Some people pay for customized plates for their cars, but there are some who want them purely for novelty purposes.
And Hamilton-based brothers Tyler and Avery MacLeod are in the business of producing them with their business called The Original Plate Guys. Tyler is in charge of product development, while Avery oversees communications and coordination.
Tyler did graphic design professionally for about 10 years before focusing on this. His brother dabbled in it on a semi-professional basis.
“So we use our skills as graphic designers to make plates,” Tyler said.
I met them at the Georgian College Automotive Business School of Canada’s Auto Show in Barrie. The MacLeods were among many vendors, but they stuck out because their mobile truck had many examples of their work. Custom plates has become somewhat of a personal interest, so I was drawn toward them.
I liked their promotional plate, PL8 GUYS.
The MacLeods have been operating for about three years, originally calling their company Kosoku, which is a Japanese word that means high speed. Tyler said Japanese car culture has always been fascinating to him and Avery. Kosoku was going to be an idea they had for an exclusive car club.
The MacLeods also did some accessories beside custom plates, which was their biggest seller, and people would ask them if they were the plate guys?
“We kept hearing that, so as it progressed we thought maybe we should re-brand in April 2024 and focus more on just the plates,” Tyler said.
“We thought it would almost be kind of a gag to say The Original Plate Guys,” Tyler added. “Not that we were the first by any means. It’s kind of a silly thing in that way. There’s been lots of people before us for sure, but we are one of the only guys who can get as close to the real deal as you can legally before it becomes counter fitting.
“I don’t want to toot our own horn by saying we’re the best, but as far as quality goes we’re definitely the highest, if not one of the highest, quality plates out there.”
The MacLeods will produce plates for any Canadian province, U.S. state, Europe and Asia for a base price starting at $55. For an additional $10, the plates will be embossed plates similar to the ones used for road use. But these plates are purely for fun and cannot be used for road cars. There are government rules about that. In Ontario, for example, customized plates need to be registered by the Province and cost $310, a little higher with a graphic.
“These are just for display, they’re good as a gift,” Tyler said. “If you use them on the road you’ll get in big trouble.”
In Ontario, plates cannot be ordered if they have a political message or swearing, but the MacLeods have done lots of plates with words that begin with F.
“The F Trudeau was a big one during the last few months of his tenure as our Prime Minister,” Tyler said. “We’ve had lots of people just order up straight swear words. Lots of stuff. People come up with some creative stuff, but it’s hard to get an idea out of your brain onto paper, so we bridge that gap. If some people have a specific vision in mind, a specific idea, we can do it really quickly and efficiently.”
To learn more, visit their website.
Perry Lefko is the Content Manager of The Car Magazine. He can be reached at [email protected]. Feel free to forward any story suggestions or comments.
