Karim Rashid
Karim Rashid is an industrial designer and interior architect. His designs include luxury goods, furniture, lighting, surface design, brand identity and packaging. Times magazine has described him as the “most famous industrial designer in all the Americas… In his spare time Karim’s pluralism flirts with art, fashion, and music and is determined to creatively touch every aspect to four physical and virtual landscape.” Karim Rashid is one of the most prolific designers of his generation. Over 3000 designs in production, over 300 awards and working inover 40 countries attest to Karim’s legend of design.
Karim Rashid is one of the most important names on the contemporary design market, and that’s why Vondom, a Spanish design company, has been working closely with the renowned designer since it started out. The result has been highly attractive pop and futuristic pieces like the Pal (Sloo), Vertex or Voxel chairs which have received awards at prestigious competitions such as the Good Design Awards.
Who really are you?
I am a design pervert, cultural shaper, poet of plastic, digipop rockstar.
What do you think of when you hear the word plastic?
Plastic has always been important to me. I saw it as the lively, energetic material of all materials. It was the glossy one, the smooth one, the transparent one, the glowing one, the soft and touchy one, the recyclable one, the fluid liquid solid, and the lightweight material that I, as a young child, naively knew was the material of our contemporary world.
What is your favourite colour?
_I love pink and techno colors- colors that have a vibrancy and energy of our digital world. There are really millions of colors so it is ridiculous in this life to have a single favorite of anything- favorite song, favorite book…
Which Vondom item from another designer would you put in your home?
_The Biophilia loveseat from Ross Lovegrove. I have long been friends with Ross and I greatly I respect his work and how it pushes the boundaries of technology, software, and speaks about the digital age and natural form.
What would you prefer, Classic or Science Fiction movie?
_I would direct, write and act in my own Sci-fi screenplay. The movie would be called THE PINKARIM and it would be a futuristic science fiction that portrays the future as the most beautiful place. In fact I’ve already worked on visualizations, renderings and sketches for animation. Designers must evolve society forward, not backward.
Do you have any fetish object?
_Everything I design is a fetish object for me.
What was the last thing you bought?
_I just bought the Jawbone Up. I love it. It monitors your heart rate, works as a pedometer, and wakes you up using your body’s natural circadian rhythms and I bought a vase that Alessandro Mendini designed (my mentor).
Do you believe in perfection?
_I believe it is something to strive for, whether attainable or not. My life must be very organized, minimal yet sensual, simple, and I strive for perfection always. to be.
Do you have any fixation?
_Yes, Beautifying the world, and creating well designed, provocative, stimulating yet calming products and environments is the impetus for everything I embark on. It is my worldly goal.
What do you do when you are not designing?
_Well design is my life so it is basically inseparable from my being, but I like to compose electronic music, deejaying, and love running and exercising every day and eating a strict organic diet. Also I enjoy cooking when I have time and of course spending time with my wife and our beautiful baby girl, Kiva.
