After hearing stories (some not so flattering) from fellow designers about the interesting personality of Karim Rashid I finally got an opportunity to hear him speak first hand. In a small auditorium on University of Pennsylvania campus Karim spoke, not so much about his work but more about his philosophy and process.

I went into the lecture being a little on the fence about his work. Some I feel is so simplistic and beautiful and others just artistic blobs for the sake of being blobs.   After listening to his message I finally “got” where he is coming from and I have to say I agreed with a lot of his points.

I agree that people need to question the status quo, the conventional, the ordinary. People need to be willing to embrace new technology, live in the present, and not rely on the past for so much inspiration. Karim lives in the present and feels it is his duty as a creative person to get others to think outside the infamous “box”.  

My favorite story he told was one of a hotel he helped design with a smart key. The key stays in your pocket and the elevator senses the key and takes you to the correct floor. The hallway lights sense the key and guide you to the correct door. The door, which has no handle, pops open when you are in front of it. Lastly, the lights sense when you are in the room and turn on or off with your presence. This to me could only happen if you first embrace technology and second find a hotel corporation that can accept that this could be the future of the hotel experience. No more check-in process, no more big gold keys on an even bigger plastic keychain, and no more painfully waiting for the little green light to turn on when you try to figure out the correct way to slide your keycard in.

So, whether you think his work is frivolous blobs or genius enough to deserve the 300+ awards, you have to respect the man for pushing boundaries and progressing design.