Blackout license plates ~ Suspicious design

Minnesota has a new license plate design, as of January 2024, featuring a “blackout” design. The new plates have a black background with white text. I understand why the new plates are designed this way and why they are popular, but I got on a line of thinking that makes me feel like there’s something suspicious happening.

The “blackout” design is sleek and modern. It’s a popular design choice for many things, even many companies have turned to simple one color contrast logos. But why offer such a simple design for a license plate? From a design standpoint, it makes sense because it is much easier to read and people like simple stuff. The state uses these specialty plates for some additional revenue, but I can’t help but think about who it is easier to read for. Could be for law enforcement, but I think it’s more for automated license plate readers.

This lead me to searching for other states that have implemented this same design, and pretty much every press release talks about how people like how they look. I couldn’t find any information that supported my idea, but design has a reason behind it. Yes, it needs to be visually appealing, but it also needs to be functional. Perhaps this is all just in my head. But I’m still thinking about it and now I’m putting it out into the world. Is this how conspiracy theories start?

Recently I had seen that in Minnesota, all of the new “blackout” plates have start with the same letter Z, unless someone has additionally purchased a vanity plate. They mentioned that any new license plate series has a special reference letter, and Z just happened to be available. More fuel for the conspiracy theory fire.