United Plates of America (CANADA FINALE!)

[jzn110]

Your Canadian plates are fantastic so far!

But I'm curious why you have the New Brunswick text overlapping the mount hole?

[TheGiantsFan]

On 9/21/2022 at 7:33 PM, jzn110 said:

Your Canadian plates are fantastic so far!

But I'm curious why you have the New Brunswick text overlapping the mount hole?

 

Thanks so much!

 

I try to avoid it as much as possible in my designs, but there are a few real-world cases of text overlapping the mount hole. Ones I can think of off the top of my head are Georgia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

 

As far as New Brunswick is concerned, I only did it because of how busy the license plate design is and how awkward the bilingual province name is laid out 

 

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NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR

 

 

My Newfoundland and Labrador license plate is based around the province’s location at the easternmost edge of North America, positioning it as the first part of the continent to see the sunrise. Illuminated by the ocean sunrise are some pitcher plants, the provincial flower. The Atlantic puffin, the provincial bird, serves as the serial divider and is colored like the provincial flag.

 

(I tried to incorporate the province's unique wordmark, but there were so many visual inconsistencies with the font heights and widths to properly redeem it )

Edited October 6, 2022 by TheGiantsFan
Added renewal stickers

[OnWis97]

I just stumbled on this today and it's fantastic. The Hawaii approach with the different plates for each island is terrific.

The majority of these are upgrades. Being from Minnesota (and painfully into color schemes, etc.) I was disappointed when they reduced the raised/blue letters to flat black letters. So while I like your design, it would be even  better with blue letters.*

I think Vermont was my favorite but there are so many great ones.

*As evidenced by this comment, the only criticisms I would have would be nit-picks. Nice work.

 

Random thoughts:

• A few states have plates that are getting really stale. Most notably, Wisconsin.
• New Mexico probably offers the most to work with due to their red/yellow colors, the Zia symbol, the chilies, and the significance of turquoise (And the balloons, which I just noticed...).
• Someone pointed out that Idaho almost looks like a nod to Montana. Maybe putting the state in the lower-right corner would solve that...

[stumpygremlin]

On 9/26/2022 at 5:58 PM, TheGiantsFan said:

As far as New Brunswick is concerned, I only did it because of how busy the license plate design is and how awkward the bilingual province name is laid out 

I do think you could've narrowed all the text up there to avoid it. You wouldn't have had to narrow it by much, either. Just a thought.

 

Other than that, just want to say that I've loved watching this project!!

[TheGiantsFan]

On 9/28/2022 at 10:56 AM, OnWis97 said:

I just stumbled on this today and it's fantastic. The Hawaii approach with the different plates for each island is terrific.

The majority of these are upgrades. Being from Minnesota (and painfully into color schemes, etc.) I was disappointed when they reduced the raised/blue letters to flat black letters. So while I like your design, it would be even  better with blue letters.*

I think Vermont was my favorite but there are so many great ones.

*As evidenced by this comment, the only criticisms I would have would be nit-picks. Nice work.

 

Random thoughts:

• A few states have plates that are getting really stale. Most notably, Wisconsin.
• New Mexico probably offers the most to work with due to their red/yellow colors, the Zia symbol, the chilies, and the significance of turquoise (And the balloons, which I just noticed...).
• Someone pointed out that Idaho almost looks like a nod to Montana. Maybe putting the state in the lower-right corner would solve that...

 

Welcome, and I'm glad you enjoyed the series!

 

I'm a huge fan of the light blue/brown color scheme and love using it any opportunity I can, but here's a version with dark blue letters just for you:

Spoiler

 

I do agree with you that some states with older, dated-looking license plates do need some refreshing.  California needs a fresh coat of paint too!

 

I'll look at other ways to tackle Idaho's license plates. It's really tough when Idaho's current plate already sums up everything the state has going for them  

 

On 9/30/2022 at 5:13 AM, stumpygremlin said:

I do think you could've narrowed all the text up there to avoid it. You wouldn't have had to narrow it by much, either. Just a thought.

