Illustration Mundo is a portal/blog (for lack of better terms) devoted to illustration. It was created by Illustrator Nate Williams because he felt the lack of a portal site specifically for illustration (as opposed to those which included design, photography, film, etc. as well as illustration).

The site has recently incorporated Erik Olsen’s illustration podcast blog Iconic, which features interviews with working illustrators with a focus on their working process. This is a fascinating angle on illustration that is seldom encountered, hearing the artists comment on their work and process in their own words.

If you find the main page a bit overwhelming in terms of selections, the site can be accessed in several ways through the navigation at the top. The Articles tab gives you the main articles arranged in reverse chronological order like most blogs (image at left), and you can sort into spotlighted articles, Iconic Audio, print Interviews and so on.

The articles are brief, but usually showcase several pieces by the illustrator and, if available, some personal photos. The podcasts that have now moved over to Illustration Mundo from the Iconic site are marked by an icon (what else?) in the upper left. There are also tabs for News and community oriented features like Polls and Forums.

On the About page, Williams and Olson invite you to become involved and encourage you to submit news, participate in the forums and place your work in the Illustrator Database. Most of the articles also allow for comments in the usual fashion for blogs.

The site also uses a “Favorites” and “User Rating” system to rate the illustrators in the database (by votes, clicks, most tagged as favorites, etc.). I’ve seen this feature on CGI portals and I’m still dubious about the value of such systems. It may help you find something others like and it may cause you to miss things.

You might actually do better with a feature like Illustration Mundo’s “100” tab, which serves up 100 random illustrators, with links to their websites, arranged simply as squares captured from their images.

•