Website reputation report

illustrationdept.com

Last checked 2 days ago · Point-in-time assessment

73/100Technical Safety ScoreIndependent technical assessment, not a visitor rating
● Evidence is limited

What is this website?

Giuseppe Castellano founded The Illustration Department in July 2015. Since then, he has helped countless illustrators sign with agents, sell debut picture books, navigate contracts, find their creative voice, and more. He also hosts The Illustration Department Podcast—a popular source of information for artists.

No listed local patterns observedHomepage-only analysis is not a malware clearance. Read the scope and findings below.

73/100Safety Score
70%Evidence Confidence
Trust Radar evidence profile Eight evidence dimensions from zero to one hundred. Exact values surround the chart. Threat Intelligence55 Domain History90 Infrastructure92 Website Security95 Security Hygiene45 Transparency70 Reputation50 Operational Stability96
Trust RadarEight observed factors. Select one to inspect its evidence.

How to read this report

Safety Score evaluates observed signals. Evidence Confidence measures how complete, direct, fresh, and consistent those signals are.

No automated scan can guarantee that a website is safe.

Current report context

What changed since the last scan

  • No earlier report to compare
What this scan could verify · 6 observed, 0 unavailable
DNS observed
Registration lookup observed
Network observed
TLS observed
Website response observed
Website content observed

Unavailable and unperformed checks are not clean results. The detailed evidence below remains the source for each conclusion.

Report an inaccuracy in this report →

Independent evidence brief

What we observed about illustrationdept.com

Updated Oct 20, 2026

The latest scan examined 10 public pages on illustrationdept.com. Website descriptions below come from the site itself. Registration, connection and threat findings were checked separately.

Purpose and visible content

On its About page, the site says: Giuseppe Castellano founded The Illustration Department in July 2015. Since then, he has helped countless illustrators sign with agents, sell debut picture books, navigate…

Registrar and domain history

Registered on Feb 3, 2016. Registrar: Tucows Domains Inc..

Recorded expiry date: Feb 3, 2027. Registry data can change.

Connection and hosting evidence

The checked homepage returned HTTP 200.

A valid TLS certificate was observed, expiring Dec 22, 2026.

Threat checks and score context

External malware-provider coverage was unavailable. The report does not treat this missing check as a clean result.

Safety Score: 73/100. Evidence Confidence: 70%. These measure different things.

Community reviews of illustrationdept.com

No approved reviews yet ☆☆☆☆☆

Visitor experiences are separate from the independent technical Safety Score.

Visitor opinions remain separate from the technical Safety Score.

Public content profile

Pages reviewed on illustrationdept.com

10 of up to 10 pages

We sampled public pages from this website to understand its subject and contact paths. The titles and short descriptions below come from the website itself. They are not endorsements or independent safety findings.

The Illustration DepartmentFounded by Giuseppe Castellano in 2015, The Illustration Dept. is a global leader in e-learning for illustrators. We have worked with hundreds of illustrators from every hemisphere About Giuseppe Castellano, Founder and Creative Director — The Illustration DepartmentGiuseppe Castellano founded The Illustration Department in July 2015. Since then, he has helped countless illustrators sign with agents, sell debut picture books, navigate contract FAQ — The Illustration Departmenthttps://illustrationdept.com/faq Classes — The Illustration DepartmentThe Illustration Dept. is a global leader in online illustration education. Our class offerings are designed for illustrators of all experience levels, backgrounds, and interests. Illustrator Showcase — The Illustration DepartmentWelcome to The Illustration Department’s Alumni Showcase! Click on the thumbnails to visit the illustrators’ websites. Be sure to check back often for new entries! Testimonials — The Illustration DepartmentRead dozens of testimonials from illustrators. Like, “I’ve felt frustrated for a few years now. In one hour Giuseppe Castellano was able to get me to finally see what I was never a The Illustration Department Podcast — The Illustration DepartmentIn this chart-topping podcast, Giuseppe Castellano talks to folks in illustration, graphic design, publishing, animation, and other creative fields about the ups and downs of their Critique Group for Illustrators — The Illustration DepartmentOur founder, Giuseppe Castellano, hosts a free, online Critique Group for Illustrators every Thursday at 9:00 PM EDT/EST. You don’t need to submit an illustration to join. Just cl Newsletter — The Illustration Departmenthttps://illustrationdept.com/newsletter Publishing Jobs Board — The Illustration Departmenthttps://illustrationdept.com/jobs

