Atlanta, Georgia-based illustrator Kelly McKernan draws women in peril, either by some fault of their own naïveté, or simply because they were exposed to a world they did not know how to react to. The fine arts illustrator defines her work through an inner struggle of sorts, which is a by-product of personal growth. According to her official biography, McKernan places her female protagonists in various situations in which they can “interact with symbolic elements in vague settings.” There is, indeed, a lot of symbolism at play here, as “her current body of work reflect her interests and concerns as a growing woman with a penchant for idealism on a journey of self-awareness.”

Source: KellyMcKernan.com

Dean West, born in rural Australia in 1983, may be young, but he is exceptionally well-versed in the art of fashion, conceptual and commercial photography. After Capture Magazine has hailed him as “one of the world’s best emerging photographers”, and his output confirms that title. He has been traveling the world over for the past three years, exhibiting everywhere, from Saatchi’s 100 Best Emerging Photographers collection at Cannes, to the IV International Arte Laguna Prize in Venice, which he won. According to the official bio on the artist’s website, his images are “designed with the intention of arousing intense curiosity” and are also multilayered enough to “allow viewers to analyze the process of digital photography itself,” via his almost surrealist collages.

Source: DeanWest.com

Freelance US illustrator Jesse Kuhn is spectacularly gifted in creating a world that blends a child-like vision of the universe with a technique that is at once funny and refreshing. Kuhn is based in New York and uses mixed media – both pen, ink, textures, as well as Adobe Photoshop. His professional range is quite diverse and varies from editorial illustration to children’s books illustration to advertising and design. He is an applied student of the visual arts and acknowledges the need for a life-long education in his field of choice. Meanwhile, his main sources of inspiration are books, films, travel and… humans, of course. According to the artist himself, he’s also “fascinated by all things odd, strange and peculiar, tries to dream on a regular basis and hopes that his work provokes a thought and perhaps a smile from its viewer.”

Source: RawToastDesign.com

Recently released cameras can get extremely complex, but this is not the case with the all-new Leica X2, an improvement upon the previous model, the Leica X1. The camera features a brand new APS-C 16 megapixel sensor, a better auto-focus function, plus an optional electronic viewfinder called the “Viso-Flex”. The viewfinder has a 1.4 megapixel display and is able to swivel 90 degrees to either side. The lens, just like the one on the X, is the 24 mm (35 mm equivalent) f/2.8 lens also featured on the X1.

Source: Leica-Camera.com

Whenever a release goes big at the movies, the design world instantly jumps on the bandwagon of capitalizing that cultural momentum and acumen. That’s what art student Calvin Lin did right after the recent release of long-awaited superhero blockbuster The Avengers. He took the movie’s most prominent characters, added some other major planet-saving figures into the mix and came up with a series of alternative posters which solely rely on minimalist visual means and conceptualization. Spot Batman, The Hulk, Flash Gordon, Superman and, of course, Wonder Woman in the gallery below – and don’t forget to tell us if you think any particularly awesome superhero is missing!

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So much tranquility in a single picture. By Pawel Uchorczak

Beautiful photos by Malvina Frolova from Moscow, Russia.