 

Other than that, just want to say that I've loved watching this project!!

 

You know, you're absolutely right there! I tightened up the kerning, lightened up the font, and played with some ligatures on the New Brunswick plate so that it all fits between the bolt holes now!

 

Spoiler

 

Thank you very much for your feedback!

 

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NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

 

 

Inspired by the Northwest Territory’s Aurora borealis souvenir license plates, my redesign of the iconic polar bear license plates features a bright green aurora above a nighttime forest scene.

 

(On a side note, my 1993 NWT bear plate is one of the crown jewels of my license plate collection back home in California)

[TheGiantsFan]

NOVA SCOTIA

 

 

Inspired by Nova Scotia’s Scottish heritage, my license plate redesign features blackletter typography that resembles Gaelic scripts used in Scotland and Ireland from the 16th to 18th centuries. The province’s Gaelic name is featured at the bottom, and the Nova Scotia coat of arms (seen only on Camper plates) serves as the serial divider in full color. 

[TheGiantsFan]

NUNAVUT

 

 

In honor of Indigenous Peoples' Day today, here's a license plate for the land of the Inuits!

 

My license plate design for this remote Arctic territory features the inuksuk, a stone navigational tool used by the native Inuit population. The inuksuk (also found on the Nunavut flag) is shaped like the territorial map, and the 25 stones represent the 25 communities scattered across the vast territory. The North Star found on the flag is above the inuksuk. Similar to the current license plate, the Nunavut wordmark is also shown in the native Inukitut alphabet.  

[TheGiantsFan]

Moving on from Canada's most sparsely populated territory to the province that contains ~40% of Canada's population...

 

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ONTARIO

 

 

Improving upon the disastruous 2020 license plate redesign, my Ontario license plate is an embossed white-on-blue design that features the centered crown used on license plates from 1938 to 1966. This design retains the classy serif fonts from the current plate but uses the slogans from the 2020 redesign, itself taken from “A Place to Stand, a Place to Grow,” the unofficial anthem of Ontario. The three leaves from the provincial coat of arms are found in the lower corners.

[Halian]

All of your Canadian plates so far look amazing

[TheGiantsFan]

On 10/14/2022 at 6:58 PM, Halian said:

All of your Canadian plates so far look amazing

 

Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying them

 

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PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

 

 

My Prince Edward Island license plate is essentially a modified version of the provincial flag. The flag colors have been adjusted to better reflect the island’s landmarks: the red is darker to represent the unique red soil and the green references the setting of Anne of Green Gables, a famous children’s novel. The generic “island” on the provincial flag has been now changed to be a map of the province.

[TheGiantsFan]

QUÉBEC

 

 

My Québec license plate is an homage to the symmetric, modernist design that flourished in Montréal in the 1960s and 1970s. The royal blue of Québec’s provincial flag shines prominently, and each corner is adorned with a French fleur-de-lys from the flag. The provincial slogan (meaning “I Remember”) is retained as a symbol of Québec’s strong French-Canadian identity.

[TheGiantsFan]

Before the next Canadian province, here's a commonly requested redesign of my redesign...

 

IDAHO 2.0

ORIGINAL POST:

Spoiler

 

 

I received at least three different comments about how my first Idaho redesign looked more like a Montana plate, so revamping my Idaho redesign was inevitable. However, I kept on pushing this one back due to extreme creative block for Idaho, as there was really nothing going for this state at all.  

 

This new redesign for Idaho’s license plate is inspired by the various green-on-white license plates used between 1968 and 1991, as well as the white-on-black Idaho state highway signs used until 2020. The wordmark features an “h” in the shape of Idaho, and the serial divider is a reference to Idaho’s “Gem State” nickname (first suggested by @BrySmalls). As a nod to the state’s famous potatoes, a mountain landscape is depicted using French fries.

 

Now back to Canada!

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SASKATCHEWAN

 

 

My Saskatchewan redesign retains the elegant simplicity of the current plates but adds the prairie province’s famous fields of wheat. An Alberta-style script font adds organic character to the license plate while the serial divider is now a map of the slightly non-rectangular province.

