Money is to credit for this feat. It costs only $10 to apply for a novelty license plate in Virginia — a remarkably lower rate than most other states. In California, for example, the cheapest custom plates — the Legacy Plate and the Environmental Plate — cost $50 and $53 to obtain, and come with an additional yearly renewal fee of $40 and $43, respectively.

Like in most states, those who want Virginia custom license plates must still abide by an ever-growing array of rules delineating what words and phrases can (and cannot) be used. The state’s DMV’s website says that it will reject plates that are “profane, obscene, or vulgar in nature, sexually explicit or graphic, excretory-related.” In 2016, they put the kibosh on plates with messages, like “DETHBOX,” “INEED2P,” “V8SLAYR,” and “86ISIS.”

Still, a number of questionable plates have managed to slip through the cracks over the years, many of which Sugerman documented and posted to Instagram under the name the Vanity Plate Project﻿. She started the account in April 2017 as part of a school project and quickly became enthralled with the hunt of looking for clever license plates in Virginia, snapping more than 1,000 photographs of cars emblazoned with phrases, such as “PRAIZ GD,” “TTLY-OK,” and “IAMLATE.”

Plates like “INHEAVN” and “STEPDAD” particularly tickled Sugerman, she said, “because, why? Like, why would you put that on your car?” She was also surprised by the number of cultural references she saw. She saw nods to pop singers in plates like “RUDE GRL” and “POKRF8CE,” and hints at favorite TV shows in “SH4RK WK,” “HODOR,” and “DWTN ABY.” Everyone’s favorite warlock, Harry Potter, also got shoutouts with plates like “DRKHLOW,” “DEMNTOR,” and “DRK ARTS.”

Thanks to her love for word puzzles — “Give me a crossword and I’m a happy person” — challenging plates, like “IVCHN8,” “LOOSEAL,” and “APLAWS,” were easy for Sugerman to figure out. The only plate that stumped her was “FF0000,” though she was eventually able to decipher it, as well.

“I thought it was a spoof for a while, and then I realized one day that it’s the Hex code for the shade of red that the car is,” Sugerman said. “And I was like, ‘That’s amazing. That’s a cool inside joke.’ ”