A few months ago I was introduced to the designs of Karim Rashid, while at the Scott Schuman event at Holt Renfrew, and after learning about Rashid I instantly became an admirer of his body of work and design aesthetic.

A brief biography: Karim Rashid is a well-known Canadian industrial designer who specializes in architecture and interior design. He has well over 3,000 designs in production, is featured in 20 permanent international gallery collections and has won over 300 awards, such as the coveted Red dot design and the Chicago Athenaeum Good Design award. Some of his client work includes the Oh Chair for Umbra, the interior of Morimoto restaurant in Philadelphia, the Dirt Devil KONE and shoes for Melissa Plastic Dream.

What I like most about Rashid is the variety of projects he participates in and his knack for creating beautiful multifunctional pieces accessible for purchase by all people and not just the financial elite. Many of the principles of art, architecture and fashion go hand-in-hand all requiring creativity, imagination, talent and the ability to transform ideas into objects for use. Rashid's efforts "to make design a public subject" is appealing across all areas in the world of design, and in 2001 Time named him the “most famous industrial designer in all the Americas.”

Rashid will be at Indigo – Bay & Bloor in two weeks to sign copies of his new book Karimspace: The Interior Design And Architecture Of Karim Rashid.

Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009

Location: Indigo - Bay & Bloor, 55 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON

Time: 7:30 p.m.