ALPCA Best Plate of 2024: My Votes
- Jon Upton
- Apr 12
- 8 min read
23 entrants in the running? Wow. I don't remember seeing this many before. Better get started rating them!
23 - Pennsylvania Sportsman
Last year, I voted the Pennsylvania "Pollinator Habitat" plate second-to-last because it reused the tired old gold-white-and-blue motif that has been recycled onto other optional plates from the Keystone State. Now I'm voting it last. It's not a new design; it's an old design with a different sticker slapped on it. Yawn.
22 - Missouri - Not-the-bicentennial-anymore regular state issue
Missouri came out with this design in 2021. Here, maybe you can spot the differences between the 2024 version and the 2021 version on the right. Anyway, is this a new design? No. The difference is not significant enough to warrant inclusion as a 2024 entrant.
21 - New Mexico - Share with Wildlife
This is a nice plate, but I'm pushing it to the back because it's a reused design, although not as blatant as Pennsylvania or Missouri. The Breast Cancer Screening plate is basically the same, with a different clip art graphic on the right. Yes, the Wildlife plate has a red border, and the legends are rendered in different fonts, but this is a recycled design. Nice design, but still recycled.
20 - Michigan - Water Wonderland
Okay, Michigan, I see what's happening. The first throwback design from 2021 was well-received (emulating the 1967 gold-on-blue), but now we have another one in different colours, with some minor differences. I really liked the first throwback, but this approach can only be novel once— So I have little choice but to put Michigan near the basement for recycling previous ideas. It might help if Michigan revived some of their older funky number die sets, like the ones they used in the 1940s. Although I have to wonder if Michigan is priming itself for another flag-themed plate when the semi-quincentennial comes in 2026.
19 - Colorado - Protect our Fossils
Colorado has issued other optionals with the same mountain backdrop, so this plate is also a recycled design (see right), but not to the extent of the previous three. We have an orange sky, with a single dinosaur as our point of thematic focus. That's good. But the shading of the mountains detracts from legibility. And I'm bored of this mountain design.
18 - North Carolina - Venus Flytrap The busy graphic background clashes horribly with the blank white serial block. I appreciate that they're trying to maintain legibility, but the multicoloured disco-floor of a background doesn't work with a monochromatic exam room door from my doctor's office.
17 - Alaska - Council on the Arts
It's a nice scene in the background, but it doesn't work on a plate. There's too much inteference between the numbers and the mountain. I'm not sure that switching to white characters would do much to help. Maybe make the mountain smaller, and lower the green so that it doesn't quite meet the numbers. Perhaps lightening the sky would also help. This is more of a first draft than a final product.
16 - Florida - Florida Bay Forever
This one is in the lower half of my rankings because the numbers are fighting with the trees in the background for legibility. Take the trees out and just have a faint horizon where the sea meets the sky, and this plate would climb my list.
15 - Kansas - State Parks
This design is muddled imbalance. I just don't like the way that the tops of the numbers bite into the dark sky, yet there're some extra white space below the numbers. It looks as though the numbers have been printed too high. Lower them by a half-inch, and a better balance would result. If this were just an artistic opinion, Kansas would be higher in my list. But unfortunately, the legibility is compromised.
14 - Wyoming - Travel There's a bit too much going on in the centre of this plate. Wyoming's gotta have its bronco, of course, but a state seal and a bison? All of top of each other? The legibility of the design is also hampered by the bison. The white numbers don't show well atop the turquoise, and the bronco is diminished also. To fix this, ditch the bison, which is the source of most of the problems. But then the state seal wouldn't be as visible. It could go in place of "That's WY" in the corner. Or the seal could just be omitted.
13 - Delaware - Love is Love
This design is a bit too dark to work with black numbers. I'm assuming that Delaware isn't riveting its numbers onto the backgrounds of its plate, and it's merely keeping the same font as a point of historical continuity. White numbers would be partly obscured in the yellow stripe. So if the numbers are graphic and need to stay black, why not outline them in a light colour, like yellow or turquoise, or even white? Then, the bold colours of the rainbow could be maintained without sacrificing legibility. It would make the plates more expensive, as each one would have a more complicated printing process, but the design would thrive.
12 - Virginia - Blue Ridge Parkway
I like this plate. It shows an interesting use of colour. Its only detracting feature is that the blue numbers are obscured by the blue mountains in the background, which could be fixed by lightening the mountains, and moving them downward.
11 - Nevada - USS Nevada
Another case of a plate doing a bit too much, but this one ranks higher because the legibility doesn't suffer. Still, it contains a ship, a flag, a circular seal, a paragraph, Morse code, two different kinds of hull numbers, and a slogan. The focal point ought to be the ship, but the flag conceals it, and the other features draw attention elsewhere.
10 - Northern Territory, Australia - Cyclone Tracy
I see this plate, and I wonder: Why this theme? Why commemorate a horrific natural disaster from 50 years ago? It makes as much sense as Ontario releasing a 2004 commemorative plate for Hurricane Hazel, which kicked the shit out of Toronto in 1954. Who wants to remember that? Maybe it's a cultural event within Oz, so maybe it's regarded in a different light to which I can't relate. That said: Great legibility, weak theme, boring execution.
