License to Judge

January 05, 2010

Say Hello to the new Texas License Plate. After beating out the competing options by an overwhelming margin, it's surprising that something as simple as a license plate design would cause such uproar. Even so, I have been hard pressed to find anyone who actually likes the new design. Since these plates first made their debut on the streets of Texas I have done my best to view them with an open mind, and understand that a change from familiarity can often times be difficult.

Taking the stance that less is more, it is hard for me to appreciate the aesthetics of this new license plate design. With highly saturated and overpowering colors, as well as the abstract representation of the Texas flag and mountain range, the overall all look comes across very busy and distracting. It competes with its associated vehicle, cheapening the overall look like a tacky bumper sticker.

Let's not forget the purpose of the license plate: to simply display information for official identification purposes. Unfortunately, it seems, this sentiment is lost upon The Texas Department of Transportation.