5 ms·

The Case for Better Designed License Plates

25 points by KeenanSteel 12y ago

jonah 12y ago
What is better about these? More "modern" maybe? What about functional improvements? What's the reasoning behind the design decisions?
- jonahrd 12y ago
  Haha, a fellow jonah with the same complaints as me
jonahrd 12y ago
I thought the author might mention some reasons why the current designs were lacking, and give some possible solutions that would improve the license plates in some measurable way. But it seems that he simply has a preference for his own design that features transparent font on two-color "simple" pictures. Why does the public need to "wake up" and realize that we are living in a world of awful license plate design if the solution just involves making each state conform to some arbitraty template?
jtokoph 12y ago
I find the color palate to be quite visually pleasing but unfortunately the colors selected for each plate don't provide enough contrast. Part of what makes the current plates look so 'poor' is the need for letters and numbers to contrast with the background.
lnanek2 12y ago
I don't really understand why these would be better. Looking at his proposed New York one and the real New York one, the real one is clearly easier to read. Adding a background image that overlays the text makes it harder to read the text, I don't think it is an improvement. I don't really care how pretty the plates are, I care that if someone hits me and tries to drive off as many people as possible have a chance of reading the plate. This whole post kind of sounds like someone redesigning road signs to look pretty instead of meeting the key requirements like being able to read them at speed.
- JshWright 12y ago
  I also don't see how that "stays true to the identity of the state". I assume the red color it evoking the 'Big Apple' nickname for New York City. That, plus the skyline overlay makes it clear that this is a "New York City" license plate, not a New York State license plate (despite the fact that ~85% of vehicles registered in the state are registered outside NYC) EDIT: I'm not currently able to reply to the child comments (which seems odd, as they're not that deep...), but it does appear I did misremember slightly. The actual percentage is closer to 80%. 10.9 million vehicles in total, 2 million in NYC. http://dmv.ny.gov/statistic/2013reginforce.pdf http://dmv.ny.gov/statistic/2013reginforce.pdf
  - bhandziuk 12y ago
    That can't be true, can it? The population of the state ~19 million and the population of NYC is ~8.5 million.
    - drcoopster 12y ago
      You don't need a car if you live in NYC, but you do need a car if you're outside the city.
    - vibrolax 12y ago
      It could be true considering the availability of public transit and the high expense of parking a car in NYC.
    - cpfohl 12y ago
      Who drives in NYC!? We NYS-ers drive everywhere, because it's a massive state with a lot of open space between the interesting things.
    - bhandziuk 12y ago
      (I can't comment on child comments either) I didn't realize it was THAT imbalanced. Also, who are the two farm vehicles registered in NY county?
- 12y ago
jawns 12y ago
Pop quiz: What's the most important feature of a license plate, by far? 1) ṚЁÄḊÄḄЇḶЇṪŸ 2) ɌɆȺĐȺɃƗŁƗŦɎ 3) READABILITY Hmm, kind of hard to read options 1 and 2 because there are a bunch of distracting elements over or near the text, huh? As far as readability goes, these designs are sore on the eyes. The backgrounds need to be significantly toned down to keep from overwhelming the tag numbers. Right now, for instance, Abraham Lincoln's giant head is competing with the tag number for my attention, and if the plate is on a vehicle that's fleeing the scene of a crime, that's not going to help me discern the most important information on the plate. I do, however, like the idea of trying to come up with some design uniformity across all 50 states (e.g. using the same fonts for the same elements, and using the same layout). I know it's probably too much to ask to have boring plain text on a boring plain, high-contrast background -- which would be the easiest to read. But there are some easy ways to tone down the busy-ness. Two suggestions immediately come to mind: Make the tags letters/numbers completely opaque, rather than translucent. And try to keep the most detailed portions of the background images away from the center (as with the Arizona plate).
- ashmud 12y ago
  Agreed on the opaque comment. It took me a moment to realize that was the common factor for all the ones with worse readability. The California design is particularly egregious. I personally would prefer to see a move back to raised letters rather than fancy prints.
- ChuckMcM 12y ago
  I think the most important feature is that it be difficult to decode algorithmically :-)
- mc32 12y ago
  I agree. I think the approach should be similar to that used to come up with a wayfinding typeface, if we presume number tags should have their main characteristic to be readability from afar. Here is a decent look at the approach Ralf Herrmann took when designing an improved wayfinding typeface: http://opentype.info/blog/2009/09/02/designing-the-ultimate-wayfinding-typeface/ http://opentype.info/blog/2009/09/02/designing-the-ultimate-... My first impression of these license plate examples was more or less 'flat design' aesthetics and branding was exercised on them. However, branding and looking good should be a distant secondary consideration to readability.
teacup50 12y ago
These plates demonstrate a pretty myopic naive design view; Washington, for instance, is a lot more than just the Seattle skyline. The current Washington plates feature Mount Rainier: http://www.plateshack.com/y2k/Washington3/wa-1145wsp.jpg http://www.plateshack.com/y2k/Washington3/wa-1145wsp.jpg How is this WA plate design better? Just because it's trendier in its flattyness? It has limited appeal to anyone in the state outside of the Seattle area AND it's harder to read.
- vacri 12y ago
  There is a slight irony in "the evergreen state" using red, white, and blue for its numberplates, without so much as a hint of green to be seen...
whistlecrackers 12y ago
I typically don't think European things, but I think they got license plates right. Black on white. Very small designation of the origin.
kingmanaz 12y ago
Personally, I prefer the old single-color plates that went away around 10 years ago. Today there seems to be a push to logo-ize everything and the results are tacky. A license plate serves to present a series of numbers to law enforcement and fellow commuters, nothing more. Each state should pick a distinct foreground and background color and leave it at that, IMHO.
Raphael 12y ago
What does "ESTD" mean? Why are the mottos sideways? Why bother with the capital city? Some Texans wouldn't appreciate a skull. I prefer Mt. Rainier to Space Needle and friends.
- CocaKoala 12y ago
  I'm with you on the Washington plate. The Space Needle is emblematic of Seattle, which is great for things that are for Seattle. But the Washington license plate is for the entire state, and even though I grew up not too far from Seattle, there's a lot more to the state than just one city. Mt. Rainier is something that's emblematic of the entire state.
pionar 12y ago
One of the bad things about current plate designs that is not addressed by this is readability from an OCR perspective. Some legitimate (read: non-state spying, such as permitless parking) License Plate Recognition (LPR) software/hardware uses need more legible plate numbers/state info. It would be nice if these included a QR code containing state and number info.
drcoopster 12y ago
Maybe I missed it, but no case was given.
Fuzzwah 12y ago
I personally think the current AZ plate template is superior to the one offered by this article: http://www.plateshack.com/y2k/Arizona5/az2014baa2002.jpg http://www.plateshack.com/y2k/Arizona5/az2014baa2002.jpg
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- kingmanaz 12y ago
  Arizonan here who can't stand the new plate (and who also doesn't care for the plate in the article). The current plate's kitschy cactus-and-horizon drawing fades into a blob when viewed from greater than ~4', i.e., the normal viewing distance. The older maroon plate with the raised cactus symbol was far superior, IMHO. http://www.15q.net/us1/az81a.jpg http://www.15q.net/us1/az81a.jpg