Public page evidence

Topics and keywords observed on illustrationdept.com

6 phrases

These phrases were extracted locally from sampled public page metadata. They are observations, not search-volume or ranking estimates.

illustration departmentTitle, Meta description10 sampled pages
giuseppe castellanoTitle, Meta description5 sampled pages
illustratorsTitle, Meta description6 sampled pages
creativeTitle, Meta description2 sampled pages
founderTitle, Meta description2 sampled pages
publishingTitle, Meta description2 sampled pages

At a glance

Key findings

✓

Report is current

The displayed evidence comes from the published immutable scan.

i

Confidence is separate

Unavailable evidence is shown as missing and never counted as clean.

!

Verify before sensitive actions

Check the exact URL and context before payments, credentials, or downloads.

Fully explainable

Why this score?

Versioned weights
Threat IntelligenceWeight 25%
55/100

Threat providers were unavailable. The neutral uncertainty baseline is not a clean verdict.

Domain HistoryWeight 10%
90/100

Domain registration age and expiry were checked.

InfrastructureWeight 10%
92/100

Observed DNS records and network address were checked.

Website SecurityWeight 15%
95/100

Observed certificate validity and TLS protocol were checked.

Security HygieneWeight 15%
45/100

Observed security header values were checked for basic protective settings. Empty values, disabled HSTS and unrecognized values receive no credit. This is not a complete browser-policy validation.

TransparencyWeight 5%
70/100

Observed site metadata and About page were checked. Publisher-supplied details are not independently verified.

ReputationWeight 5%
50/100

Popularity is weak context, not proof of safety. Unranked sites use a neutral baseline.

Operational StabilityWeight 15%
96/100

Observed HTTP status and final connection scheme were checked.

Server-side analysis

Automated security checks

Local antivirus and phishing checks

ClamAV · homepage HTMLNo signature match in the sampled HTML
Engine version1.5.4
Signature database date (UTC)2026-10-19T06:26:01+00:00
HTML bytes submitted127,494
Phishing.Database · exact hostnameNot listed in this snapshot
Feed downloaded (UTC)2026-10-20T06:00:07+00:00
Hosts in local snapshot386,082

Sampled scripts and pages

Resource analysis incomplete

6 resources checked · 30 script links observed on the homepage. Partial resource coverage.

ClamAV inspects the fetched homepage HTML on our server. New scans also sample up to four linked scripts and two collected internal pages, with size and time limits. Scripts are not executed. Other downloads, private server files and logged-in pages remain outside this check. A signature match needs investigation and can be a false positive. No match is not a whole-site safety guarantee.

Exact hostname lookup uses a downloaded Phishing.Database snapshot. It does not send this domain to an external lookup API or mark sibling subdomains as harmful. Not listed does not mean safe. Snapshot age is download age, not proof that every entry was recently revalidated.

Homepage HTML only · Eight local rule families · local-security-v2

Checks use the fetched page and redirect chain. Scripts are not executed, forms are not submitted, and linked files are not downloaded. This is not a malware clearance.

Page resource inventory

Linked scripts30
Inline scripts22
Embedded frames0
External script hosts5

Counts describe the sampled HTML, not every resource loaded by the browser. External resources are common and are not automatically harmful.

No listed local patterns observed. The limited rule set cannot detect every threat or behavior.

External threat intelligence

Provider coverageNot checked

Local checks do not query external reputation databases. An unavailable check is never a clean result.

Registration

Domain information

Public RDAP observation
Canonical domainillustrationdept.com
RegistrarTucows Domains Inc.
RegisteredFeb 3, 2016
Domain age10 years
ExpiresFeb 3, 2027
Registry statusesclient transfer prohibited · client update prohibited
Report statePublished

Infrastructure

Network & hosting

Observed endpoint, not legal location
IP address198.185.159.144
Autonomous systemUnavailable
Network organizationUnavailable
Observed countryUnavailable
CDNNot detected
Web application firewallNot detected

At a glance

Infrastructure summary

Observed during this scan

A compact view of the connection, DNS and security surface. These observations describe what the scanner could verify at scan time and do not prove ownership or ongoing availability.

