Lisa Aarons-Platt and Shane Platt in the HotHouse

Partners Lisa Aarons-Platt and Shane Platt have reopened Johannesburg-based design studio, HotHouse South Africa, after a five-year sojourn in Canada.

During this time, the duo met and spent much time with top Canadian designer Paul Sych, and also enjoyed exposure to design guru Bruce Mau's studio. As HotHouse Canada, they established a prestigious Canadian/US client base including Harvard University Press, University of Toronto Press, Canadian Scholar's Press Inc., Scholastic Canada, Thomson Nelson and De Beers Canada.

The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, Canadian NGO South African Women for Women, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal's Opera Studio & Choral Academy also feature amongst their clients.

HotHouse South Africa enjoys a 15 year reputation as specialists in the design and publishing arena, and its past local client portfolio includes Sasol, Independent Newspaper Company (The inc), Times Media Limited (TML), Thengisa Media, Sowetan, Primedia and Fedsure.