Why Design Turnpike?

 

If you're in the market for handmade custom license plate art or maps, you have probably looked around the web a bit and seen quite a range in prices... Why is there such a wide disparity in cost (from $500 to $5,000 for a large license plate map of the USA)? 

• Marketing and Middlemen: More expensive artists spend a ton of money on advertising (both print and online) and roll those significant ongoing costs into the price of their artwork. Some pay to have their websites appear higher in web search rankings; Design Turnpike has risen to the first page over the years by organic links and positive word of mouth from satisfied clients.

Many also sell through their work primarily through a third-party vendor with huge markups - when you buy a piece from Design Turnpike, you are buying directly from the artist.

• Quality: Some budget artisans rush through projects and rely on straight and simple cuts, use only common newer license plates and crank out a large volume of work to be competitive. At Design Turnpike, I create each piece one at a time, not by using an assembly line and cutting corners. Remember: you get exactly what you pay for.

• Design Turnpike offers the best of both worlds: Beautiful handmade unique pieces created from an eclectic and colorful mix of newer and vintage license plates, at half the cost of some high-end creators. Much higher quality than lower-end sellers who rush through work and use only newer common license plates with little provenance and history surrounding them. My work won't have boxy states and poor proportions, either. I individually plan out each project that I accept specifically, and then painstakingly handcut and assemble it with care and precision.

At Design Turnpike, I work on just a few select projects each month and spend nothing on advertising—choosing instead to rely solely on good publicity from hundreds of happy clients and customers over the past many years. Dozens of folk artists have been making art and maps out of recycled license plates for the past half a century. At Design Turnpike, I try to take it to the next level using genuinely vintage and road-used materials, painstaking attention to detail, and a classically-trained eye for bold color, contrast and design aesthetic.

If you'd like to join a growing list of satisfied Design Turnpike owners around the world including professional athletes, award-winning restaurants, automobile buffs and corporate executives, click here to get started. I'm also interested in custom commissioned work. If you would like to discuss a project or have any questions / comments about my work, please drop me a line!