Sometimes the things society decides need to be licensed strike me as odd (hence the quote from Monty Python.) Mostly, I think these things are just taxes, fees if you will, but we often disguise them as necessary for people’s “safety, health and wellbeing.”
As an example, you needs a license for your car and another one to drive your car, yet you can have a baby without any requirements placed on you at all. Go figure.
I have been toying with the idea of a T3 License Plate for a long time. I tried several ways to create a “vanity” plate with graphics and all, including a new style OSU plate, but nothing really worked for me. One of the main issues is the ratio of length to width. To size the T3 image in the middle of the plate correctly, you lose the ends of the plate. Changing the dimension of a car tag looks obviously wrong. So, the idea went nowhere.
That is, until I saw a vintage motorcycle tag! it was almost exactly the correct ratio of length the height. I found a 1964 OK car tag and used that to “build” my motorcycle sized tag. It worked perfectly. I really enjoyed “aging” the tag and the paint on the raised letters. having the date match my birthday is a bonus.
I chose to outline the T3 because stamping the whole thing solid did not look right at all. The stamping creates a certain distortion and then the roll over painting creates a “sloppiness” to the letter forms that is hard to match.