Australian Asexuality Website and other Aussie Visability

[HD Ready]

Lets not try to step on each others toes. I trust Parth's creative abilities and I imagine she's much like myself. As long as I have a plan with what I want to achieve in my head I don't need plans :P

I'm sure what she comes up with if she decides to collaborate with Elijah will be awesome enough :)

[Derp]

Yay, it's good to see another new asexy site getting off the ground.

Awesome work on the logos, too! Both ideas look good, but if the color scheme of the website is going to be the same, then I vote for the blue one, just because black websites hurt my eyes.

[Jibun]

Wow, this is awesome. When the site kicks off, I would definitely want to be involved in something like this. (I'm from Brisbane.)

As for logos, I had a brief play around with making something myself. I didn't spend very long on it, but I did end up with something. The resulting image was based on a similar colour scheme to the second one Parth had, which I like. I use The Gimp, not Photoshop.

That's what I've got. I think I prefer Parth's work though.

[KayleeSaeihr]

This is one I made...Though I think it might be a bit over the top.

I tried to tone it down a bit by going with Australia's "Green and Gold" colours.

But in the end I just liked the colouring of the first, so I cut it down to just a logo:

[Skylark]

I really like Jibun's logo. That's my favourite so far - it combines the best elements of Parth's into one, I think.

Galileo's hurts my eyes...

[KayleeSaeihr]

It's the red and blue isn't it? The colours can be changed.

[Parth]

I do like yours Galileo, but I agree that the colours could stand to be more neutral :)

[Jibun]

I didn't mind Galileo's logo with A3 over the outline of Australia, but I think the colours stand out too much. I'm also not too keen on having the Australian flag as the background, as it was in Galileo's first banner. The main focus is that it's an Asexual site, rather than an Australian site, (there are plenty of Australian sites out there already ;) ) so I think having a large Australian flag in the background is just a bit too much personally.

That said, I didn't mind his logo, and perhaps with the colours applied less aggressively and in a better banner it could turn out really well.

Another thing I've noticed is a slight confusion as to the name of the site. It was originally suggested as Australian Asexual Awareness, but later on, HD Ready suggested Asexual Awareness Australia as an alternative name. Personally I think the latter is better, because it places the emphasis on Asexual, the first word in the name, which is probably the most important word in regards to the nature of the site.

If we want a forum, I would recommend using phpBB3, the latest version of phpBB. I know AVEN used to use phpBB2, which wasn't quite so good, but phpBB3 is a large improvement over 2, and includes all the functionality I think you'd want in a forum.

It also should be reminded that if you want a .com.au or a .net.au, you need an ABN (which isn't a problem, as any Australian citizen can get an ABN,) but if you want a .org.au you have to be legally registered as an Australian non-profit organisation, unlike normal .org domains which are still recommended for non-profit organisations, but aren't restricted legally. A quick whois check verifies that asexualawareness.com.au still hasn't been grabbed, so I'd suggest getting a domain like that, unless someone thinks of a better one that's also available.

[KayleeSaeihr]

This is the .psd file for the Logo (not the banners) for anyone to download and fiddle with :)

Linky

[Jibun]

This is the .psd file for the Logo (not the banners) for anyone to download and fiddle with :)

Linky

Thanks for that. :)

How does this look?

I used the psd file Galileo provided for the logo part, and reapplied the bevel, partly because I use The GIMP which isn't fully compatible with photoshop files, and I just ended up with his layers and outlines without any colour. :( I should get Photoshop, but I don't like the idea of spending heaps of money on it, and pirating it seems even worse. The GIMP has served me well so far. <_<

[Skylark]

I didn't mind Galileo's logo with A3 over the outline of Australia, but I think the colours stand out too much. I'm also not too keen on having the Australian flag as the background, as it was in Galileo's first banner. The main focus is that it's an Asexual site, rather than an Australian site, (there are plenty of Australian sites out there already ;) ) so I think having a large Australian flag in the background is just a bit too much personally.

