My Alabama license plate honors the state’s role in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, as Rosa Parks’ act of defiance and the Selma to Montgomery marches occurred in the state. A sunrise behind Selma‘s Edmund Pettus Bridge is featured at the bottom of the plate, and the English translation of the state’s motto is underneaththe state name. An Alabama flag heart is at the upper-left corner, but the longtime “Heart of Dixie” motto has been dropped due to its racist connotations to the Confederate South.

My redesigned Alaska license plate features the unique aurora borealis that can be seen in this arctic state. A mountain landscape with a glacier is at the bottom of the plate, and the Big Dipper/North Star from the state flag serves as the divider.

American Samoa’s license plates are inspired by two flags from the territory’s history. The crescent moon is taken from the precolonial Flag of Paradise that the Kingdom of Samoa used until 1873. The triangle design is taken from the current territorial flag of American Samoa. Traditional designs found on the American Samoa seal are found on the left half of the plate, and the “Motu O Fiafiaga” motto (meaning “Island of Paradise”) is retained from the original license plate.

Arizona’s license plate design is inspired by the vibrant colors and geometric designs found in Native American art throughout the American Southwest. A saguaro cactus towers over a sunrise in the middle of the plate.

Arkansas is home to the Crater of Diamonds State Park, which is the only American diamond mine accessible to the public. This simple design combines elements of the diamond gem as well as the diamond and stars on the Arkansas state flag.

My redesigned California license plate is a simple design that utilizes California's unofficial state colors of blue and gold and a font inspired by California's "Sunset" license plates of the 1980s.

My Colorado license plate is a new take on the classic mountain range design that has been on Colorado license plates since 1960. The jagged mountain motif is based off the two blue bars of the Colorado state flag. The previously-square divider has now been stretched to better depict a Colorado map, and the new slogan commemorates Colorado’s upcoming 150th statehood anniversary.

A radical departure from Connecticut’s history of blue license plates, this brown design combines the state’s “Constitution State” and “Nutmeg State” nicknames. Connecticut is home to the Western world’s first written constitution (the Fundamental Orders of 1639), so the text is inspired by the decorative flairs of the state’s historic documents. The colors are inspired by faded parchment paper as well as the colors of nutmeg!

Delaware has maintained a consistent look for its license plates since 1962, so my license plate redesign is a simple modernization of the state’s classic design. The sans-serif “DELAWARE” font is replaced by a script inspired by the iconic Dolles sign (dismantled in 2021) in Rehoboth Beach. Delaware’s “Small Wonder” slogan replaces “The First State”, and a blue gradient brightens up the design.

My District of Columbia license plate is inspired by DC plate history and federal imagery. The layout combines the off-center design of DC’s 2016 low-number plates with the embossed Capitol dome of DC’s 1976 plates. The stripes are inspired by both the DC flag and the American flag, and the stylized “DC” in the middle ofthe plate is inspired by typography on dollar bills.

My colorful Florida license plate depicts a beachside sunset scene. Referencing Florida’s “Sunshine State” nickname and famous citrus industry, an orange slice sun is featured in the middle of the design. The font choice is inspired by the short-lived Miami Floridians basketball team of the late 1960s. The formerly embossed county names return as county stickers.

My Georgia design is a modernized version of the peach gradient license plates that the state issued from 1989 to 1996. The background features a whale shark pattern (the Georgia Aquarium is the only place to find whale sharks in captivity outside of Asia) that turns into the texture of peanut shells (another widespread crop grown in Georgia).

My design for Guam takes the current plate’s color scheme and gives it the Kansas license plate treatment with Guam’s territorial seal. The beach landscape in the seal continues outside of the seal across the rest of the license plate, with the palm tree and the Chamorro sakman boat redrawn with more detail. A more accurate Chamorro translation of the slogan (which means “Land of the CHamoru” is at the bottom of the plate.

The template for my series of Hawaii license plates is my 2019 Snapchat Geofilter design for the island of O’ahu, where a map of the Hawaiian archipelago is depicted a series of hibiscus flowers (the Hawaiian state flower). Each island’s license plate features a unique base color, and a darker-colored hibiscus denotes the island’s location in the state. A modified version of Hawaii’s tourism logo is proudly displayed at the top of the plate. 

The color schemes of each island’s license plates reflects the bright colors of Hawaii’s landscape and flora. The light red for O’ahu and the pink for Moloka’i are taken from the colors of hibiscus flowers. The explosive volcanoes of Hawai’i are the inspiration for that island’s orange color. The green for Kaua’i is taken from the island’s lush green rainforests, and the turquoise for Maui is inspired by the Pacific Ocean. The Pineapple Isle of Lana’i naturally gets a golden yellow color. Lastly, the 190 residents of Ni’ihau have a faded gray color to signify its isolation from the rest of the state.

This simple redesign for Idaho’s license plate is inspired by the various green-on-white license plates used between 1968 and 1991. The wordmark features an “h” in the shape of Idaho, and the serial divider is a reference to Idaho’s “Gem State” nickname. As a nod to the state’s famous potatoes, a mountain landscape is depicted using French fries.

The overall design of this license plate is inspired by the geometric Prairie style of Frank Lloyd Wright, whose studio was in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park. The top half of the design represents the Chicago metro, with an “Illinois” wordmark (similar to the 1983-2001 plates) evoking skyscrapers against a windy Lake Michigan. Central Illinois is represented with the diamond tile pattern on the State Capitol grounds. Southern Illinois is represented with Monks Mound, the largest pre-colonial pyramid in North America, in the ruins of ancient Cahokia.

Indiana’s license plate is inspired by the state’s rich automotive racing heritage, first explored by the state’s 1979 license plate design. The bottom of the plate is a checkered flag like the ones flown at the end of the Indianapolis 500 race, and the tall font for “Indiana” is inspired by racecar number fonts. The colors and the torch from the Indiana state flag is featured on the plate. 

My Iowa license plate is a different interpretation of the current design’s “urban meets rural" motif. Iowa is the largest producer of corn in the United States, so stalks of corn adorn the license plates for the first time. The rural scene turns into an urban skyline with wind turbines and the five domes of the Iowa state capitol.

My Kansas license plate is a hybrid of various standard and vanity license plates in Kansas’ history. The Kansas state outline used between 1951 and 1980 returns, and the “Sunflower State” nickname shows up on standard plates for the first time. The black-and-yellow color scheme is inspired by Kansas state highway shields, and the sublimated design is inspired by the shapes of crop fields seen throughout the state.

Following the design rationale behind Chris Payne’s Lexington SC logo, my Kentucky license plate combines visual elements from Kentucky’s horseracing and bourbon heritage. The cream background, border style, and the serif font is inspired by the traditional aesthetic of bourbon labels. The spires of the famed Churchill Downs (last seen in Kentucky’s 1988-1997 plates)return to the top of the license plate.

My Louisiana license plate is inspired by the ornate architecture found in New Orleans, particularly in the French Quarter. A fleur-de-lis pattern is intertwined with a map of Louisiana, and the plate incorporates the colors of the New Orleans Saints. An embossed pelican divider returns for the first time since 1963, and the serial font has been replaced with the unique serif serial font used on Virginia license plates.