A lot of the simpler states end up in no mans land. California, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Texas, and West Virginia would probably be in the top 15 for me, but they aren't interesting enough to go higher. Some of the California optional plates are excellent, but this is about the standard plate.
Bonus - here is a great talk from Roman Mars about flag design, which has somewhat similar objectives.
Alright, without further fussiness, here are my top 10:
1. New Mexico - A masterpiece of clean but impactful design that instantly conveys the Native American heritage of the state. It's not only good design, it's also very very pretty. Every variant of the plate is also fantastic! NM just slays the license plate game.
2. Colorado - Nearly as strong and impactful of a plate as NM, but with less special colors. It wouldn't make sense to use strong colors for this design, but I just don't love it as much.
3. Hawaii - It's just lovely, isn't it? Don't see them on the mainland too much, but this plate always makes me smile and want to go to Hawaii again.
4. Maine - I'm partial to it since I'm a Mainer originally, but as far as pictorial plates go, this one is the best. They kept it simple and clean, and I think it's quite nice.
5. Vermont - Impactful, clean, and somehow conveys the feeling of that state. It's like a little European feeling somehow. Also, fantastic typeface.
6. New York - It's a strong plate that doesn't get too cutiesie with the graphics. I think the old yellow plate was more powerful, but this one is a little less intimidating.
7. Nevada - I like the abstracted mountains, but the colors are a bit busy. Still a good plate.
8. Arizona - The colors convey Arizona perfectly, although like Nevada, it starts to get a little busy.
9. Montana - You can't get more simple than just drawing the outline of the state. But it works for me.
10. Oregon - This one has some has some potential, but doesn't quite come together. It should be great, but it feels a bit lacking - I think they should make it slightly more abstract, like Colorado's.
...
50. Ohio - The old plate would have landed in no man's land, but the new one is shockingly bad. Graphic design is not the same thing as art, especially bad art. Jesus. Plus the first run had the airplane backwards...
49. New Jersey - Looks like a faded dollar store sign. Yuck.
48. Connecticut - Look, I really don't like gradients as a graphics move. This one feels particularly sad.
47. Alabama - A beach? What? Also far too cartoony.
46. Iowa - Why on earth is there a city skyline on Iowa's plate? It doesn't make sense.
45. South Dakota - It's just not very attractive
44. North Dakota - Busy and garish
43. Wyoming - This one would be GREAT if it was just the cowboy on a simple background. But they went full clip art on the background and it looks terrible.
42. Kentucky - See Connecticut, but less off putting for me.
41. Illinois - Too much going on and the background elements are very indistinct and smear together.
40. Indiana - Again, far too busy. What is it with the midwest states?
A lot of the simpler states end up in no mans land. California, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Texas, and West Virginia would probably be in the top 15 for me, but they aren't interesting enough to go higher. Some of the California optional plates are excellent, but this is about the standard plate.
Bonus - here is a great talk from Roman Mars about flag design, which has somewhat similar objectives.
