10.01.10
Posted by Damien Aistrope on 10th January 2010
What started off as a little bit of geeky humor, our new launch date 10.01.10 has evolved into something more.
You see, I probably took my nerdy joke a touch too far and by using a binary decoder, I looked up exactly what 100110 meant. What came up was '&', the ampersand.
So what you say... well, I guess it all is a matter of opinion, but as someone who has been involved with Australian INfront as both a user and a member for quite some time now, what INfront has been lacking is exactly '&' - a connector, an added condition, something more. Something more than just a news feed, something more than just a forum...
The last time INfront was designed and developed for was in 2003. Now, in terms of building a community that is meant to represent the forefront of Australian creativity, a lot has been left to be desired - not only from an aesthetic standpoint, but in terms of connecting with our users.
Lets be honest, INfront died. The core team members were no longer interested due to work or family commitments. Our users lost interest due to lack of change, support or just plain updates.
I know in my case I got embarrassed of INfront and was ready to walk away and start something new.
In the 6 or so years I have been a member I have seen INfront redesigned 5 times (I personally had a crack at 2 of those and I can admit 1 of them was pretty lack luster). Sadly, it always came down to the classic design by committee syndrome, turned into a complete mess and we were back at square one. Something had to change if it was ever going to move forward...
I wrote to Justin one Sunday afternoon to see what was was going on with the last designs development and I got the standard response of 'nothing'. I'm not one for being subtle about my emotions and I made it pretty clear how disappointed and frustrated I had become. Next morning I rounded up a posse and was going to start something new. I had a team of 5 people on board and I was going to make this happen. Just as I was about to jump on MSN to let Justin know my decision I get this: 'OK, lets do it - I want you to drive this, it is in your hands'.
Change. It's a wonderful thing - but once I have it I want more. I want to change everything. Not only how it looks, how it works, how it is structured, who is involved, how our community talks to each other and us, what is on offer from the website and how our community can add to the offering.
To me this meant starting from scratch, so that is exactly what we have done. The old site was taken down and we have had a Twitter feed in its place for a couple of months whilst we work behind the scenes. We have built everything from the ground up - I won't get into the technicals as Zann St Pierre is going to do a few Talk articles on the development - but this is a completely custom build and explains why it has taken us some time to put together after hours from our 9 to 5 jobs.
So I am going to detail a few things. What has changed and why.
The Team
The Core Team is now just 3 people. For INfront to continue to move forward decisions need to be made quickly and easily. Our skills between the 3 of us cross over nicely so it is never on just one persons head to get something done.
You'll see on our about page we now have two other sections of team members which I am really excited about. News Team and Talk Team. News is straight forward enough, these guys will help us find the best work, websites, events and exhibitions that Australia has to offer. Talk on the other hand is a new section where we have asked professionals from various fields of expertise to have their own regular column where they can discuss what they please in an intelligent manner with our community via comments.
No Longer Non Profit
I'm positive that this is going to ruffle a few feathers but Australian INfront is now a business. Australian INfront Pty Ltd to be precise.
This was a hard choice after being completely non profit for over a decade, but the thing is that after we started building this new site we realised there was so much more we could be doing and the only thing that was holding back further progress was time and money. We have invested countless hours into this already and as we have all seen in the past, once that initial enthusiasm dies off, so does INfront.
We have big plans for INfront (yes, beyond the website) and if a few banner ads and paid job ads can help us achieve those goals then it is a win for everyone.
Multiple Usernames & Privacy
When you register for the new site you will be asked to provide your real details and also a Username for the upcoming new forum. There are many many reasons for this that I won't bore you with so I will just break down how it will work:
Your real name will be used / or associated with the following sections:
• Jobs
• Talk
• Directory
Coming soon:
• Events
• Shop
• Maps
• Extras
Your username will only be used in:
• Forum
As we are staging the launch of the forum we suggest existing users of the forum register their account now and secure their desired screen name before everything is moved.
When we first started discussion regarding this in the forums quite a few users voiced concerns regarding privacy and we have taken these suggestions on board and every user has the ability to hide any data they do not wish to share.
We hope the above gives you enough freedom and privacy to express yourself in the forum but also allows for more professional dialog in sections like Talk. If this works or not is completely trial and error, but we are willing to give it a try and I hope you are too.
What Else?
As you saw above there are further sections on our road map as you will. These will all be finished in the next weeks and months
Events: a community based calander where anyone can upload their event
Shop: an online store selling our own products as well as a co-op aspect
Maps: lots of them, useful ones too
Extras: multiple projects open for participation
I hope you enjoy and participate in the new INfront.
Please submit news, add your Directory listing, comment in Talk, tell us about your event, submit photos of your Studio - we want to hear from you and we want this to grow.
1. By jamesb on 10th January 2010 @ 4.01 PM
Sounds like the site is so much more than what I expected!
2. By Jem on 11th January 2010 @ 8.01 AM
Damien - huge congratulations and thanks for all your hard work in re-energising the community. Look forward to seeing where AiF is headed, and helping to steer it there. Well done to all of you!
3. By simantic on 11th January 2010 @ 8.01 AM
Nice work! The site feels so much more open and at home with today's design industry. It sounds like it has also been well thought through. Can't wait for the new forum and the other sections you mentioned.
4. By etchroom on 11th January 2010 @ 10.01 AM
Thanks for the renovation job Damien and Co. I'm looking forward to seeing AIF as it evolves.
5. By aistrope on 11th January 2010 @ 12.01 PM
Cool - I am glad people are liking it.
We know the design of it isn't to everyones taste but honestly, we can't please everyone.
The site is meant to act as a blank canvas to best showcase work and the content that we are creating at a rapid rate - there was no need for over the top design and I hope our intended audience is sophisticated enough to appreciate minimal design.
I truly think if it was over the top it would be more about us and less about the community that we building and trying to get exposure for.
6. By nivek on 11th January 2010 @ 12.01 PM
Will stuff like Visual Response be kept?
7. By aistrope on 11th January 2010 @ 12.01 PM
We have it all on archive but we are hoping to bring it up again in a new format in the near future with new briefs - we just need to build it so it is a lot easier to manage and pretty much can run itself. In the past it was a lot of work getting them live and people got upset about the time delays.
We will also be introducing other variations of user submitted projects in an upcoming section called Extras.
8. By oz on 11th January 2010 @ 4.01 PM
I'm glad the site wasn't over designed. The site will grow from this point on and personally, I like that. I think you & the team have done a good job. It also feels right that you have launched the site in 2 stages - site now, forum update later.
9. By seaneetee on 12th January 2010 @ 9.01 AM
well done guys! ...to say the challenge of redesigning INfront has finally been overcome is MASSIVE!!!
It looks like it will go on to bigger and better things so like myself, I'm sure everyone is very much excited for the future of this site. look forward to getting INvolved again. : )
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