attention Kansas drivers

Are you heading to the DMV? If so, I wish you short lines, helpful and friendly employees, and a photo that resembles more of you, less of the haunting-form-of-self that you wouldn't recognize even on a bad day.

Even if all the above wishes were to come true, there is yet another thing that would be new to this visit—the overall design of the license itself.




BEFORE
Courtesy Kansas Department of Revenue





AFTER
Courtesy Kansas Department of Revenue



The new license design boasts numerous security measures which make it even harder for fakes to be produced. According to a news release from Fox 4 News KC, those updates include:        

• Ultra-violet image of the cardholder’s portrait and date of birth on the back of the card (viewable with UV light)
• Multi-colored, highly detailed holograms
• Highly detailed ultra-violet (UV) image of the state flower (viewable with UV light)
• Two ghost images of the cardholder’s portrait in addition to the conventional photograph
• Tactile printing that you can feel

You had me at tactile printing!

As mentioned before, Kansas’ driver’s license and ID card design was last changed in 2004; states typically change their designs every four to six years.

"The new Kansas driver’s license card is among the most secure in the country," said Alcoholic Beverage Control Director Dean Reynoldson, who also oversees the department’s Office of Special Investigations, which investigates driver’s license fraud. "The card, combined with a new more secure driver’s license and ID card application process, makes Kansas one of the most difficult states to commit driver’s license or identification card fraud."

One thing hasn't changed—the format for printing cards for drivers who are under 21 years of age. Those licenses will remain in a vertical format so it's easier to tell if the cardholder is of a legal drinking age or not.



the 'under 21' license
Courtesy Kansas Department of Revenue



new colors!

Pantone has added 336 brand new colours to its Pantone Plus series, giving designers more choice and flexibility when it comes to creative work

The 336 new colours - which range from pale pastels to intense deep tones - bring the total number of hue variations in the Pantone Plus series to 1,677 in both coated and uncoated formats. Pantone Plus is the relatively new name for the 50-year-old Pantone Matching System, which, was extensively revamped in March 2010.

Pantone says the new colours were inspired by the Pantone Goe System, which brings new ink combinations and depth to its colour library. “The Goe System represents important technical improvements in the area of ink film consistency and coatability and these benefits have migrated to the 336 New Colours,” Pantone said in a press statement. “Formulated for consistent ink-film thickness, the 336 New Colours can be easily reproduced by printers worldwide.”

Pantone guide updates

To help designers and other creative pros discover and use the new colours, Pantone is updated its range of colour guides, both as standalone volumes and as supplements to existing guides. It’s also rolling out updated versions of its Pantone Colour Manager Software (May 4th) and myPantone iPhone and Android apps (early June). The company’s Capsure system will be updated with the new colours by the end of May.

__________________________________________________

source: Robert Mead-Green  |  As Computer Arts' deputy editor, Robert writes, commissions and edits a whole bunch of content for the magazine, ranging from cover features and studio profiles to tutorials and our 16-page Manual section. He's also a frequent contributor to the Computer Arts blog. When he's not doing his day job he also writes for several other Future Publishing titles including MacFormat and Tap. In the little spare time Rob has left he tries sleeping, toying with his Mac and iPhone or playing Harry Potter and the Peppa Pig Pirates of the Star Wars Caribbean with his kids.