Monia Rassâa — designer, design instructor, ceramicist, and founder of Tunisia's Ekho Design — didn't always want
to be a designer: "When I was eight, my plan was to become a teacher — so I'd be able to sell ice cream during the
summer," she says with a laugh. Product design, though, was in her blood, and she created her first piece of furniture
at 15. When she began her college studies, “design” meant graphic design or interior design — until she, with some
fellow students, advocated for a new course in product design. A few years later, while working on her doctoral
thesis, she first contemplated the creative possibilities of marrying modern sensibilities solving to the rich cultural
heritage embedded in the work of Tunisia’s artisanal makers. Today she collaborates with a small group of artisans
on Ekho’s collections of elegant and evocative ceramics: “Each artisan contributes a unique perspective, both artistic
and technical — which in turn creates new aesthetic contours, linking modernity and tradition.”