'Beautiful Ohio' license plate to become the norm

[Evergrey]

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010...e_plate_t.html

'Beautiful Ohio' license plate to become the norm

By Aaron Marshall, The Plain Dealer
March 31, 2010, 6:00PM



COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It's a beautiful day at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

BMV chief Carole Williams announced Wednesday that the "Beautiful Ohio" design -- the one with the barn and the biplane -- will become the state's standard issue license plate. That means that Ohio motorists will be able to get logo, initialized and personalized Beautiful Ohio plates beginning June 7.

The Beautiful Ohio plates have proven to be popular with motorists since they began to be offered as an option in November 2009 instead of the old red, white and blue "Sunburst" design, officials said. In the first four months since its release, Ohioans snapped up nearly 800,000 of the alternative plates, whose design was picked by Frances Strickland, wife of Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.

"Since its introduction, sales of the Beautiful Ohio plate have outpaced sales of the Sunburst plate by a three-to-one margin. As a result, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles has received numerous requests from Ohioans that the Beautiful Ohio plate be made available as a special and personalized plate," Williams said in a news release. "The Ohio BMV is pleased to respond to customer demand by expanding the availability of this popular design."

The Sunburst design will still be available but only until Nov. 30, according to BMV officials. Ohioans will be able to get logo, initialized and personalized plates in that design through June 6, although new registrations will have through Nov. 30 to get either plate with those options.

I saw one of these yesterday for the first time... I admit I don't care for it at all... too busy and cornball



It reminds me of Kentucky's dorky smiling sun plate that was mercifully short-lived

[OhioGuy]

I'm not much of a fan of these license plates. I think the more clean and simplistic California license plate with the cursive writing is great. I actually liked the old Ohio license plates that listed the county the driver was from.

[Sulley]

Oh God, seeing that Kentucky license plate again... ugh

[Thundertubs]

Ugh, that's terrible, overdesigned, and cartoonish. Way too busy, and too many colors. License plates need to have bold, simple designs. The barn and cursive and little details all turn to blurry blobs when viewed from a distance, which license plates are 98% of the time. Thou shalt never use an airbrush.

The best plates are the simple, bold ones: WV, MN, NY, AR, the old MO, VT, WA, NJ, CO, MA, RI.

Sorry, I'm a little passionate about license plate design. These suck. The last two OH designs were fine.

[Busy Bee]

Terrible. It's as if [qualified] graphic designers aren't even involved anymore. Like a grade school competition or DOT secretary whips em up in Publisher. Pathetic.

Edit: "Ohioans snapped up nearly 800,000 of the alternative plates, whose design was picked by Frances Strickland, wife of Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland."

Don't f***** let politicians do shit like this. Can we go back to being serious about a few things?

[LMich]

I was JUST going to bring up Kentucky's smiling sun...but only to say that this isn't nearly as bad. But, yeah, still is tinged with Teletubbism.

I said this about the change of the Michigan plate on another thread recently, but "keep it simply, stupid" would be the best advice I can give to any state DOT looking to f%ck with its license plates. For the love of god leave them alone, already.

The take on the new Ohio plates kind of reminds me of what they did with the new Michigan plate (i.e. inserting city skylines and then showing natural areas):

"Spectacular Peninsulas"


Wiki

Of the new ones, I'm partial to this one:

"Michigan.gov"


Wiki

And they can't ever replace the iconic...

"Great Lakes"


Wiki

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by LMich

I was JUST going to bring up Kentucky's smiling sun...but only to say that this isn't nearly as bad. But, yeah, still is tinged with Teletubbism.

I said this about the change of the Michigan plate on another thread recently, but "keep it simply, stupid" would be the best advice I can give to any state DOT looking to f%ck with its license plates. For the love of god leave them alone, already.

The take on the new Ohio plates kind of reminds me of what they did with the new Michigan plate (i.e. inserting city skylines and then showing natural areas):

"Spectacular Peninsulas"


Wiki

Of the new ones, I'm partial to this one:

"Michigan.gov"


Wiki

And they can't ever replace the iconic...

"Great Lakes"


Wiki

I've always liked the new Michigan plates. The gradients are simple, and blend the bridge and skylines well into them...no need to be literal in color like the Ohio plate. I'd would say though even 3 colors (blue, black, and green) is approaching busy.

[twoNeurons]

Bold clean lines... is that code for booooooooooooooorrrrringg...

I like the Kentucky Smiley sun one... and it appears that I'm the norm. Who cares if it looks like a blur from a distance. It's more interesting.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

Bold clean lines... is that code for booooooooooooooorrrrringg...

I like the Kentucky Smiley sun one... and it appears that I'm the norm. Who cares if it looks like a blur from a distance. It's more interesting.

I guess the fact that you believe you're in the norm is a strong testament to the artistic illiteracy of the general public.

[ColDayMan]

Ugh, I hate those plates. I'm keeping my old one until we get a new design.

[Cleved]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

Ugh, I hate those plates. I'm keeping my old one until we get a new design.

I think I have to get new plates in the foreseeable future, and this is the first time I've ever been tempted to go with the specialty plates. The new ones look like they were designed using Clip Art.

[BrandonJXN]

I know that I've seen more different Arizona license plates. Sometimes I forget which is the official one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle...tes_of_Arizona

[OhioGuy]

I don't mind the Michigan "Spectacular Peninsulas" license plate. The coloring is more subtle than the gaudy coloring of the new Ohio license plates. Since moving back to Ohio and being forced to start driving again (after a wonderful car free existence in Chicago), I've been using an old car that's been in my family for a while. Fortunately it still has the old Ohio license plate with the county name on it.

[Centropolis]

that kentucky plate rules.

i miss the (well i dont miss them because i wasnt alive) license plates in MO that stated the county..e.g. i would have a license plate that wouldnt be of a county at all but said St. Louis City.

[novawolverine]

I like the simple ones too like old Michigan, California, Delaware and Maryland. North Carolina's is the only "busy" one that I like off the top of my head.

Ohio looks to be using the same sort of theme that New York and, later, Michigan use w/ the skyline and nature.

[Buckeye Native 001]

What's wrong with the current one? The sunburst is relatively simple and non-tacky.

Unlike Oregon or Washington, Ohio really shouldn't be trying to highlight landscapes on its plates. A fucking barn and rolling hills? Jesus. Yeah, that's about as majestic as Mt. Hood or Mt. Ranier

[TonyAnderson]

Busy and cornball ... Totally agree. The best plates are the simplest ones that have just enough touch of uniqueness for the state, such as California's

[vid]

The new New York plates are really nice.


Source

[PhillyRising]

I think the new Ohio plates should have a picture of Buckeye giving the finger and with the saying "Ohio says F*** you"

[FerrariEnzo]

This should be required by law.