About the Site
Domain Information
- Domain purchased: August 2005
- Host: 1&1 Internet Inc.
- Hosting Plan: 1&1 Beginner Package
Site History
Behind the name:
Aun Existe Amor is Spanish for love still exists or even love exists. I fell in love with its meaning after listening to the song by Celine Dion. Throughout the years I considered changing the name to something that would seem more like a graphic site and even entertained Aun Ex Amor Designs for a while. In the end, I decided to keep the it as it was because it had become familiar and was close to the heart.
The struggle of a beginning:
I didn't really have a reason to create a site. Maybe I wanted to keep myself busy, maybe not. My brother directed me to find a host, so I did at Bravenet and used its HTML editor to build my site. Initially, AExA was only a single page of quotes. This later grew into a categorized collection. Soon I started hosting MSN and AIM avatars and a couple months later started designing my own. That is how this AExA the graphic site came to be, barely a year after its creation.
I still remember how proud I was to finish my first ever premade (link). My design skills were poor and code knowledge minimal. For the better part of that year, I relied on mostly on Copy-and-Paste because I couldn't for the life of me, remember the correct syntax needed to code and style.
It took frequent visits to HTML & CSS tutorial sites to better my technique and it was only in early 2006 that I started to code purely from scratch. By then I had jumped from Bravenet to Geocities to being graciously hosted by the Mina of Fairygarden, who was once affiliated with AExA.
The progression:
It was in August of 2005 that my brother did the unthinkable and gifted me with this domain. It was awesome. I didn't move the site until late 2005 because I didn't have the heart to leave Mina's care and partly because I believed that sites hosted by free servers or on subdomains can be just as good as those with a domain of their own who tended to affiliate with other domain owners.
Once the moved happened, everything seemed to fall in place. I discovered that I liked to code though not nearly as much as I loved to design. It's still immensely satisfying getting something to work correctly, sort of like solving a puzzle. The discovery of CSS shorthand and other useful articles on Webdesign and Site Management, the use of EditPad Lite (later Notepad ++) and the switch to Photoshop early made the years of designing a wonderful and easier experience.
I've tried my hand at a variety of graphics and resources over the years; different sections have come and gone. Now, I only provide what I'm most happy and satisfied with - which is what is currently offered on the site. I make sure each design I offer is validated and spend a great deal ensuring that they're optimally viewable in most browsers.
I may not be as active as I was before, but I do work hard to keep my site updated with as much content as time permits me to make. None of this would've been possible if it weren't for my faithful visitors, my wonderful affiliates and link exchanges who've always encouraged me and stayed by my side. I express my deepest thanks to them and wish them well always.
Past Versions
I don't change layouts as often, even when the site first started out. Here you will find every design that's ever been on AExA since 2004 except the two ever premades that I've used - Versions 2 and 3. Thumbnails link to larger preview images with details.
