In 1860s Damascus, a craftsman named George Bitar perfected the art of Inlay by grafting local wood with mother-of-pearl (sadef), silver & ivory. In the spirit of Bitar, our Damasq Collection features a modern interpretation of this exquisite art form whose gifted workshops are now dwindling due to war.

I spent the better part of a year perfecting this design so as to do justice to the laborious and intricate work done by craftsman who have produced Sadef work for years in Syria. While they lay each piece of wood and mother-of-Pearl by hand, I digitally mimicked that by placing each tile and shape digitally one by one to create a “hand laid” feel. Doing away with precise repeats highlights hand laid work, because there is beauty in the imperfections. 

Damasq Box design-looks like wood, made of paper.

Damasq stationery & product design