HTTP response200 · https://illustrationdept.com/
Endpoint198.185.159.144
NetworkUnavailable
CDN and WAFNot detected · Not detected
DNS surface20 records · 8 nameservers · 7 mail exchangers
Protection signals2 security headers · 3 technologies · DNSSEC unknown

Page telemetry

Observed page statistics

Safe metadata only

These counters describe the fetched response and sampled HTML. Script counts describe references in the markup, not a complete browser network log. Cookie counts cover observed response headers.

Response size127,494 bytes
HTTP check duration0 ms
Cookies observed1
Script resources30 · 5 external hosts
Frames and sampled checks0 frames · 6 resources checked

Encrypted transport

TLS certificate

Valid when observed
StatusValid when observed
ProtocolTLSv1.3
IssuercountryName=US, organizationName=Let's Encrypt, commonName=YR1
Valid fromSep 23, 2026
Valid untilDec 22, 2026
Certificate namesillustrationdept.com

Resolution

DNS footprint

DNSKEY status unknown

DNSKEY presence does not verify the DNSSEC signature chain. Missing records can mean no record was returned or the lookup was unavailable.

A198.185.159.144TTL —
A198.185.159.145TTL —
A198.49.23.144TTL —
A198.49.23.145TTL —
NSdns1.p05.nsone.netTTL —
NSdns2.p05.nsone.netTTL —
NSdns3.p05.nsone.netTTL —
NSdns4.p05.nsone.netTTL —
NSns01.squarespacedns.comTTL —
NSns02.squarespacedns.comTTL —
NSns03.squarespacedns.comTTL —
NSns04.squarespacedns.comTTL —
MX1 aspmx.l.google.comTTL —
MX10 alt3.aspmx.l.google.comTTL —
MX10 alt4.aspmx.l.google.comTTL —
MX10 mx.zoho.comTTL —
MX20 mx2.zoho.comTTL —
MX5 alt1.aspmx.l.google.comTTL —
MX5 alt2.aspmx.l.google.comTTL —
TXTv=spf1 include:squarespace-mail.com ~allTTL —

DNS observations · no external lookup API

Domain email protection

Exact-host SPF and DMARC observations help the owner investigate email impersonation risks. They are separate from website malware checks and do not change the Safety Score.

SPFPolicy record observed, not fully validated
DMARCMonitoring-only DMARC policy

What to do next

Review the records with your mail administrator. Inventory legitimate senders and test SPF and DKIM alignment before enforcing a stricter DMARC policy. Fix duplicate records and investigate overly permissive SPF rules.

This bounded check does not send email, probe SMTP, evaluate recursive SPF includes, verify DKIM signatures or apply organizational-domain DMARC inheritance. A missing subdomain record does not prove that no inherited protection exists. A DNS timeout is unknown, not an absent record. A policy record is not proof that messages authenticate successfully.

Responsible disclosure

security.txt

RFC 9116 observation

No readable security.txt file was observed at the standard locations. This is informational and is not evidence of malware.

Browser protections

Security headers

2 observed
strict-transport-securitypresent max-age=0
x-content-type-optionspresent nosniff

Response headers

Cookie protections

Passive observation
Cookies observed1
Missing Secure0
Missing HttpOnly1
Missing SameSite1

Only cookie attribute counts are retained. Cookie names and values are never stored. These observations are not proof of compromise and do not independently change the Safety Score.

Detected stack

Technologies

Bootstrap 80% Google Analytics 94% Tailwind CSS 72%

Versions are shown only when publicly exposed by the page or response headers. An observed version is not, by itself, proof of a vulnerability.

JavaScript library advisories

4 sampled JavaScript files checked locally with Retire.js. Database snapshot: 2026-10-20T02:40:09.958Z.

No supported library version was identified in the sampled files. This does not establish that the scripts are safe.

A version match is not proof that the website is infected or that an issue is exploitable here. Owners should review the advisory, check whether their code is affected and test an update. Up to four external script files are sampled, not every dependency, inline script or dynamically loaded resource.

About this website

What the site says about itself

Giuseppe Castellano founded The Illustration Department in July 2015. Since then, he has helped countless illustrators sign with agents, sell debut picture books, navigate contracts, find their creative voice, and more. He also hosts The Illustration Department Podcast—a popular source of information for artists.

View the site's About page ↗

This is publisher supplied information. The independent safety findings are shown separately.