 

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One more Canadian license plate left!

[TheGiantsFan]

We've reached the golden finale for the Canadian leg of United Plates of America!

 

YUKON

 

 

The history of this Arctic territory is largely influenced by the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1890s, so this license plate design is given a rugged gold rush look. The miner seen on Yukon plates since 1952 has been redrawn and updated, and the single speck of gold in his pan is now a golden map of the territory with the “shine” that brought many to the Yukon. To top this design off, the gold paint on the border, territory name, and the speck of gold has a metallic shine to it.

 

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With the completion of Yukon, here is a compilation of all 13 of my Canadian license plate redesigns!

 

 

You can also read more about the Canadian plates (and the other 56 American plates) on my Behance page!

 

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Thank you to everybody that followed along this little journey through the world of Canadian license plates! As always, it was really fun learning more about our neighbors up north (if you're American)

 

As far as my next series is concerned, I'll be doing some more soccer concepts! I moved up to Oregon a few months ago, and I thought that an Oregon League series would be a fun way to learn more about my new state; stay tuned for that in the coming months!

[TrueYankee26]

On 6/2/2022 at 2:41 PM, TheGiantsFan said:

 

Regarding the state outlines on designs, I do try to restrain myself from going overboard with those designs (even though I will have at least another one coming up). Some states are wide enough to be easy license plates (Kansas and Nebraska, for example), and many states already have state outlines at some point in their license plate history. I'm personally also a huge fan of using state shapes as dividers, so there's that 

 

As for alternate license plates, maybe that's something I can explore later on in the series like I had done for Hawaii! I know Utah definitely does something like that IRL (even though the standard plate tries to touch on all parts of the state)

 

 

I'll admit I did have a difficult time making a NH plate without the Old Man of the Mountain, so I really appreciate the feedback from a NH resident!

 

Would you suggest reverting the purple on the plates back to green like it is in real life? I decided to go with purple to distinguish New Hampshire from the other blue plates in New England as well as future-proofing myself for my upcoming Vermont design.

 

You do have a great point about including references to the ocean, though! I was a bit hesitant to include references to the state's tiny shoreline, but I'll include it if you think the NH shoreline is relevant enough to the state as a whole.

 

Thank you so much for all these insights!

 

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Back from a quick little vacation for the next state!

 

NEW JERSEY

 

 

Despite its unpopularity, I decided to revive the 1979-1993 buff-on-blue license plates for my redesign. A New Jersey-shaped flicker lights up the blue background, as Thomas Edison invented the electric lightbulb in the state in 1879. New Jersey boasts the largest number of oceanside boardwalks in the US, and that is referenced by the wooden planks at the bottom of the plate. The state motto replaces the “Garden State” slogan.

Oh snap these rule, I wish NJ used these

[Saturn]

On 10/27/2022 at 2:25 PM, TheGiantsFan said:

We've reached the golden finale for the Canadian leg of United Plates of America!

 

YUKON

 

 

The history of this Arctic territory is largely influenced by the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1890s, so this license plate design is given a rugged gold rush look. The miner seen on Yukon plates since 1952 has been redrawn and updated, and the single speck of gold in his pan is now a golden map of the territory with the “shine” that brought many to the Yukon. To top this design off, the gold paint on the border, territory name, and the speck of gold has a metallic shine to it.

 

---

 

With the completion of Yukon, here is a compilation of all 13 of my Canadian license plate redesigns!

 

 

You can also read more about the Canadian plates (and the other 56 American plates) on my Behance page!

 

---

 

Thank you to everybody that followed along this little journey through the world of Canadian license plates! As always, it was really fun learning more about our neighbors up north (if you're American)

 

As far as my next series is concerned, I'll be doing some more soccer concepts! I moved up to Oregon a few months ago, and I thought that an Oregon League series would be a fun way to learn more about my new state; stay tuned for that in the coming months!

Literally perfect.