I see designing for children as an act of optimism, a form of upstream thinking that has the power to shape how we grow into ourselves and relate to the world :)
I am a designer and the founder of House Humbaba, a design publishing house dedicated to making playful objects for curious minds. My work focuses on slow, thoughtful design that explores the space between form, identity and open-ended play.
Over the past twenty years, I have moved fluidly between design disciplines including graphic design, digital design, service design, product design and more, letting questions lead and form follow. I have always been driven by the same questions: How does design shape our experience of the world, and how do the things we create reflect the values we hold?
In 2018, after becoming a godmother, my trajectory shifted toward designing for children and those questions took a more personal turn. I began asking what influence toys have on children's relationship with themselves, their bodies and their place in the world. Especially in a region where much of what children are exposed to is imported, I questioned what kinds of worldviews, values and assumptions were quietly shaping how children see themselves and their sense of worth. Since then, my work has focused on designing mindful, open-ended tools for play that support children in building a strong and thoughtful sense of self. Designing for children became the language that felt most natural to me, one that allows me to translate what I couldn’t express through any other form.
In 2025, I founded House Humbaba, a slow publishing house for playful design, based in Beirut and committed to small batch production.
I work primarily with wood, paper and textiles, materials chosen for their warmth, sustainability and tactile qualities. My practice centers on curiosity and quiet discovery, guided by an interest in the invisible, the nuanced and the often overlooked. I enjoy exploring the tension between how we are alike and how we are different.