Publisher supplied

Public contact details

These details were observed on the website, not independently verified as an active support channel.

Emailgiuseppe@illustrationdept.comSource: https://illustrationdept.com/

Structured facts

Website identity & response

Public page metadata
Page titleThe Illustration Department
First headingUnavailable
DescriptionFounded by Giuseppe Castellano in 2015, The Illustration Dept. is a global leader in e-learning for illustrators. We have worked with hundreds of illustrators from every hemisphere. Our personalized class offerings are designed around each illustrator—with a focus on their strengths, their areas of growth, and their career goals.
Canonical URLhttps://illustrationdept.com
Final URLhttps://illustrationdept.com/
HTTP response200 · text/html;charset=utf-8 · duration unavailable
Languageen
Structured typesLocalBusiness · Organization · WebSite
Faq page detectedhttps://illustrationdept.com/faqPage page detectedhttps://illustrationdept.com/classesAbout page detectedhttps://illustrationdept.com/about
missing100% evidence confidence
1100% evidence confidence
en100% evidence confidence
1100% evidence confidence
1100% evidence confidence
Local headers.cors credentials with wildcard100% evidence confidence
1100% evidence confidence
Local cookies.cookies missing secure100% evidence confidence
1100% evidence confidence
1100% evidence confidence
Local headers.cors present100% evidence confidence
20100% evidence confidence
8100% evidence confidence
7100% evidence confidence
unavailable100% evidence confidence
Dns consistency.cname present100% evidence confidence
4100% evidence confidence
Local headers.permissions policy present100% evidence confidence
1100% evidence confidence
Local headers.hsts preload100% evidence confidence
Local headers.hsts max age100% evidence confidence
Local headers.hsts include subdomains100% evidence confidence
Local headers.csp present100% evidence confidence
Local headers.cors wildcard origin100% evidence confidence

Connection path

Redirect chain

0 recorded hops

No redirect hop was recorded for the sampled homepage.

Premium monitoring

Catch downtime and security changes automatically

Regular checks, availability history, and alert emails are reserved for Premium websites. Free reports remain point-in-time scans and do not create recurring server work.

Enable monitoring for this website

Compared with the previous scan

What changed

A comparison will appear after the next completed scan.

Explainable matching

Digital fingerprint

fingerprint-v1
bright-radar-web-430

Comparable components help find technically related websites. A match does not prove common ownership.

DnsHashed private comparison value
TechnologiesHashed private comparison value

Material changes only

Change history

Show change history

No meaningful changes recorded yet.

Website icon for illustrationdept.com

Visual evidence

Website screenshot

illustrationdept.comPreview unavailable

No usable browser image was saved. The website icon is separate from a screenshot and is not visual evidence of the page.

For site owners

Show your verified trust report

Place this lightweight badge in your footer to show visitors an independent, dated WebsiteVirusScanner report. It can increase visitor confidence, but it never changes or guarantees the score.

Choose a badge style
Preview on your site
WebsiteVirusScanner trust badge preview

Use the current report link so visitors can verify the evidence. A badge is a transparency signal, not a paid ranking boost.

Questions about illustrationdept.com

FAQ

Still have questions? Contact us →
Is illustrationdept.com safe to visit?

The latest Safety Score is 73/100 with 70% Evidence Confidence. This is a point-in-time assessment of observed technical signals, not a guarantee. Check the exact address and avoid entering payment details if anything looks unusual.

Did the scan detect malware on illustrationdept.com?

ClamAV found no signature match in the sampled homepage HTML. External scripts, downloads and private server files were not checked. This is not a whole-site malware clearance.

When was illustrationdept.com registered?

The public registry record shows Feb 3, 2016. Registration details may be privacy-protected or updated later.

Did illustrationdept.com have a valid TLS certificate?

The scanner observed a valid TLS certificate using TLSv1.3. A valid certificate alone does not establish that the site is safe.

How does illustrationdept.com describe itself?

The website's About page describes its purpose in the report above. This is publisher-supplied information and is separate from independent security findings.

Can a paid listing change this website's score?

No. Premium placement and owner-supplied pages are labelled separately. Technical evidence, the Safety Score and moderation decisions remain independent.

Share your experience with illustrationdept.com

Community reviews are moderated and remain separate from the technical Safety Score.

Write review →