Attention Urban Ohio forumers:

 

ColDayMan & myself decided to expose an idea that the Urban Ohio admins have been floating around for a while but for whatever reason (busy lives) we never followed up on it.  We decided to share it with the Urban Ohio community to actually try and make it happen.  It is our goal to make an official Ohio license plate to promote all things "Urban" in Ohio.  richNcincy contacted the Ohio BMV and received some info last year that mentioned that we would have to get at least 500 people to commit to a plate and have a Congressman sponsor it.  Before we moved to that level we wanted to come up with a design and were looking for ideas from the Urban Ohio community. 

 

Personally I would like to break from the Ohio license plate theme.  I don't know if there is a guideline or rule that states that the plate must meet the basic Ohio template but we would like to do something different.  While I was a fan of the Ohio bicentennial plate, they should have never squeezed the Ohio logo from the bicentennial plate at the top of the current plate.  I am including a blank template to see the creative minds here come up with something cool.  Feel free to deviate from the basic template.

 

Lets see your creative minds at work and feel free to provide feedback...

 

 

 

 

 

Blank Template

Great Idea!

 

My Two Cents:  I'd place a graphic (skyline or some such thing) on the left, then put the text "URBAN OHIO" or "OHIO'S URBAN RENEWAL" on the bottom.  If I remember correctly, specialty plates like the "Pets" or "Wildlife" ones donate their money to related charities.  It might help you convince a congresman to sign on to the idea if you tie it into urban renewal and have the extra cost of the plates go to urban renewal causes.

Good ideas...  Yes having the profits going to charities has been given some thought.  How about profits going to the state to pay down the state debt. ;)

 

A graphic to the left would be great, that is why I provided a blank template to see the different ideas come to light.  I have also tossed around an image of Carew Tower, Key Tower & Levique Tower together.

I think the skyscraper trio would be good.  Whatever it is, the graphic has got to be simple enough so that people in the car behind you can tell what it is without crashing into you.  I would stay away from the phrase "urban renewal" as that conjures up images of neighborhoods being torn down, at least for me.  Personally I think just "Urban Ohio" for the text would be good.  I'd offer my suggestion using the template, but the only thing I'm good at drawing is maps. :|

 

Anyway, great idea!  It may be a long time before you ever get 500 people and a congressman to support it, but I'd buy one!

nothing against the idea, but i would rather have an urban ohio pair of shoes.

Queen Please    :-D

Good ideas...  Yes having the profits going to charities has been given some thought.  How about profits going to the state to pay down the state debt. ;)

 

A graphic to the left would be great, that is why I provided a blank template to see the different ideas come to light.  I have also tossed around an image of Carew Tower, Key Tower & Levique Tower together.

 

or maybe some sort of light rail fund?

^ Nice, point... I like it.

Hey, if you want the proceeds to go to charity, have them go to All Aboard Ohio -- a 501©(3) nonprofit association. Now that would be justice in motion! Put on the plate: "I'd rather be on a train"

Or the proceeds could go to *gasps* THIS WEBSITE!

Come on now christopher............we're already filthy rich!!!!

QUIET, FOOL!

Well so far I am a little disappointed.  If we can get more of our members to chime in then there is no hope to get this approved.  Would you guys be interested?  If you have other ideas, download the template and show us some examples.

I would definately be interested, but I just dont have any ideas for a plate design at this point in time.

Sorry, I finished playing graphic designer for the BR Blues Society yesterday, so I haven't moved on to a new project.

What font did you use for the Licence plate lettering?

I would definitely be interested.  As for my design skills, I have few so I'll leave that to people who are better at that than me.  If I can think of any ideas I'll be sure to chime in.

I'd buy at least two sets...  sorry though - I'm no graphic artist, but some kind of skyline silhouette would catch my eye.  (oh..... and "Wall Off West Chester" at the bottom) -

 

If I had to choose I'd go with #2, with the simple "OHIO" banner, but if I had my preference I like the #1 tag line better. 

 

Montecarloss - I think this is a great idea, I couldn't suggest a state rep or anything, but Mr. Mallory just returned from many years at the state house, wouldn't it be great to get his backing? He has a regular "meet the mayor" night....

 

 

If anyone can provide any factual data, that would be very helpful too.  What congressman do you recommend to bring our idea to reality?  Who is the most urban centric?  Can we diviate from the license plate template?  Also, between the two examples I provided, which of the two do you prefer?  What are your feelings toward the current state plate?

^not tubbs jones.

 

 

I like the "America's Great Cities" version best.  Personally, I would love a license plate that has the Terminal Tower on it.  I currently have the lighthouse license plate that reads "Erie, our Great Lake."

