Wisconsin License Plates (Milwaukee, Madison, Sheboygan: high school, moving, transportation)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by 43north87west

I like Montana's quarter, personally.

I think Montana could have done better. They opted for this:



Instead of this:



Or this:

[JoshB]

Drover, I like that last one. It really gives you a feel of Montana's culture.

[uwisguy]

I agree wholeheartedly about the blandness & poor design of the Wisconsin quarter, but I personally could care less about how the license plates look. They're not meant to be a wall hanging or in an art museum. I still think ours are better than the old ones you still see for Michigan (all blue with white lettering). They're simply meant to identify the owner and registration of a vehicle. I've talked about this subject with a few Europeans and they think we're strange for having so much stuff "cluttering" a simple ID tag.

While I thought the Sesquicentennial plates were nice (pretty), they were god-awful to have to read from a distance. The reason they went to the black text on white for the regular plates was because it is highly legible and suffers the least from sun fading effects. You'll appreciate these features when you have to use them in an emergency/accident/etc.

Unless you open it to a public design competition (i.e. something that costs the state next to nothing), I think there are much better ways to spend the money.

[EnjoyEP]

I actually kind of liked those old "bumble bee" plates (the yellow and black ones) in an old-school, partially cheesy kind of way!

However, anyway, yeah, I would agree with 43-87 completely and say it is time for new plates and a possible desire to get away from everything farming. Not that there is anything wrong with the farming heritage of this state - it is a critical and important aspect of the state's history and current commerce still - however, there are other beautiful things that can be accentuated for those unfamiliar with WI.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by uwisguy

I agree wholeheartedly about the blandness & poor design of the Wisconsin quarter, but I personally could care less about how the license plates look. They're not meant to be a wall hanging or in an art museum.

Maybe not, but in today's mobile society, license plates have clearly become a marketing opportunity for the issuing state. And Wisconsin's plate marketing basically says this: "We're boring. Oh yeah, we have dairy too."

[43north87west]

Originally Posted by Drover

I think Montana could have done better. They opted for this:
[/IMG]

Whatever, I like the one that Montana has. it has a western flair. A lot of the western states weren't afraid to do cool quarters. The eastern states were more "historic" on the whole.

Anyway, Montana didn't botch anything nearly as bad as Wisconsin managed to. Who the heck approved the Triple-C (Cow/Cheese/Corn)? A panel made up of the town drunk, the village idiot, and Helen Keller? Wait, Helen Keller's already on Alabama's!

I found some that I liked:



-or-



-or even this, I think this is a nice way of saying "farm", but instead, it says "provider".



But what do I know, apparently the mainstream image that Wisconsin wants to promote in everyone's pocket change, is the Triple C's. Why does Wisconsin always pick the lowest common denominator?

[43north87west]

Originally Posted by Drover

Maybe not, but in today's mobile society, license plates have clearly become a marketing opportunity for the issuing state. And Wisconsin's plate marketing basically says this: "We're boring. Oh yeah, we have dairy too."

My point exactly. I totally appreciate the agrarian side of Wisconsin, which is very significant to the state and to much of the country. The thing is, most people don't come to Wisconsin to see cows and farms. In fact, most people could care less if they see cows and farms, or if they know where cows and farms are for that matter.

Louisiana has Sportsman's Paradise. Wisconsin could have that, except by the time Madison was done with it, it would be "Differently Abled, Sportswomyn of Color's Paradise" and nobody would even know what the heck that meant, not even me.

Minnesota: 10,000 Lakes. Simple, nice plate, when I think of Minnesota I think of 10,000 lakes. This is probably why.

Arizona: Grand Canyon State. Bad pastel picture, but it tries.

Alaska: "The Last Frontier". Nice, simple.

New Hampshire: "LIVE FREE OR DIE". And it has a picture too.

Washington, DC: "Taxation Without Representation", and even they have a background.

Oregon has a big tree. Washington has Mount Rainier. Wyoming has a cowboy and mountains. Texas, "Lone Star State" with a depiction of open space. Colorado is basic but it has the mountains. Legible but pretty. Even Iowa's plate, with a silo on the background, is still more attractive than the ole 1986-derived current WI license plate.

Who cares about readability, obviously half the states have managed to come up with more creative designs for their license plates without sacrificing readability. I'd even pay more for a specialty plate like the Sesquicentennial plate, if the state would actually make one. I just don't want one of the carbon-copy plates with the logo on the left and the same old idea for the rest of it.

Not only that, "America's Dairyland" has to be second-worst of all 50 states, behind only Idaho, with the infamous "Famous Potatoes". Even America's Dairyland can't touch "Famous Potatoes". Wisconsin could still lose the "America's Dairyland" slogan and find something a little bit more in touch with things that WI could also be remembered for.

[ffknight918]

I recently got the new WI firefighter plates that just came out about a year ago. I don't like them. They have a maltese cross and say Wisconsin firefighter, but don't look too different than normal plates. The old ones were 2/3 red which made them stick out. I mean what's the point of having it if it doesn't stick out enough to show cops that I'm a firefighter so I don't get pulled over. haha

[#Littledog]

Originally Posted by Dea13

I'm game for new plates but I shudder to think what that would end up costing us! Seems even the simple things empty our pockets.

You took the words right out of my mouth! The whole process would probably involve a committee of a hundred people who would mull over the whole thing for years and waste our tax dollars! Maybe they could have school-aged children come up with the designs and Wisconsin residents could vote on it?

[kevin_1975]

Yeah, our Alabama quater makes me think of the "Yellow Mama" electric chair. Looks like a woman in the electric chair to me.