Karim Rashid brings his design philosophy to UDESIGN

According to Karim Rashid - renowned industrial and interior designer who counts Hugo Boss, Issey Miyake and Kenzo among his clients - design is a fully social and experiential act, capable of marking the history of societies and the future.

The creative of Egyptian origin expressed these ideas before students, teachers and administrators of the University of Monterrey on September 26 at UDESIGN 2023, the 14th architecture, art and design conference of this study house.

"For me, design is shaping and evolving humanity (because) design is not relegated to an object or a space, or a piece of clothing or jewelry, or a cell phone or the floor they are on. Everything is connected because it shapes our physical experience of life," argued the specialist during his talk held at the UDEM Theater.

To explain his perspectives he used examples from his childhood, when he was invited to faithfully draw the objects he observed around him until he refused.

"I remember thinking: why should I take the world as it is presented to me? Why don't I question the world that is out there? And as I grew up I began to do just that: I was questioning everything around me. I was critical of what I thought worked and didn't work," he noted.

He advised attendees to embrace that creative power without losing sight of the epicenter of design: "design is making things work for people."

"I realized something as I started working on more and more projects: If I can make something work flawlessly, I can afford to do whatever I want. I can be poetic, artistic, emotional, propagandistic."

Rashid closed the UDESIGN conference cycle that began on September 25 with the participation of Carles López, creative director of the Oscar de la Renta men's line and Global Community Professor UDEM.

Global Community Professor is a UDEM program that invites international experts to give everything from keynote lectures to full classes.

López urged the students to never lose curiosity, since the world of fashion is constantly evolving. To illustrate his ideas, he gave as an example the covid-19 pandemic that forced him to experiment with 3D design and remote work. The result? Fashion with less waste.

"I have been a designer for 30 years, I know many things, I have made many mistakes, I have tested many systems, but I always believe that the workflow, the process, can be improved. We can always give a better version," he expressed.

"All this has allowed me to reduce costs. Reducing costs allows me to make more designs even though it seems absurd: if I don't spend money on so many samples or I have to have just the right samples because I have a budget, this allows me to design more things, do more tests and then make only those that the team has decided are right."