Karim Rashid
is the superstar of contemporary design.

Cairo born, Karim Rashid is half Egyptian, half English, but was brought up in Canada. He used to travel a lot during his childhood, which ment getting into contact with different places, cultures and languages.

In 1967, before turning seven, Karim visited Expo 67 in Montreal; the theme of the exhibition was "Man and its world", meaning a land of futuristic wonders that "made quite a lasting impression on me - this is what I will be doing for the rest of my life".

Karim Rashid is very determined in his fight against traditional patterns and nostalgia; his projects do not reshape what already exists, but come up with new ideas. Karim promotes new shapes, materilas, revolutionary technologies, and also vibrating colours. On his opinion, design is for everyone. The aim of design is to influence poeple's lifes, behaviour, sensitivity and psychic. This is why design should be accessible.

Karim has over 2,500 projects in his portfolio: from furniture to lightning devices, restaurants or hotels, credit cards, watches, shoes and even hard drives. His clients vary from Casamania, Coca-Cola, Alessi or Dirt Devil, Giorgio Armani, Kenzo, Umbra or Prada to Miyake or Davidoff, Unilever or Procter and Gamble, LaCie, Sony or Yahoo.

Karim Rashid's works are currently present in fourteen important museums around the world, for instance:San Francisco Museum of Art (SFMoMA) and New York Museum of Art (MoMA). His achievements and international reputation made him a well known lecturer that is constantly invited to famous universities. He is Doctor Honoris Causa at Ontario College of Art and Design and Corcoran College.

He was awarded with numerous international prizes for his works. He is the author of five books and edited two CDs.

"I like to cross boundaries. I try to see the world from the inside out. I watch people use and live with products, with each other, and the space that surrounds them. I am fascinated with the interaction of people and things and the idea that I could make the interface more efficient, pleasurable, and seamless."

www.karimrashid.com