Hefer spent 16 years in advertising, during which time he worked as a Creative Director in Cape Town and New York agencies, and became one of South Africa’s most awarded creatives. Realizing that the higher he climbed, the less he personally created, in 2007 he left advertising to start up a creative consultancy, Animal Farm. Four years later he founded Porky Hefer Design. Hefer focuses on conceptual precepts, which manifest in three dimensional forms in a variety of executions, from public sculpture to product and furniture design. Intrigued by the reactions and energy a piece can generate, he embraces Africa and the skills that are readily available indigenously, rather than trying to emulate foreign processes. Hefer sees beauty in the functional, the ordinary and discarded. He regularly challenges our relationships with everyday objects, inspiring us to look again.
2010 Elle Décor Designer of the year.
2011 runner up Visi magazine Designer of the year.
2013 Southern Guild Foundation Icon Award.
2015 – Grains of Paradise – group show at R&Co Gallery, New York City.
2015 – Monstera Deliciousa – solo show Southern Guild Gallery Cape Town.
2016 – Otium and Acedia, solo show representing South Africa at London Design Biennial. Presented by Southern Guild.
2017 – Heart of Lightness – solo show R&Co Gallery, New York.
2017 – supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – solo show Southern Guild Gallery Johannesburg.
2017 – The New African Magazine 100 Most Influential Africans of 2017
2018 – Endangered – collaboration for Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation with Southern Guild and SFA at Design Miami Basel.
Winner: Wallpaper Design Award 2019 – Best New Private Residence of 2018.
https://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/best-new-private-house-wallpaper-design-awards-2019
Hefer spent 16 years in advertising, during which time he worked as a Creative Director in Cape Town and New York agencies, and became one of South Africa’s most awarded creatives. Realizing that the higher he climbed, the less he personally created, in 2007 he left advertising to start up a creative consultancy, Animal Farm. Four years later he founded Porky Hefer Design. Hefer focuses on conceptual precepts, which manifest in three dimensional forms in a variety of executions, from public sculpture to product and furniture design. Intrigued by the reactions and energy a piece can generate, he embraces Africa and the skills that are readily available indigenously, rather than trying to emulate foreign processes. Hefer sees beauty in the functional, the ordinary and discarded. He regularly challenges our relationships with everyday objects, inspiring us to look again.
2010 Elle Décor Designer of the year.
2011 runner up Visi magazine Designer of the year.
2013 Southern Guild Foundation Icon Award.
2015 – Grains of Paradise – group show at R&Co Gallery, New York City.
2015 – Monstera Deliciousa – solo show Southern Guild Gallery Cape Town.
2016 – Otium and Acedia, solo show representing South Africa at London Design Biennial. Presented by Southern Guild.
2017 – Heart of Lightness – solo show R&Co Gallery, New York.
2017 – supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – solo show Southern Guild Gallery Johannesburg.
2017 – The New African Magazine 100 Most Influential Africans of 2017
2018 – Endangered – collaboration for Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation with Southern Guild and SFA at Design Miami Basel.
2019: Winner: Wallpaper Design Award 2019 – Best New Private Residence of 2018. https://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/best-new-private-house-wallpaper-design-awards-2019