Karim Rashid | Keynote Speaker

Eschewing style in favour of designing in the modus of our time, Karim’s designs include luxury goods for Christofle, Alessi, Veuve Clicquot, and Riva 1920; democratic products for Umbra, Paul Mitchell, 3M, and Philip Morris; timeless furniture for Bonaldo, Tonelli, BoConcept, and Vondom; exquisite lighting for Artemide and Fontana Arte; high-tech products for Asus and Sirin Labs; surface design for Marburg and Abet Laminati; iconic graphics for Citibank and Sony Ericsson;; and award-winning packaging for Method, Paris Baguette, Kenzo, and Eos.

Karim’s influence expands beyond products to interiors, including restaurants like Switch in UAE; hospitality design for Park Inn by Radisson Amsterdam City West, Temptation Resort Cancun, and budget hotels for Prizeotel in Bremen, Hamburg, Munster, and Erfurt; public environments like Universita Metro Station in Naples; residential design like Paraiso Bayviews in Miami; and retail design for Fun Factory in Berlin and Munich. Additionally, he has collaborated on innumerable concept exhibitions for clients such as Dupont Corian, Deutsche Bank, PepsiCo, and Audi. In 2017, Karim launched Kreate by Karim, his own line of kitchenware and lifestyle accessories.

Numerous awards and accolades attest to Karim’s contribution to the world of design. He is a perennial winner of the Red Dot award, Chicago Athenaeum Good Design award, Pentawards, and IDSA Industrial Design Excellence award. He holds honorary doctorates from Carleton University, Pratt Institute, OCAD in Toronto, the British Institute of Interior Design, and Corcoran College of Art & Design. Contemporary artwork created by Karim ranges from digital prints to public art/installation and sculpture. His works are featured in 20 permanent collections in various art institutions worldwide, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, MoMA, and The Center Pompidou. He has exhibited across the globe and is a frequent contributor to the Venice Biennale, as well as exhibiting major retrospectives of his design work in Sao Paulo, Seoul, Milan, and Ottawa.

A cultural shaper, Karim is a frequent guest lecturer at universities and conferences globally, aspiring to change the world by making design a public subject. He is also regularly featured in print and digital platforms by media companies like CNN, Vogue, Elle, GQ, The New York Times, and countless more. This reach allows Karim to fulfil his ambition of disseminating the importance of design in everyday life. Karim’s most recent monograph, XX (Design Media Publishing, 2015), features 400 pages of work selected from the last 20 years. Other monographs include From The Beginning, an oral history of Karim’s life and inspiration (Forma, 2014); Sketch, featuring 300 hand drawings (Frame Publishing, 2011); KarimSpace, featuring 36 of Karim’s interior designs (Rizzoli, 2009); Design Your Self, Karim’s guide to living (Harper Collins, 2006); Digipop, a digital exploration of computer graphics (Taschen, 2005); Compact Design Portfolio (Chronicle Books, 2004); and classic titles Evolution (Universe, 2004) and I Want to Change the World (Rizzoli, 2001).

In his spare time, Karim’s pluralistic practice flirts with art, fashion, and music and is determined to creatively touch every aspect of our physical and virtual landscape.