I built Lumo so my daughters could create, not just consume
Hey everyone 👋
I wanted to share the story behind Lumo, an AI-powered coloring app I built for my daughters, Cara and Celine.
Like many parents, I noticed how most kids’ apps are filled with ads, subscriptions, and endless tapping — but very little creativity. My girls love drawing, so one day I wondered:
“What if they could turn their own photos or doodles into coloring pages?”
That simple idea became Lumo.
💡 The concept
Lumo transforms any photo or drawing into a clean, printable coloring page. Kids (and parents) can color their own pets, toys, or family photos instead of stock templates.
But more importantly, I wanted to build an app where AI supports imagination instead of replacing it.
🧠 The philosophy
AI as a helper, not an artist — it only prepares the outline; creativity stays human.
Healthy by design — no ads, no endless scroll, no dark patterns.
For families, not just kids — something parents can genuinely enjoy together.
🛠️ The build
I built it using React Native, Firebase, and a custom image-to-line-art AI pipeline on Google Cloud. It was surprisingly hard to make the AI produce clean, printable outlines from any photo — that part took months of tuning.
🚀 The response
I shared the story on Reddit, and it unexpectedly took off — over 100 upvotes and 30+ comments from other parents, educators, and makers. That gave me confidence to push it further.
Now Lumo is live on iOS, with Android coming soon.
👉 https://lumomagic.com
❤️ Why it exists
Because I want my kids — and hopefully others — to grow up believing technology can amplify imagination, not automate it.