Agreed. It comes across as tacky, and (dare I say it) almost 'patriotic', which is a minus in my book. As Jibun said, the focus should be on asexuality. Also, I wasn't a fan of the green and gold one either, as mixing those colours resulted in something resembling the colour of vomit. It's just not a good look.

Another thing I've noticed is a slight confusion as to the name of the site. It was originally suggested as Australian Asexual Awareness, but later on, HD Ready suggested Asexual Awareness Australia as an alternative name. Personally I think the latter is better, because it places the emphasis on Asexual, the first word in the name, which is probably the most important word in regards to the nature of the site.

Agreed again. Asexual Awareness Australia sounds more professional.

The last logo... could do without the yellow on the "3", I think. The colours clash a bit. I do like the starburst on the right, however. But I still think that Jibun's first logo is the best.

[SpirallingSnowy]

Ok so we been mulling over this for a bit, and no ones posted here for a bit, so i thought i would poke you all into life * pokes you all lots*

[Shaggy]

Owwwwwwwww

I consider myself poked.

BUT, i also consider myself a retard when it comes to graphic design.

I really like the fonts & colours of this one, but the 'starburst' thingy behind 'Awareness' evokes 'christian fundamentalism' for me. (And I don't care to be reminded of that part of my past :D )

I really like the blue, floaty, ribbony thingy in this one.

It not only provides cohesion across the entire logo,

but also evokes a "Lifeline for Asexuals" type feeling ...

But the anchoring "A" would need to be "Solid" (as in the font / colour of the top logo) for the "Lifeline" analogy to be truly strong.

IMRO :)

[Jibun]

I really like the fonts & colours of this one, but the 'starburst' thingy behind 'Awareness' evokes 'christian fundamentalism' for me. (And I don't care to be reminded of that part of my past :D )

LOL.

Well, here's a revised version:

Ok so we been mulling over this for a bit, and no ones posted here for a bit, so i thought i would poke you all into life * pokes you all lots*

*eyeball falls out*

Didn't anyone warn you you'd poke someone's eye out eventually!!

*picks up eyeball and carefully places back into eye socket*

Yeah. So what's happening? I mean, all we're doing right now is designing logos, which is fun and all, but isn't really doing much. :P

Is anyone planning on putting in money for web hosting? Because hosting a top level domain is a tad expensive, (over $100 a year for decent hosting) and we should probably get that sorted out. Should a couple of people put in money together or something? Who wants to register the domain and legally own it? I wouldn't mind giving them some money to help pay for it if I can.

I still suggest we get asexualawareness.com.au. It's a good domain, and a whois check verifies that the domain is indeed still available.

And as for the site itself, is someone going to code it all from scratch, or are we going to use a CMS or blogging platform such as Joomla or Wordpress? If we use something like that, it'd be fairly straightforward to code a template for it.

[KayleeSaeihr]

What purpose would a separate Australian AVEN-like forum serve?

[Jibun]

What purpose would a separate Australian AVEN-like forum serve?

Not much, I don't think. I personally prefer having then main Aussie site with info, and then link to AVEN from that page, keeping all discussion on the one site.

Having an Australian site with information, however, particularly with updates and news specific to Australia, is definitely quite beneficial to Aussie visibility. And then link to AVEN from that site, and as a result more Australians will find AVEN, and can take part in the discussions here. :)

Basically I imagine the site as serving a similar purpose to http://asexuality.org.nz/ , the New Zealand site.

[mad_scientist]

Well if those Kiwis have one then us Aussies need one too! Can't be shown up by them! :D

[Jibun]

Oh, New Zealand is way ahead of Australia in terms of ace visibility.

[SpirallingSnowy]

Yeah i know.... we seem to be a disorganised lot lol......

I already have a forum thats in my sig. If i knew coding and stuff i would of built a website eons ago but sadly its not something i know much about. And it would of been on Geocities or something lol.....

*cough*

but yeah. At a later point we can talk forum but i think what we need a place for knowledge and information. and possibly a contact point ( which im happy to be if you guys are cool with that) so if people want to help out or if we have psychologists/psychiatrists/other health professionals, there is a central person they can contact re our stuff.

