Industrial designer Karim Rashid (b.1960) is ”shaping the way of the future” with his practical, yet poetic plastic designs. In this interview Rashid explains how he feels that he was destined to be a designer, and that it is his responsibility to contribute to the world via design. Not just any design off course – but fast and efficient, cheap and democratic, super functional design.

“Design is a commercial act” says Karim Rashid. The reality of design is that it’s a practical profession where you need to have a great deal of knowledge about the thing, object or space, including how it is produced: “I love production and I think I know every machine out there.”

Being a designer means having a good balance of the left and right brain halves – the creative and the logical: “The form I put down is an informed form” explains Rashid – but you also have to love people and want people to enjoy your things.

Finally Rashid explains that we live in a casual age where everything has to be soft and comfortable, and that he sees the world of objects and people as being connected in a seamless and casual way.

Karim Rashid was born in Egypt and raised in Canada. He now resides in New York. He has won more than 40 awards, including the George Nelson Award in 1999, the Canadian Designer of the Year award in 2001, and the Red Dot Design Award in 2012. His work is part of 20 permanent collections and has been exhibited in galleries world wide, including MoMA and Centre Pompidou.

Karim Rashid was interviewed by Jesper Bundgaard.

Camera and editing by: Per Henriksen
Produced by: Christian Lund
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, produced by Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2013

Supported by Nordea-fonden