Here is an example of how I'd envision the new smilies to look.

Here is an example of how I'd envision the addition of the avatars to look.

Again, this is a quick/crude mockup of my own doing, obviously Randy/IB would do a much better job with the actual design.

I hope the two mockups I've created show just how minimal these improvements would be to the existing look and feel of FlyerTalk that we all agree is miles above other BB's.