Alberta PCs ditch 'Wild Rose Country' slogan on new licence plates

[GGG]

One thing we should do is get rid of stickers. They dont do anything, cops just run the plate anyways. Sask got rid of stickers a while ago (at least the yearly one)

[Dion]

Someone has started an online petiton to keep the old plates.

Brandon Webber, a writer and online-strategist, has started an online petition to keep the old plates because he feels that the options given by the province aren’t really options.

“It was the false choice that caught my attention,” said Webber. “There are three very similar designs and in many ways, there aren’t really any choices. They just say that these plates are better and don’t give any design rationale to go with it.”

Webber feels this is an overall symptom of something bigger, namely, the bypassing of Alberta’s design community. Webber went on to say that the province has missed a great opportunity for design professionals to use their expertise.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/07/1...gains-momentum

To view or add your name to the petition....

http://www.change.org/en-CA/petition...e-plate-design

[jayswin]

If there's one thing that online petition's do, it's absolutely nothing.

[browna]

Nothing like the outstanding credibility of an "online strategist" to get your name in the Sun.

Anyways, and apologies if this has been suggested, I think the easiest way to appease this situation (hopefully - assuming the other 7 aren't crap) is to open up the voting to the top 10 choices...someone/some group of people in the government decided that only 3 should get voted on, and narrowed down the list as such based on personal preferences.

Open it up to the top 10 submissions considered, and although voting may be fractured, there's also the chance that the public may decide on one as a consensus; that whoever decided on this final 3 didn't give the same consideration to.

[Regular_John]

Well I agree online petitions are about as effective as homeopathic medicine is, I actually agree with his statements about the lack of real options, design rational and the sidestepping of the Alberta design community.

[goodyear]

Like most said, those designs are weak. IIRC, there was supposed to be a plate re-design for the centennial in 2005. Nothing happened, of course. If they didn't do anything momentous for the centennial, than I don't see why they should change it now with three less than inspiring designs.

Heck, when they come around to actually changing the plates, the Wildrose maybe in power by then, and I'm sure they won't mind keep the slogan the way it is!

(not endorsing any party btw)

[MuscleOnTheBlvd]

I'm fine with keeping the old plates as they are. They should just make the WR party change their political name.

Hopefully the city of Calgary doesn't get any smart ideas about changing the colour of all city vehicles to purple now.

[nik-]

What would be wrong with Grimacemobiles?

[btimbit]

Well I signed the petition, not that it'll do anything. These new designs suck. Like the government came up with what they want the new plates to look like, came up with a bs poll to create the illusion of public choice, despite all 3 plates being nearly identical.

[Bigtime]

Did this one get posted yet? A local firm threw this together to show just how any competent design firm could have done if they tried:



http://www.graphos.ca/alberta-plate-debate.asp

[Resolute 14]

I'm not certain they succeeded on the competency angle given the silly mountain range top to it.

[Madman]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

I'm not certain they succeeded on the competency angle given the silly mountain range top to it.

This is from their site:

"The mountain range profile is modeled after the one on Alberta's flag and coat of arms."

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Did this one get posted yet? A local firm threw this together to show just how any competent design firm could have done if they tried:

http://www.graphos.ca/alberta-plate-debate.asp

I like that more than any of the three options floated by the Government.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

I'm not certain they succeeded on the competency angle given the silly mountain range top to it.

Ha - I like it!

[KTrain]

Overall it looks better but most designers could make a better plate design if they ignored budgets, project briefs, logistics and didn't have to push the design through government committees.

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Did this one get posted yet? A local firm threw this together to show just how any competent design firm could have done if they tried:

http://www.graphos.ca/alberta-plate-debate.asp

[AC]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Did this one get posted yet? A local firm threw this together to show just how any competent design firm could have done if they tried:



http://www.graphos.ca/alberta-plate-debate.asp

Yeah I think that looks great personally. Unique and sharp.

Though again, the sticker placement kind of sucks.

[sun]

I think custom shaped plates are tacky.

[Coach]

I like that one.

[Igster]

Yeah, I like it too. I like plates that you can tell the second you see them, where they are from. That one would stand out.

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by KTrain

Overall it looks better but most designers could make a better plate design if they ignored budgets, project briefs, logistics and didn't have to push the design through government committees.

That's my biggest beef with unsolicited designs in general, it cheapens our trade down to window dressing while ignoring the other 80% of the variables at play in the average project.

Yes, the final design should be pleasing to the eyes, but it should also fit the budget, appease stakeholders, and last but not least, provide an effective solution to the problem being addressed.

Slapping together an unsolicited design like this is akin to throwing a successful dinner party and declaring yourself a better chef than Gordon Ramsey because one of your guest said your steak was better than the one he had at a restaurant in Vegas.

Sure, maybe you can do up 5-6 steaks at a time and average out a little bitter than some steakhouses, but you're not dealing with 100+ seats and a staff of 12 that evening.