FOR EVERYONE
Maral was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. After majoring in graphic design and advertising, she worked in an advertising and design agency and tackled a wide range of projects. Four and a half years later, she moved to New York City to pursue a master's degree at Parsons School of Design. There, she earned a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Design and Technology.
During her second year at Parsons, Maral was awarded an Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) fellowship by the Open Society Institute, as a result of which she traveled to Kyrgyzstan to support a non-governmental organization: Mental Health & Society. Her role focused on implementing new communication practices in information design and advocating for the causes of the NGO while working closely with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.
After graduation, Maral lived in Los Angeles for two years and worked as a freelance web designer for Loyola Marymount University. One of the most noteworthy projects she handled was the 100th anniversary of the university's founding. The endeavor was a year-long centennial celebration between May 2011 and May 2012.
Currently, Maral is an Associate Professor at Michigan State University. Since 2011, she has taught classes in user experience design, graphic design, creative advertising, and TV commercial production.
FOR GEEKS
Maral built this website with CSS Grid syntax. The thumbnail animations were designed in Adobe After Effects and exported with the Bodymovin extension.