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.”