Did You See a Website on that License Plate?
Have you ever been stuck in traffic and stared at the car in front of you? Have you noticed that there is a website on the license plate? No? Well, now is your chance to see a review of official license plates with websites emblazoned right on them! You don’t even have to get in your car! After 5 years, I’m updating this article. I’ve found that several states have abandoned the website idea, such as Georgia, Minnesota, Maryland, for example. Others have updated their websites, like Nebraska.
“I whistled for a cab and when it came near
The license plate said FRESH and it had dice in the mirror
If anything I can say this cab is rare
But I thought now forget it yo homes to Bel Air.” — The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
It’s likely that Will Smith didn’t see a website on that FRESH license plate way back in 1990 when The Fresh Prince of Bel Air premiered. Now, he’d see one on that California license plate: dmv.ca.gov. Huh?
License plates are used by states (and areas outside the US) to promote their locales and give themselves a unique identity. Many license plate designs carry over to other uses and some would be know even if they did not have the state name on them. Having watched old cop shows from the 60s and 70s, one gets very familiar with the orange-and-blue California and New York plates on cars driven by Rockford, Barretta, Mannix, and Barnaby Jones.
Some are known by their slogan. “Famous Potatoes” can only be … Idaho, but some are more mysterious, such as “The Peace Garden State.” Umm. Let’s see…. oh, it’s North Dakota. Of course.
Pass the Plate
Since the dawn of the Internet age, we’ve seen websites emblazoned on everything. It didn’t take long for states to get into the act by placing websites on their state plates. Some started out quite awkwardly, like Pennyslvania’s www.state.pa.us, which has been shortened to visitPA.com.
Have you ever felt compelled to visit a state’s website just because you’ve seen it on the car in front of you?
I grew up in Florida and had a license plate on my car that read myFlorida.com. Even though I love license plates, design and websites, it was not until recently that I visited myFlorida.com. It is also the first time I’ve ever visited any of the websites I’ve seen on license plates. My guess is that very few people do.
I gassed up the Googler and went in search of all the license plates I could find that have (or had) websites on them. I found an article by Ethan Wolff-Mann (yes, really) that got me started on this quest. His page ranked all the license plates by design. I agreed with most of his choices, but would have ranked New York (orange and blue) much higher. Check it out here: Ranked License Plates.
PENNSYLVANIA
I like that the website colors have some similarity to the license plate and it has great photos. It also appeals to a visitor by offering a Vacation Guide. Their license plate is recognizable and easy to read, but nothing too exciting.
TENNESSEE
This site has excellent images, fantastic typography and an easy, appealing layout. I hate their license plate, though. The website looks tacked on, there are too many typefaces and too many small details. From a distance, you’d have no idea what was going on here.
visitnebraska.com
NEBRASKA
Nebraska has always had nice license plates, but I think some of their previous ones were much better, especially the simple red & white state outline they had in the 70s. I like how they say Nebraska isn’t for everyone as a way of making it unique.
MICHIGAN
I love Michigan. Their license plate is awful, though. I don’t get the swishy M. The website is pretty nice (what’s with all the kayaks on these sites?). It’s not that exciting to look at but it serves its purpose and is easy to get around in. I’m not a fan of “Pure Michigan.” Sounds like it could be referring to eugenics or hand sanitizer or something.
CALIFORNIA
California dreamin’ (of getting rid of this stuff). They need to go back to the iconic Streets of San Francisco blue-and-gold license plates. Plain, simple, but very identifiable. The URL on the Cal plates is bizarro. Would anyone driving behind a car with this plate write this down and check it out to see what cool stuff the…DMV…has to offer? But, if sticking pins in your eyes gets old, check it out. Visitors to the state of California can learn all about AB60 Driver License Implementation. Off we go! I think Maryland, Georgia and California should merge into just one awful website and be done with it.
FLORIDA
The URL is plastered on the plates in big, arched letters and tells you it is your Florida. Until recently, Florida had the worst website in the world (the Rick Scott years). It has since been updated and looks much better. Above are examples of the old site and the new. The license plates is still awful, though.
OHIO
discoverohio.com
I was waiting at a light in Stuart, Florida and saw an Ohio license plate in front of me. Hey! They have a website, too! How could I have missed it? Welllll… it’s kinda ghosted and hidden and part of a bunch of other indecipherable words and has a weird “17” next to it. I guess that’s a date maybe.Their website is OK, what you’d expect and certainly better than Florida. One nice feature, although it’s not on that website, is they have a lot of info on the plate itself: click here.
INDIANA
IN.gov
Just found that Indiana had a website on their license plates, too. It seems that they have since abandoned the idea, though. Indiana has had some nice plates and the barcode at the bottom is kinda interesting. It reminds me of the license plate on the back of the DeLorean in Back to the Future. The website the license plate refers to is nice-looking, but like Maryland, it is dominated by a giant search bar and also has weird stats that they announce: 1,491 criminal records viewed today. Uh-oh, looks like crime is a popular sport in the Hoosier State. I think the site would have been much better if it featured the folks from Parks & Recreation instead. Nick Offerman’s (Ron Swanson) scowl on the site would be more interesting than crime figures.
ALABAMA
outdooralabama.com
Alabama joins the collection with this conservation specialty plate that costs $50 per year. I like the unique colors of the plate and the URL is easy to read. I went to the website and, as it loaded, I thought: wow! this is gonna be cool! But once loaded, it was almost impossible to read. A really good start, but the first rule of typography is that is must be readable.
