WorkIllustration

Ahra Kwon and her little utopias

People define Ahra Kwon's art style. Figures are all over her worlds of giant objects and hangul characters, coming together to form mini-utopias and, in some cases, interlocking like shapes would.

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Woman working at desk under large pendant lamp surrounded by diverse figures in coral and navy illustration by Ahra Kwon

Her most recent project exemplifies this: a long wall-display illustration for Hyundai celebrating this Year of the Ox.

"In this illustration," Ahra tells us, "the employees of Hyundai form together to make the number '2021.' Creating new letters for numbers with all the characters in harmony was a big challenge for me."

Colourful illustration featuring diverse figures engaged in various activities arranged around the text "MORE TOGETHER" on a bright blue background, with bicycles at the bottom
Yellow book cover titled The Power of Ritual by Casper Ter Kuile, featuring illustrated figures engaged in various mindful activities against a terracotta background

Ahra is based in Seoul, South Korea, and has worked with clients such as Facebook, Samsung and more. She works in various fields like editorial, advertising, books and social media, with a personal interest in enchanting kind of environments, and a vibrant colour palette.

"My style is mostly inspired by books and classic vintage images. I love searching for posters or advertisements created before the 1980s. The artists before that time mainly used very bold graphic composition, which gives me many visual ideas."

For Ahra, setting up compositions is vital, and when she finishes up with a sketch, she uses Adobe Photoshop as her main tool of choice. In future, she'd love to create more dynamic images in various compositions, not just using a flat viewpoint but also other perspectives.

Two figures in bright yellow and navy clothing collaborate to lift stacked turquoise file folders against a coral red background, with loose papers floating around them
Multiple figures with various skin tones work together on a wooden floor marked with numbers and hangul characters, sweeping and arranging elements to form a collaborative composition
Two stylised figures among colourful patterned circles and wavy red lines, illustrating Ahra Kwon's vibrant compositional style with bold geometric shapes and a warm colour palette

From her career so far, the illustrator is most proud of working with one particular Big Tech client.

"I did several works for Apple's Today Tab.; in each project, I was commissioned to deliver particular messages. It was challenging for me to show the message intuitively rather than explaining it."

The intuitive nature must have been second nature for a creative who so expertly balances emotion with form and message. See more on her portfolio site at the Closer&Closer artist agency.

Colourful illustrated figures working and reading amongst oversized books, pencils and office supplies on a coral pink background
Colourful layered pages with patterns and text, two small figures standing on different sheets against a coral background scattered with geometric shapes
Multiple figures rowing boats on a starlit night converge towards a glowing crescent moon framing a illuminated city skyline, by Ahra Kwon
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