Design a Website for an Australian Firm

We have designed our logo and we need a website designed around it. We require designs of the homepage and a typical content page.

Virtual Enterprise Australia

Who we are?

* We are Virtual Enterprise Australia. We provide schools, TAFES and Universities with a service called a "virtual enterprise". A virtual enterprise is a simulated business in a virtual world where students can trade within virtual economies. Feel free to ask if you have any questions.

* We are in a number of TAFEs, schools and Universities in Australia.

What we need?

* Our current website can be found at: http://virtualenterprise.com.au/

* We just had a new logo designed and we would like a fresh new website design based around the logo ( To have a look at the logo click here: http://screencast.com/t/xjYJzEhSu ).

I have attached the specs below.

- We only need the design; we don't need coding.
- Our new bi-line is "Virtual Enterprise Australia: A Class of its own"
- To have a look at the logo, click here: http://screencast.com/t/xjYJzEhSu
- The navigation bar will consist of the following buttons:- Home
- About Us
- For Business
- For EducatorsAlong the bottom of  every page, we would like to have a ticker, similar to the CNN ticker ( http://screencast.com/t/LprjcvhY) that lists all the latest news and events: it must match the theme and fonts of the site.

ii) There should be a "Read More" or "More News and Events" link somewhere close to the ticker.

HOMEPAGE

The homepage consists of the following:
- Welcome message: "Virtual Enterprise Australia (VEA) offers innovative learning solutions for developing employability skills to match the needs of business.  We invite you to participate in a virtual world that enables people to learn about business operations and processes, as well as the business world itself!  Participants run their simulated business in a virtual economy that replicates the real economy.  This is hands-on, interactive and global!  With over 5,500 virtual enterprises collaborating across 42 countries, this business program can support participants at school, TAFE, university and in business. "

2) Three testimonials:

"The Virtual Enterprise provides participants with an edge over those who have simply studied in a classroom environment, and for me, the Virtual Enterprise meant success"   Shaun Valentic, Xcelerate VE Graduate, Chisholm Institue (Shaun undertook a Certificate IV in Information Technology and now works as an Information Communication Technology Manager) 

i) Featured prominently under or next to or above this description is a link "More Student Testimonials"

“Virtual Enterprise learning is so much more useful because you apply the theory straight away...........it makes your theory live!!”  Penny Hardy, Advanced Skills Lecturer, TAFESA 

i) Featured prominently under or next to or above this description is a link "More Educator Testimonials"

“We have seen a great deal of success with individual students in the program; the increase in self-esteem and motivation is terrific to see"  Chris Horn, McDonald’s Licensee, Darwin. 

i) i) Featured prominently under or next to or above this description is a link "More Business Partner Testimonials"

3) A link to a virtual tour of one of our many virtual enterprises.

4) A search bar ( Google custom search)

MORE THINGS WE'D LIKE
What will be at the top and the footer: “ Contact Us”. Similar to the screenshot: http://screencast.com/t/1fKjySm4

* We don't want too much white space as is the case on the homepage. There should be a lot of white space but the homepage is excessive:
 
http://screencast.com/t/pNQkaACYDK1

* White space and Font Colour: We need to ensure that we make use of white space i.e. no blue or black or other coloured backgrounds, we want the background to either be white or another light colour in places where there shall be text.
 ii) Normal text should be black or a similar dark colour and extremely easy to read.
 
* Size of the text: The text should be slightly larger. Match the size of the text to this website: http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/
 
* The page should never take a long time to load for someone with dial up speeds (64 kpbs) so have this in mind as you design the page.

Add “clocks” with times all over the world. For an example of what it might look like ( feel free to include your ideas) have a look at the screenshot below:
http://screencast.com/t/RmXY0XMFiJs
The clocks should have time in:
            * Melbourne
            *  Beijng
            * New York
            * London
* Perth
* Adelaide
* Darwin
* Brisbane

The Login Button

The login button should be separate from  everything else and easy to find.
ii) At the moment we feel it is too “hidden” and inconspicuous ( http://screencast.com/t/dVVXIFqxO )

- Dark backgrounds
- Excessive whitespace
- Something that suggests like it exists in the last century