25 points by KeenanSteel 12y ago

jonah 12y ago

What is better about these? More "modern" maybe? What about functional improvements? What's the reasoning behind the design decisions?

jonahrd 12y ago
Haha, a fellow jonah with the same complaints as me

jonahrd 12y ago

I thought the author might mention some reasons why the current designs were lacking, and give some possible solutions that would improve the license plates in some measurable way. But it seems that he simply has a preference for his own design that features transparent font on two-color "simple" pictures. Why does the public need to "wake up" and realize that we are living in a world of awful license plate design if the solution just involves making each state conform to some arbitraty template?

jtokoph 12y ago

I find the color palate to be quite visually pleasing but unfortunately the colors selected for each plate don't provide enough contrast. Part of what makes the current plates look so 'poor' is the need for letters and numbers to contrast with the background.

lnanek2 12y ago

I don't really understand why these would be better. Looking at his proposed New York one and the real New York one, the real one is clearly easier to read. Adding a background image that overlays the text makes it harder to read the text, I don't think it is an improvement. I don't really care how pretty the plates are, I care that if someone hits me and tries to drive off as many people as possible have a chance of reading the plate. This whole post kind of sounds like someone redesigning road signs to look pretty instead of meeting the key requirements like being able to read them at speed.

JshWright 12y ago
I also don't see how that "stays true to the identity of the state". I assume the red color it evoking the 'Big Apple' nickname for New York City. That, plus the skyline overlay makes it clear that this is a "New York City" license plate, not a New York State license plate (despite the fact that ~85% of vehicles registered in the state are registered outside NYC) EDIT: I'm not currently able to reply to the child comments (which seems odd, as they're not that deep...), but it does appear I did misremember slightly. The actual percentage is closer to 80%. 10.9 million vehicles in total, 2 million in NYC. http://dmv.ny.gov/statistic/2013reginforce.pdf http://dmv.ny.gov/statistic/2013reginforce.pdf
- bhandziuk 12y ago
  That can't be true, can it? The population of the state ~19 million and the population of NYC is ~8.5 million.
  - drcoopster 12y ago
    You don't need a car if you live in NYC, but you do need a car if you're outside the city.
  - vibrolax 12y ago
    It could be true considering the availability of public transit and the high expense of parking a car in NYC.
  - cpfohl 12y ago
    Who drives in NYC!? We NYS-ers drive everywhere, because it's a massive state with a lot of open space between the interesting things.
  - bhandziuk 12y ago
    (I can't comment on child comments either) I didn't realize it was THAT imbalanced. Also, who are the two farm vehicles registered in NY county?
12y ago

