Playboy cover designer passes away

An East London journalist who designed the first South African cover for Playboy magazine recently died after a 10-year battle with cancer. Tracy Dossin (52) worked as the creative director for Times Media for eight years, designing covers for various magazines. As creative director for Playboy, she flew to Chicago, where she met the Hugh Hefner. Her mother, Pauline, said that Tracy designed a rabbit’s head with gold and diamonds on its ears for the first Playboy magazine cover in South Africa. Her sister, Mandi, said Tracy noticed Charlize Theron’s talent long before her fame, when she met her as a 16-year-old model. Tracy was born Therese Marie Pia in Cape Town, and matriculated from Belgravia Arts School in East London before studying art in Cape Town. She left for Paris where she worked as an au pair for four years. Returning to South Africa, Tracy won a Sappi award for the best magazine designer of the year in 1992, followed by the Mondi magazine award in 1993. After becoming ill, she returned to East London to her mother’s house, where she continued to paint commissioned art works.