I love using map illustrations on web sites but they are a pain in the butt to make. Unfortunately a lot of the clip art and map making packages are either useless for web site use because they are underpowered, or they are too expensive to make it worthwhile (there are some really nice map making packages if you’ve got a few thousand dollars to spend). While looking for a specific map a couple days ago I ran across a site that looks like it can meet all of my map needs: GraphicMaps.Com.
The site has a lot of free clip art (though the clip art maps for individual countries is currently being revamped) that I’d actually be willing to use it on my web site. All of the clip art on the site is very professionally done.
Even better, though, is the business end of the site which is custom map solutions. There are a number of sample custom maps on the site and they all look drop dead gorgeous. Which wouldn’t mean a thing if they were expensive, but the promotional material says that most custom maps for web sites “are in the $50 range with a significant price break for multiple images.”
I’ve got way too many maps on my web sites to have every single one done at $50/pop, but that price is a bargain to have someone redo several of the most important and most frequently visited maps to give a site a more professional look.