SHAPESHIFTER

Pepe is a designer, artist and architectural model builder with twelve years of experience in model building and prototyping. Based out of Zurich, Switzerland, he received his Bachelor of Design degree in Industrial Design/ Scenographical Design from Zurich University of Arts. He is fascinated by nature and all the wonderfully small things we are surrounded by every day. Tinkering at his workbench on new projects and planning new creations has been a labor of love for him since childhood. Even now, as an adult, he takes what he sees in his mind and brings it to life as a three-dimensional form. He focus of his recent work is mainly self-produced designer toys. They are a series of high quality wooden creations that are only available in limited quantities. His wooden toys are created with clean shapes and organic forms. They have a charming minimalism that really captures the essence of the character he is creating. He has become well know in the toy scene for his wooden creations both with local and international artists. Being known as a craftsman in wooden toy-making, he has been invited by many designer and illustrators to collaborate on wood based projects.The toy is based on a rabbit figure with distinctive tubular ears. The origin of the name Dunny came from a combination of street slang and one of the early "Devil Bunny" prototypes. The Dunny is sold in four sizes - 3", 5", 8" and 20". The toy has three points of articulation; a 360 degree rotational head and two arms. An artist card or sticker is also included with the 3" Dunny from a series. Most 3" Dunnys and some 8" Dunnys are normally sold as "blind assortment"; the figure is packaged inside a sealed foil wrapper, such that the buyer is not able to see which figure and accessories they are buying. Sealing the figure prevents people from opening and peeking in the boxes and buying only the figures they want. Most Dunnys are packaged inside a clear plastic bag in addition to the foil wrapper. In the second-hand market, this assures the buyer that the article was never on display and is in a "new" condition. With the success of vinyl toys as a medium for expression, many fans and artists have put their own design onto blank Dunnys.