^coming from michigan, i always giggle at that one

^coming from michigan, i always giggle at that one

 

Pope,

 

Michigan can claim how much of Lake Erie?

 

By the way, one of my favorite plates is the pure blue MI plate.  Simplicity is always best. 

 

Additionally, I really wish that we would get rid of the "birthplace of aviation" plate.  While the Wright brothers were from Ohio, NC had "first in flight" for years before Ohio had to come along and copy the theme.  It makes us look like unoriginal fools.

How about this one?

 

^ I'm not a fan of "issue" license plates in general, even if it is a good issue.  My preference would be to say something more general like your first examples, and let the money go to the issue.

 

Additionally, I really wish that we would get rid of the "birthplace of aviation" plate.  While the Wright brothers were from Ohio, NC had "first in flight" for years before Ohio had to come along and copy the theme.  It makes us look like unoriginal fools.

Why, you'd be strung up in Dayton with talk like that!  Not that I think it's the best license plate slogan ever, but I like sticking it to North Carolina and their claim to fame of four useless flights on a beach one day.:evil:

I have to say, "Birthplace of Aviation" sounds better than "First in Flight".  Has Ohio ever had "The Buckeye State" on their license plate before? 

montecarloss - 'support light rail' - awesome

Isn't it a little "blasphemes" and ironic to have a "Support Light Rail" plate on a suburban-sprawl-causing, fossil-fuel-wasting, downtown-surface-parking-lot-needing car?  :wink:

^Not if you're sitting in traffic looking at the plate. ;)

^coming from michigan, i always giggle at that one

 

Pope,

 

Michigan can claim how much of Lake Erie?

 

By the way, one of my favorite plates is the pure blue MI plate.  Simplicity is always best. 

 

point being that michigan has claim to four great lakes (albeit a small portion of erie), just a bad case of boosterism on my part.

 

The ol' michigan blue is probably on its way out, which i am very unhappy for.

I too prefer the 'America's Great Cities' plate of the two at the top.  The urban frontier one just has some kind of wierd sound to it.  A little to western/cowboyish for me.

Does anyone have a better slogan or image for the left side of the license plate?

I like the UrbanOhio logo on there..its a nice touch :-D

My dream graphic for the left side would be a drawing of Carew, LeVeque, and Terminal Tower as the skyline above a few smaller buildings, with some kind of transit line emerging from that "city" and swinging around to the foreground.  But I suck at drawing things like that, so it remains a dream.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for the text at the bottom of the plate?

 

Right now the text we are leaning toward is:

 

"America's Great Cities" or "Urban Ohio"

I don't have any additional suggestions, but I personally prefer "America's Great Cities"

^What does that mean? America's Great Cities? America's Great Cities what?

 

That sounds like the same as just saying "My Honor Student."

 

Hopefully I'm missing something, but I prefer a statement. Maybe "Explore Urban Ohio" or something.

^ Well, message-wise it's not much different from "Erie... Our Great Lake" or "Cincinnati Reds."  It just states what the plate is supposed to support.

 

I would prefer something a little more clearly specific to Ohio, though.  "America's Great Cities" could be taken to mean cities all over the country.

How about "Ohio's Great Cities"?  Although I still prefer "America's Great Cities" or "Urban Ohio" for the text.  I would love to hear more ideas...

^^Yeah, those Erie plates are kind of awkward. Cincinnati Reds sounds better because it is recognized as something you'd be rooting for. How about "Boasting America's Greatest Cities," "Home of America's Greatest Cities?"

Alright you guys inspired me to create a new plate before I went to bed. I would like to get a hold of a larger "Urban Ohio" logo from MayDay or Rich, can you guys send me one?  Here is version #4:

 

 

Please provide your feedback, thanks...

That sounds somewhat desperate.

 

I did like the "Ohio's Great American Cities" thing.

What's the largest size you have of the logo monte? 

Rich, the one you see on the plate.

 

Chris, that might be too long.  Where is our graphic designer, marketing guy?  MayDay we need some suggestions!

You're asking my opinion about license plates... remember, I've been car-free for almost five years!  :-D

 

I'll send you an Illustrator file (eps) of the logo.

That is awesome but some suggestions or even a nice Carew, Key, Leveque logo would be very helpful. ;)

^I was thinking Terminal for Cleveland.

That is awesome but some suggestions or even a nice Carew, Key, Leveque logo would be very helpful. ;)

 

How about a shadow/line drawing montage of Terminal, LeVeque, and Carew Towers.

^Yes, good idea, something like the opening of Fraiser. It might be cool to include CUT too if you do that.