Here is a lovely Tinker Toys package redesign by Kelly Abeln. I like seeing re-imaginings of classic toys and games just to see how the brand could possibly be taken in different directions. But this one really hit home. Kelly’s design is fresh, fun and functional with the little diagrams of pieces.

But best of all, the design was obviously treated with respect to the product. No flashy light beams or attempts to “hip up” a classic toy (which seems to be the norm these days). Just a nice, strong design. A proud design. These are Tinker Toys, not Dora or … Pokemon, or whatever kids are into. This toy is older than all of us, and it’s proud of that. Kelly’s redesign speaks on that level.

I posted the original Tinker Toys can here as well, which I believe is the one I had as a kid. I love the comparison of the old to Kelly’s. Certain harmony there. I dig it.

PS. I remember that can being super hard to open when I was 5. Had to get dad to open it all the time.

Some beautiful and elegant logos plucked from this MCM Logos Flickr set. In the words of the person who compiled these:

“Logos from the from the 1950s to early 1970s excavated from various design publications. Check back, I’m always adding to the collection.”

Keep learning from the masters, man. So much great decisions in there. Check out the entire collection, you won’t be sorry. And thanks to the always awesome Veerle Pieters for the heads up on these.

Francois Hoang made the announcement for his much-anticipated second installment of Montreal Meets. Last year I was lucky enough to fly up and speak at the even with my pal Fabio Sasso, but this year’s line-up has absolutely blown me away. I’ll be making the trip once again to debut my new Signalnoise talk for 2012, along with some of my favorite artists and designers in the industry today. Stellar line-up.

Speaking at the event will be my friends Fabio Sasso, Shelby White, Radim Malinic and Scott Hansen. We will even get a live set from Scott’s musical act, Tycho. Shaking with excitement over here. I’ve been in touch with these guys for quite some time, and have had the chance to hang out with most of them in person before (other than you Shelby, you elusive punk). All talent, all awesome, all taller than you might think.

The event is April 7 – 8 and is not to be missed. Get those tickets now, gang.

Some beautiful branding work for the Classic Film Union by South Yall. From what I gather from this post, these bits were developed for a kind of online collection system for film fans. Not sure about the ins and outs, but this is some great work. Those badges are fantastic.

Here we go, the first episode of the new Signalnoise Podcast is in the can. This is a very new format for me so I’m still working out the kinks as I go, trying to find my groove in this new audio-only land. Upon reviewing it became clear that I need to buy a better microphone and pop-stopper … my old Rockband one just isn’t cutting it anymore. We’re low-fi around these parts, so you may need to adjust the volume a bit. Still learning the Podcast ropes, sorry about that.

This first Podcast serves as a bit of an introduction to Signalnoise, myself, and a couple of the broader topics I like discussing. So, have a listen via the player below or you can download the MP3 directly.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I’m not going to set a schedule on the releases of the Podcasts just yet because these take longer to do than the Broadcasts did, but my goal is to release around 3 of these per month. Hoping I can stick to that schedule. As for the listener interaction part, the Signalnoise Facebook page would be the best place to ask questions so I can review, then answer them during the Podcast. Sound good?

Also, the Signalnoise Podcast will be available on iTunes as soon as possible.

Film on Paper presents … the movie poster for E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL.

Director: Steven Spielberg
Genre(s) of Film: Adventure | Sci-Fi
Origin of Poster: USA
Year of Poster: 1985
Designer: Intralink Film Graphic Design
Artist: John Alvin

Signalnoise in association with Film on Paper brings you Movie Poster Monday. We will be showcasing a movie poster to start every week, so be sure to check out future posts for some great art from cinema’s past.

Hey Atlantic Canada! I’ll be doing a signing this Saturday at Hal-Con 2011, Sci-Fi Fantasy and Comic Convention. In order to make this event special, I did a small 11 x 17 run of rare Signalnoise posters relating to movies and comics. All of the posters seen above will be available at the signing for a low $10 each, or 2 for $15. I’ll sign it up right there, and throw in some Signalnoise stickers and buttons.

None of these posters were previously available, and most will not be available again. Like I said, super low print run. You have to swing by the signing area at Hal-Con to scoop these. I’ll be signing 2pm to 3pm on Saturday afternoon but be sure to get there early in case these get snapped up quick.

A big thanks to my pal Cal over at the best comic shop in the world, Strange Adventures for hooking me up with this opportunity. Speaking of, he will be running Cal-Con at the shop this weekend where he’s running all kinds of specials and cool events.

So this weekend, let’s get our nerd on. See you there!

When I first got into the web industry back in 1998, I instantly immersed myself in the emerging online art scene. I was constantly surfing independent design websites to see how these other kids were using new technologies to create online installations and new digital artwork. It was pioneering time. An amazing time. Even though I wasn’t onstage back then, I was in the bleachers cheering these people on as hard as I could.

The bloodline of this online art scene was the “news stream” portion of web portal sites. The place where people post brief snippets and links to new amazing stuff they found. And the top of the heap, the best place to find new stuff which was updated many times every day … was the mighty Kaliber10000, or K10k.

Now, you have to understand when this was. I was a young design punk at the age of 21, and this is years before “blogs” existed so the spread of information was much slower than it is today. But K10k, man. If you wanted to have your finger on the pulse, you went there. I remember my palms sweating while waiting for their big redesign back in … what, 2001? When me and my design buddies would hang out we were constantly saying “Did you see that link on K10k today?”. That site saturated my life during that time. The boys even linked to a very early version of Signalnoise back in 2002. I felt like a king.

You could say sites like K10k paved the way for things like Twitter … hell, Twitter is basically a networked K10k newsfeed. But as time went on, the web portal sites closed up one by one and the blogosphere took over. The guys started up their own company, Cuban Council.

But I wanted to take a moment to tip the Signalnoise hat to K10k, which recently and proudly closed it’s doors. What Michael, Toke and Per did was extremely important to the web as a whole. But from personal experience … I probably never would have registered Signalnoise.com back in 1999 had I not been reading K10k everyday. I wouldn’t have been chasing a dream of creating digital art. That’s the truth.

So, here’s to you, K10k.