Type design for license plates

Motor is an experimental typeface, designed for license plates in Sweden, aimed at enhancing legibility on the road. The project’s starting point stems from the observed challenges posed by the current typeface used on the license plates. In 2019, one notable adjustment was the allowance for registration numbers to end with a letter, a departure from the previous convention where the plate always ended with a number. This change aimed to increase the pool of available registration combinations, but it also introduced some issues regarding the legibility. Due to the low contrast in the existing typeface, certain characters such as ´0` and ´O`, ´5` and ´S`, ´2` and ´Z` became harder to distinguish. By addressing these limitations, Motor seeks to provide a more legible alternative. It is designed with open apertures to enhance legibility from a distance, and also with increased contrast for easier distinguishment between characters.