And when we have media visability, we can post it on a news section.

and a place where previous media visability can go, also any research articles that are free to public can go somewhere as well... or perhaps said contact person can be the resources, im pretty sure ive got anything and everything, but i can always get it.

what you guys think?

[Shaggy]

i think what we need a place for knowledge and information. and possibly a contact point ( which im happy to be if you guys are cool with that)

so if people want to help out or if we have psychologists/psychiatrists/other health professionals, there is a central person they can contact re our stuff.

And when we have media visability, we can post it on a news section.

and a place where previous media visability can go,

also any research articles that are free to public can go somewhere as well... or perhaps said contact person can be the resources, im pretty sure ive got anything and everything, but i can always get it.

what you guys think?

I agree that a central repository for Knowledge, info, articles etc. would be 'ace'.

I also think that as much as possible should be accessible from the Public Domain, so that you don't have to carry the can as the "Resource Site".

You as a contact point would be brilliant.

And various links to AVEN (as many into this site as appropriate) would be a must.

Yeah i know.... we seem to be a disorganised lot lol......

I prefer to think of Aussie AVENites as marching confidently and with due deliberation towards a new Asexual Dawn :D

[Questioned]

free candy is awesome !!! :D I actually like Halloween hehe!

But yeah. Article is in the works for womens day guys!!!

Hey snowy, can you tell me more about this article. Whos writing it, what about and when it will be out?

[z80]

Why is asex such a big deal. I'm starting to reminisce about the days when it had to be explained to people.

[KayleeSaeihr]

free candy is awesome !!! :D I actually like Halloween hehe!

But yeah. Article is in the works for womens day guys!!!

Hey snowy, can you tell me more about this article. Whos writing it, what about and when it will be out?

It's about relationships that differ from the norm. One of which is about an asexual married couple from here... Me and my wife in fact ;)

[SpirallingSnowy]

^^^ What GalileoAce said :)

But yeah. I havent heard from Elijah for a while, and this one is his baby so ill have to see if i can get in contact with him....... Get something underway so we have something to offer website wise.

[SpirallingSnowy]

OK. So at the meet i spoke to Elijah and hes still keen on building the website - Hes a systems administrator for work and stuff. So basically if we work out more specifics of what we want on it, and have it ready.... If we build it they will come :P or something like that lol....

Anywho. So what kind of stuff do we want to cover??

- Information about Asexuality ( what do we want covered here)

- Link back to AVEN

- Archive of research

- News updates of international asexuality

- Media ( past and present articles)

- Contact listing

What else?? what should each entail???

[Allison]

Hi All, I've just found AVEN and stumbled across your posting about setting up communication with in Australia. Great idea, whats the latest? I'm in Qld BTW

[Shaggy]

Hi Allison, and welcome to AVEN, great to see yet another Aussie :)

We traditionally welcome new friends with cake, so ... enjoy.

There are some threads in the Meetup Mart Boards that will tell you something of what's happening in OZ.

(And also a list of some of the other OZ members by state, incl Qlder members.)

Hope you have a great time here. Cheers.

[Jibun]

Hi All, I've just found AVEN and stumbled across your posting about se tting up communication with in Australia. Great idea, whats the latest? I'm in Qld BTW

Hi! I'm from Queensland too (I'm in Brisbane.) I'll start this post off with the traditional cake, which we always give out to new members here. :)

We have a fair amount of Australian members on AVEN, but not too many. We're in the process of trying to start an Australian website on asexuality, and hopefully this will get more Australians involved in the asexual community. We've had meetup events in Sydney and Melbourne, but as far as I know there have never been meetups anywhere else in Australia (someone can correct me if I'm wrong.)

Feel free to keep looking more around AVEN, it's a really nice place. And hopefully we can get the Australian site up soonish. :)

[SpirallingSnowy]

Perths had meet ups too :)

But yeah, we need a bit of national coordination :P

[HD Ready]

Perths had meet ups too :)

But yeah, we need a bit of national coordination :P

Perth has had meetups??? *looks around* ............*waves at Roberto* ;)

Well i guess I get to have an asexual "meetup" nearly every week with my best friend ;)