Featured Movable Type Site: Bearskinrug

Kevin Cornell describes himself as a writer of excruciatingly banal prose with an inferiority complex, but don't let that stop you from checking out his blog. Clever, droll and only occasionally serious, this talented illustrator has created a cheeky site populated with characters that include a sock monkey named Mojo, a turtle-man and a temperamental pot-bellied stove.

Would you expect anything less from the man who named his blog Bearskinrug?

In 2002, Kevin Cornell was a graphic designer working mainly in Flash. Encouraged by friend and fellow designer Jason Santa Maria, he created the first iteration of his blog in Movable Type 2. "I wanted to interact with people," he explains. "And I wanted something that would make it easy for me to write and publish online."

He also had another nascent goal: to begin drawing again. After years of working in digital animation, Kevin had a yen to dust off his pencils. "If I had set out to create a big website, I never would have done it," he says today. "But because I could take small steps, and upload illustrations as I created them, I was able to start drawing again and get feedback."

He continually revised the design of Bearskinrug as he upgraded to newer versions of Movable Type; in true designer form, he chronicles the evolution of his designs in a gallery on his blog, where he has also showcases his drawings and other work.

But Bearskinrug is far more than just a portfolio site; Kevin has proven to be an adept comic with a droll writing style that has attracted a loyal following from all over the world.

Perhaps it has something to do with his comment form, which encourages readers to leave a "witty bon-mot or clever repartee," but Kevin's readers are in on the game. "There's a genuine sense of fun on my site," he says. "My readers are smart and clever, and I've rarely had to delete a comment."

Not only has Bearskinrug become a valuable forum for interaction and inspiration, but Kevin's decision to create a blog also paved the way for a new career path. "I probably wouldn't be an illustrator today if I didn't have a blog," he says thoughtfully.

Today, Kevin's work as a freelance illustrator spans a broad range of projects, from graphic novels to editorial pieces to storyboarding for films. "My blog is the only marketing tool I use," he explains. "I don't know of any other way of marketing that would be more effective."

Most gratifying even than pursuing a career he loves is the sense of having built something special: "I've created this large archive of drawings and articles that I'm proud I made instead of letting them sit in my head," Kevin says.

If that isn't one of the finest justifications we've ever heard for blogging, we don't know what is.