Kentucky
kentuckywildlife.com
Here’s another specialty plate that features a website. In 2013, Kentucky approved the “World-Record Smallmouth Bass” license plate. The mega-bass was caught in 1955, so it only took 58 years to honor the li’l fella, but a fish gets its day.The Kentucky Fish & Wildlife Foundation sponsored this plate and it must certainly appeal to anglers. It’s a nice-looking plate, and in this case, there is an actual image of the plate when you visit the website that’s on the plate! Hello, Maryland, are you listening? I give this one an A for that. The website isn’t much to look at, but certainly better than that cringe-worthy effort from The Sunshine State. Anglers from Kentucky to other fishing-popular states, like Florida would like what you’ve done. Good job, Bluegrass State!
Virginia
virginia.org
Wow, I didn’t realize my former home state (Orange County) had a new license plate until I saw one on the road while driving on I-81 in Virginia. Jamestown has been replaced with “Virginia is for Lovers” and a website (virginia.org) to go with it! The license plates retain the simple blue-and-white motif they’ve had since the Earth was young and full of promise, but it it does give it an iconic look. The website, virginia.org, is very nice. It has great photos, easy navigation and is what you’d expect. I also happened upon another Virginia license plate with website. This one was proposed in 2011 and I guess didn’t make it. Virginia Tech was one of the supporting members of the “Virginia Loves Trees” license plate. Virginia didn’t love trees enough, which is too bad, it’s a nice looking plate. The website, valovestrees.org, is not a valid domain.
Virginia also has a tribute plate to the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. This plate is a few years old now, but is worth noting. The website, virginiacivilwar.org does go to a nice website that has a lot of historical facts.
Louisiana
LouisianaTravel.com
In honor of Andrew Jackson’s Battle of New Orleans victory in 1815, Louisiana issued a special license plate commemorating the event. Andrew Jackson, as you recall, is the wild-haired dude on the $20 bill that a lot of people would like to be removed due to his treatment of Native Americans back in the early 1800s. The plate features a guy on a horse, who, I guess, is Mr. Jackson. It’s not that exciting. The website it advertises, LouisianaTravel.com, is nice, but when I first viewed it on my laptop, I couldn’t really see much of it. Also, once again, nothing to tie in the license plate with the website. Unfortunately, due to Americans’ appalling lack of knowledge in our own history, I’m sure many would see this plate and have no idea what it is promoting. (I saw one on the road in Stuart, Florida the day after I added this.)
Saint Maarten
St-Maarten.com
Like Prince Edward Island, Saint Maarten is not a state. It is a Dutch territory in the Caribbean that shares an island with St. Martin, a French territory. That could get confusing. The Dutch side touts their part of the island as “The Friendly Island.” The French side, it seems, uses a European French license plate. I guess they’re not as friendly as the Dutch. They have a variety of designs, and the one shown here features a pelican. There’s a Pelican Key, so I guess pelicans are popular in St. Maarten, just as they are in Louisiana, but I’ll be brief. Interestingly, the license plate doesn’t actually “say” St. Maarten, it just appears in the URL. The location could be perceived as “The Friendly Island.” The website advertised, st-maarten.com, is pretty nice and has some interesting color choices that seem to make sense for a tropical resort island. No connection to the license plate, of course, but visitors to the site will find what they want. I’ve never actually seen a St. Maarten license plate on the road, but I have seen Hawaii and Guam, so maybe some day I will.
Arkansas
ArkansasStateParks.com
Arkansas! Wow! You rock, Natural State. I just came across this specialty plate for Arkansas State Parks and was lovin’ it. This is a really nice-looking plate, nice typography, great colors and makes me want to drive out there now and commune with nature (just so long as former Governor Mike Huckabee is not around!). The website emblazoned on the plate, www.ArkansasStateParks.com, is just as nice as the plate. I included extra screenshots of it to show that they actually tie in the license plate with the website! What a concept! My compliments to whomever was involved in the design and execution of the plates and website. Very, very nice.
Connecticut
http://fund-adoption.org/home0.aspx
I found this Connecticut license plate by searching for New Jersey. This is part of the “Choose Life” campaign and the site has links to New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Only Connecticut had an actual website license plate as far as I could tell. At Fund-Adoption.org, there are links to the three state with some sample plates. The site is pretty bad but I applaud their efforts. So, anyhow, here’s the Nutmeg State and their website license plate.
North Carolina (rejected)
Sometimes there are license plates that never make it onto the backs of cars. A few years ago the North Carolina Bluegrass Association proposed a Bluegrass plate. I thought the design was pretty nice and it had a URL on it: ncbluegrass.org. The URL now seems to go to some Chinese site so don’t bother with it. According to their Facebook page they only got 10 people to buy into it so it didn’t get done. Too bad, it seemed like a good idea.
APPALACHIAN TRAIL
This isn’t a state, but eh AT is depicted nicely on the plates of three states — Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. The plates and website showcase one of America’s natural treasures.
Is it a Good Idea to Put Websites on License Plates?
I don’t think adding websites to license plates is a good idea. I certainly don’t like it when the state name becomes part of the URL (myFlorida.com, for example). I was surprised there weren’t more states that did this. One thing that really surprised me, though, is that even the good states like South Carolina and Tennessee, didn’t tie in their license plate with their website. There wasn’t any connection between the two to indicate that you got there because you saw it on the license plate. I wonder if these states do any kind of analytics on this. Hey! 647 Child Support Applications filed in Maryland — Maryland.gov tells me so.