9 - Tennessee - Crusade Against Darkness
I panned the Utah "blackout plate" last year and put it at the bottom of my list for its lack of imagination. I did say, however, that it would be cooler with a Jolly Roger on it. Well, my wish is Tennessee's command, apparently. But as strong as the theme appears, I find it confused. "Crusade Against Darkness" is a term coined by the late Helen Keller, so I interpreted this as a fundraiser plate where the proceeds might go to blind people in need. That's actually correct-- the charity is run by the Tennessee Lions Sight Service. But why is there a symbol of piracy on the plate? I just don't see the connection, and some cursory web searching didn't help. Interesting plate, good legibility, but a weak connection to its theme.
8 - Kentucky - Bourbon Capital
I've never before seen a plate commemorate alcohol. I'm not a bourbon drinker, but I recognized the whiskey barrel motif right away. The wood-grain colour gives the plate a bygone sort of look. The legibility is good. The plate's downfall, unfortunately, lies in the numbers. The design is meant to look antiquated, but the sleek, modern serial number clashes with that theme. I try not to be biased against flat plates, since that's the way things are moving these days... but the overall appearance of the plate would be improved if the numbers were embossed, maybe with a die set that's a deliberate throwback to a time when wooden barrels were used for many things besides whiskey.
7 - Montana - Spooky skull forest?
Well, maybe that's not what the theme is supposed to be. But starlit forests at night come in only two varieties: Tranquil and haunted. The skull, while that of a steer, is still enough to make the plate look scary at first glance. Any theme that is in the least bit unclear gets penalized in my list. That said, this plate is well-executed: The trees and sky don't interfere with the legibility of the serial, and the western state border on the left—which blends into the rest of the graphic without showing the full state outline—is brilliant. I know that the steer skull is one of Montana's symbols, but if it was replaced with a moon, cabin, mine headframe, or just a mountain silhouette, Montana would be higher in my rankings.
6 - Newfoundland - 75th anniversary
This is a nice plate. It's visually interesting without going overboard, and the maple leaf adds some unmistakable Canadian flair, while not clashing unnecessarily with the serial. But I do find there's a lot of grey here. The diagonal white stripes echo the provincial flag, the left side of which is incorporated into the "75" logo. I show the full provincial flag here because I feel it would have been worthwhile to incorporate the right half of the flag— In particular the golden arrow, which is barely present at the bottom centre. It's not often that I suggest redesigns for a plate that ranks in my top 25%. The plate is clear, with a strong theme, but it comes up just a little short in the visual interest department.
5 - Wisconsin - Saving Cranes
This is a purty plate. The theme is very strong. I like the highly-saturated colours of the grass and sky. I'm not wild about web addresses on plates, but I tolerate those more now. The only detracting feature is the darker strip of blue-grey that crosses the bottom of the serial. In photos, water does reflect less sky as it gets closer to the viewpoint, and so it looks darker because the lake bottom can be seen. But Wisconsin should take some artistic licence, and lighten that dark strip up so that it doesn't diminish the legibility of the serial. This example is easy enough to read, having only two letters, but a more random serial would be harder to read because of that dark strip. Fix that, and this would probably be my winner.
4 - Arkansas - Fish and Game
This plate is very well-executed. The artwork is clear and pleasing to the eye, and nothing comes close to interfering with the serial number. But I did penalize it very slightly with its theme: The Fish and Game Commission is tasked with managing hunting and fishing. But nobody hunts owls. A lucky sportsman may spot an owl while hunting, but surely no rifles will be aimed in that direction. If the slogan was "Protect Wildlife," then the question of theme clarity would be settled in my mind.
3 - Rhode Island - Rose Island Lighthouse
Now, we get into the top three, with plates that have nothing wrong with them (in my opinion). The theme is strong, the serial is unobscured and highly legible, and the overall execution is pleasing to the eye. I tend to like bolder colours on my plates, and the top two below have more powerful palettes, as opposed to the light greys, purples and blues that appear here. But this is a great plate overall. Nicely done, Rhode Island!
2 - Idaho - Wildlife
Here is a nicely-executed plate with a strong theme and high legibility. The dominant background colours are purple and grey, like the Rhode Island entry, but Idaho's blue bird and green spruce boughs give this plate a bit more "zip." I generally like embossed plates better than screened, but I now count that as a secondary aspect of manufacturing, like the shape of the bolt holes or beveling around the rim.
1 - Oklahoma - Imagine That
I'm a sucker for red plates. But Oklahoma isn't a winner just because of that. The theme is really strong, with a revival of the state's first flag (1911-1925). The flag itself was little drab, with nothing but the white star; however, that same design translates brilliantly onto a licence plate. It makes a perfect serial divider, which simply adds to the plates' overall legibility. Enough of a statement is made without the need to clutter the background with large graphics. The designers realized this and inserted a few relevant state symbols into the lower corners as accents. Imagine that... a great formula for a winning plate! I'm expecting to be in Tulsa for the Convention this summer, and I look forward to spotting these on the street.
Want to vote? You can, if you're a member of ALPCA. Want to join? Visit their site today. Many thanks to Jordan Irazabal, the co-chair of ALPCA Best Plate, for graciously providing the pictures.
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