jawns 12y ago

Pop quiz: What's the most important feature of a license plate, by far? 1) ṚЁÄḊÄḄЇḶЇṪŸ 2) ɌɆȺĐȺɃƗŁƗŦɎ 3) READABILITY Hmm, kind of hard to read options 1 and 2 because there are a bunch of distracting elements over or near the text, huh? As far as readability goes, these designs are sore on the eyes. The backgrounds need to be significantly toned down to keep from overwhelming the tag numbers. Right now, for instance, Abraham Lincoln's giant head is competing with the tag number for my attention, and if the plate is on a vehicle that's fleeing the scene of a crime, that's not going to help me discern the most important information on the plate. I do, however, like the idea of trying to come up with some design uniformity across all 50 states (e.g. using the same fonts for the same elements, and using the same layout). I know it's probably too much to ask to have boring plain text on a boring plain, high-contrast background -- which would be the easiest to read. But there are some easy ways to tone down the busy-ness. Two suggestions immediately come to mind: Make the tags letters/numbers completely opaque, rather than translucent. And try to keep the most detailed portions of the background images away from the center (as with the Arizona plate).

ashmud 12y ago
Agreed on the opaque comment. It took me a moment to realize that was the common factor for all the ones with worse readability. The California design is particularly egregious. I personally would prefer to see a move back to raised letters rather than fancy prints.
ChuckMcM 12y ago
I think the most important feature is that it be difficult to decode algorithmically :-)
mc32 12y ago
I agree. I think the approach should be similar to that used to come up with a wayfinding typeface, if we presume number tags should have their main characteristic to be readability from afar. Here is a decent look at the approach Ralf Herrmann took when designing an improved wayfinding typeface: http://opentype.info/blog/2009/09/02/designing-the-ultimate-wayfinding-typeface/ http://opentype.info/blog/2009/09/02/designing-the-ultimate-... My first impression of these license plate examples was more or less 'flat design' aesthetics and branding was exercised on them. However, branding and looking good should be a distant secondary consideration to readability.

teacup50 12y ago

These plates demonstrate a pretty myopic naive design view; Washington, for instance, is a lot more than just the Seattle skyline. The current Washington plates feature Mount Rainier: http://www.plateshack.com/y2k/Washington3/wa-1145wsp.jpg http://www.plateshack.com/y2k/Washington3/wa-1145wsp.jpg How is this WA plate design better? Just because it's trendier in its flattyness? It has limited appeal to anyone in the state outside of the Seattle area AND it's harder to read.

vacri 12y ago
There is a slight irony in "the evergreen state" using red, white, and blue for its numberplates, without so much as a hint of green to be seen...

whistlecrackers 12y ago

I typically don't think European things, but I think they got license plates right. Black on white. Very small designation of the origin.

kingmanaz 12y ago

Personally, I prefer the old single-color plates that went away around 10 years ago. Today there seems to be a push to logo-ize everything and the results are tacky. A license plate serves to present a series of numbers to law enforcement and fellow commuters, nothing more. Each state should pick a distinct foreground and background color and leave it at that, IMHO.

Raphael 12y ago

What does "ESTD" mean? Why are the mottos sideways? Why bother with the capital city? Some Texans wouldn't appreciate a skull. I prefer Mt. Rainier to Space Needle and friends.

CocaKoala 12y ago
I'm with you on the Washington plate. The Space Needle is emblematic of Seattle, which is great for things that are for Seattle. But the Washington license plate is for the entire state, and even though I grew up not too far from Seattle, there's a lot more to the state than just one city. Mt. Rainier is something that's emblematic of the entire state.

pionar 12y ago

One of the bad things about current plate designs that is not addressed by this is readability from an OCR perspective. Some legitimate (read: non-state spying, such as permitless parking) License Plate Recognition (LPR) software/hardware uses need more legible plate numbers/state info. It would be nice if these included a QR code containing state and number info.

drcoopster 12y ago

Maybe I missed it, but no case was given.

Fuzzwah 12y ago

I personally think the current AZ plate template is superior to the one offered by this article: http://www.plateshack.com/y2k/Arizona5/az2014baa2002.jpg http://www.plateshack.com/y2k/Arizona5/az2014baa2002.jpg

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
kingmanaz 12y ago
Arizonan here who can't stand the new plate (and who also doesn't care for the plate in the article). The current plate's kitschy cactus-and-horizon drawing fades into a blob when viewed from greater than ~4', i.e., the normal viewing distance. The older maroon plate with the raised cactus symbol was far superior, IMHO. http://www.15q.net/us1/az81a.jpg http://www.15q.net/us1/az81a.jpg