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Friday Five with Karim Rashid

There’s been no shortage of coverage of Karim Rashid here across the digital pages of Design Milk and, of course, throughout the world. We’ve actually been after him to do a Friday Five for a while, so we’re especially excited about this one! The global designer dips his creative hands into many design pots working with countless companies to bring his innovative and drool-worthy creations to life. Without a doubt, he leaves his recognizable signature on everything he touches, from hotels, lighting, high-tech goods, furniture, to well, pretty much everything. He’ll leave you wondering when he has time to sleep. (Don’t worry, I’m sure he’s designed a really cozy bed for when he has slumber time). Luckily for us, we get a peek inside his unbelievably clever mind to see what keeps this prolific designer continually inspired.

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1. White Leica M9-P (Limited Edition to Japan)
I always travel with a good camera and this is the best you can get. And the form is so beautiful too. I’m so glad digital art have finally gone through the transition to mainstream. Only a few years ago I had so many discussions and arguments with many photographers who said they would never become ‘digital’ and that the pixel-image would never replace or compete with the silver-based ‘physical’ film. Now they are all digital. The digital age has afforded us new tools, tools that have boundless power, phenomenal potential, and infinite possibilities and variations. It has democratized us, and has given everyone creative freedom and empowerment. We are now all digital photographers, we all work in our digital darkrooms, we all do desktop publishing. If everyone is creating, the artist must go further.

Copyright 2013 Drew Phillips / AOL

Copyright 2013 Drew Phillips / AOL

2. Aptera Car
Aptera is an object I wish I designed. Fluid, gorgeous, aerodynamic, sexy, and erotic, it is absolutely one of the most beautiful smart-cars to come to market in the last 20 years. Objects such as the Aptera can have an inspiring relationship with our daily lives. We need to break free of existing archetype objects that can be perpetual obstacles in our life, complicating them, and creating stress. I see our new domestic environment becoming more casual, more technological, more aesthetic, democratic, and more engaging, resulting in a softer personalized environment: a sensualism—minimal but organic—inspired through digital aesthetics.

Photos by Veronica Lounge

Photos by Veronica Lounge

3. Mens white skinny jeans by Uniqlo
They fit me perfectly. Long skinny, and make me feel like the thin white duke. I have worn white almost everyday since the millennium. At the end of 1999 I took all my black clothes to the Salvation Army and have never looked back. I then started to build up my wardrobe over time but it was hard to find white clothes for men that were interesting and fit well. White makes me feel optimistic and liberated. It is the blank canvas for color, like a white seamless room on a movie set, a perfect stage for accessorizing, for embellishing. I have 10 pair of white shoes, white watches, eyeglasses, rings, bracelets (all my gym clothes, lock, and headphones are white or pink).

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4. Bang and Olufsen Beosound 5 Encore music server (in white)
I have 2500 music CDs ripped on 2 terabite vortexbox in lossless music FLAC format. That is non-compressed music and my B&O server affords me to easily scroll and see the CD covers one by one, and to listen to perfect high-quality sound. So every night I listen to beautiful sound as I sketch or read. Too many people are listening to poor quality mp3s and I think there will be a resurgence of higher quality music in the future. So this B&O is like my digital jukebox, simple, elegant and I love how it floats.

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5. Samsung galaxy S4 white phone
I see the Samsung Galaxy S4 as a poetic life device, where I can be even more creative, where I can translate languages with voice, where I can take amazing images, where I can talk to and navigate through the world. A mobile phone has to feel good it your hand, be almost an extension of your body. Something as advanced and multifunctional as a mobile needs to be simple, minimal yet sensual as an extension of hand and mind. Your interaction comes from your senses—hands, eyes, ears, so the design must be very human.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.