Studio Sneak Peek : Head On Design

A Sneak Peek? What's this? Chatting over tea at HQ one day, we were marvelling at how lucky we are to work with such an array of wonderful designers, and in doing so get to know them, their spaces, people and pets. Suddenly we thought, "We should share them!" and voila! we now have a spot on the blog for Studio Sneak Peeks!

We were fortunate enough to spend some time chatting to Joanna Orr, the talented hands behind Head On Design, in her sunlit showroom in Canterbury Studios where she shared some of the history of her animals and many amusing lessons she's garnered along the way from being a small-scale start-up to a streamlined business able to cope with multiple large orders.

Jo's elegant sculptural pieces are a play and an ironic twist on the traditional "hunting trophies". She has taken a concept so tainted in our green, eco-conscious age and transformed it into something beautiful, iconic and earth friendly. Both the ranges of trophy heads and the free-standing animals stocked at KIN are made from sustainable materials - Xanita (a strong, recycled cardboard which is 100% re-pulpable), a thinner recycled paperboard for the smaller sculptures, or bamboo.

Instead of being symbolic of man's power, Head On Design's figures celebrate the inherent beauty of African animals, and highlight Joanna's innate understanding of form and flawless expression of it. Through her design work, Jo is also cultivating an understanding of how precious these creatures are, and the most recent addition to the range, the rhino, has been created to bring awareness and funding to the right people, with the hope that of saving these majestic creatures from extinction.

The muted, natural colours compliment the ethos of the company and enhance any interior space - indeed we have spotted the trophy heads in glossy magazines, boutique restaurants and even at the high-fashion J&B Met.

The animals are made up of laser-cut 2D pieces that slot perfectly together to create the exquisite 3D sculptures. Each comes flat-packed with full instructions for fun and easy assembly. There is something wonderful about opening a small, neat cardboard box full of abstract shapes and transforming them into the complex animal structures of the Nguni, Kudu, Elephant and Rhino.

Browse or buy Head On Design items online here

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