To kick off the new year in form, the kind folks over at the Tuts+ Network asked me to design a commemorative 2010 poster. I am always in support of those people and websites who help out designers and developers on all levels, and the team over at the Tuts+ camp constantly exhaust themselves. They run VectorTuts, NetTuts, AudioTuts, the mighty PsdTuts and a plethora of other art and tech sites. So of course, I jumped at the opportunity to help out such an admirable bunch.

Additionally, Tuts+ are having a giveaway on their site where you could win one of 10 copies of the 2010 poster. Swing over to the Tuts+ 2010 contest post to see all the information. I created a wallpaper set of the design to download for your computer or iPhone, all of which are available on their website.

I love having an open-ended ticket to create a design, which was exactly what the team requested of me so long as it said “2010″ somewhere. After doing some research on sci-fi publications from the 70s and 80s I took some heavy inspiration from Omni magazine covers. Omni had a way of creating interesting yet vague imagery, something that left a lot to the imagination. I wanted to strike that vibe for the Tuts+ crew, I even modeled the type after Omni’s title treatment.

Initially, the design didn’t come together as quickly as I thought it would and the original attempts had me on a completely different course of action. Check out these early type-based versions:

I decided to ditch the entire concept and start from scratch, I wanted to do something more striking than a stylized number. I went back to the sketch phase and started working out another concept, and one involved an ‘exploding astronaut’ which later became the Abduzeedo anniversary poster. A big thanks to Sean Hodge over at the Tuts+ Network for being so cool as I fumbled about with my concepts in my search for the right one. You rule, man!

Swing on over to the post on Tuts+ for your chance to win one of the 2010 commemorative posters, and why not grab some wallpapers while you’re at it. Happy New Year!

There are now wallpaper versions of my 3 Inspiring Years poster designed for the big Abduzeedo 3-year anniversary giveaway. Swing on over to the post on Abduzeedo to grab the files for your desktop or iPhone.

I was asked by the mighty Google to participate in the launch of the new artist themes collection for Google Chrome, available for the first time on their website. The artist theme collection showcases over 100 leading artists, architects, musicians, illustrators, and fashion and interior designers from around the world who took the standard Google Chrome design and created their own unique version. In their own words:

“Our group of contributing artists come from a variety of styles and genres in the world of fashion and music.  All of these individuals have demonstrated creativity and innovation in their field of expertise, and when taken together, appeal to a variety of users. The collection of artist themes for Google Chrome displays a spectrum of creativity and variation to inspire users to customize their browser in a way that reflects their personal style.”

This was an exciting project to work on, recreating all of Google’s elements and rollovers while adding my own colorful touch.When it comes to program interfaces I use, I tend to like things very clean and organized which doesn’t take away from the content. So when it came to my own browser theme, it was challenging to add some pizazz while keeping things as basic as I could. The navigation buttons look different then my original design, will have to look into that.

I would like to thank all those at Google for making this possible. If you would like to check out the Signalnoise theme as well as many others, go to the artist themes collection, the Chrome blog, the Google blog or the official Google Twitter.

Last week I released my Tron Legacy poster design as an iPhone wallpaper and as a result had quite a few requests for a full monitor version. So, here is the full Tron Legacy wallpaper in multiple sizes for your computer.

• 1920 x 1200
• 1680 x 1050
• 1440 x 900
• 1280 x 1024
• 1280 x 800
• 1024 x 768
• iPhone

Feel free to download the suitable file to add a bit of neon sci-fi to your desktop. Enjoy!

It’s been some time since I uploaded any iPhone wallpapers to the blog, and I’ve had a few requests to make this one available.

So, here is my Tron Legacy poster design cropped to fit the display of your iPhone, feel free to download it here and add some sci-fi Disney color to your favorite handheld. Enjoy!

Last week I announced a new project I have been working on, a DVD of PSD source files entitled The Signalnoise Source. I have been working on developing and preparing the files over the past few weeks and things are going very smoothly, can’t wait to get this into peoples’ hands.

However, a few other projects have been brought to my attention over the past week which have a great capacity to stall the release. It sucks, but these new endeavours are both large and exiting.

So, because it pangs me to not deliver on what I set out to do (I’m fairly hard on myself that way) I decided to upload a small sample from the DVD set to show the kind of work that can be expected once the project ramps up. The set will include style and asset exercises such as this one with all layers intact so you can turn things on and off to see what’s going on, as well as view all the layer settings I have in place.

As I said before, I am creating these PSDs to help out those interested in learning through example. So please don’t download this source and re-sell it for commercial use, that will ruin the game for everyone.

Download the Signalnoise Source PSD, and have fun!

It’s been a little while since I offered any wallpapers on the site, so I decided to make this one available for download. I’m the first to admit, I’m seriously fussy when it comes to the desktop of my computer. I need my wallpaper simple and all my files tucked away.

When I first got my new Macbook Pro I wanted to design a simple wallpaper I would be content with, and obviously something that has my logo included. As it turned out, that’s all it turned out to be :) I named the wallpaper ‘Beast’ after my Macbook Pro who has been sporting the wallpaper for the past month or so, he’s a real champ. Here are the links:

• 1280 x 800
• 1280 x 1024
• 1440 x 900
• 1920 x 1200
• iPhone

So if you want a change for your desktop, grab the new Beast wallpaper.

Well the final hours of 2008 are ticking away, so in celebration of the pending calendar turnover to 2009 I have uploaded my 2009 Year of Astronomy design in wallpaper format free for download in various sizes for your monitor and iPhone/iPod. Here are the links:

● 1920 x 1200
● 1680 x 1050
● 1440 x 900
● 1280 x 1024
● 1280 x 800
● 1024 x 768
● iPhone or iPod

So once again from Signalnoise, have a safe and happy New Year!