AXEL SCHMID 

Axel Schmid, born in 1971, initially completed an apprenticeship in wood and metallurgy. He then studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, where he received his diploma in 1997. A scholarship from the Association of German Industrial Designers took him to Japan for a year. He then began working for lighting designer Ingo Maurer in Munich. He designed for Ingo Maurer the extraordinarily impressive and innovative Five Pack lamp, and the Karat Blau collection is also unusual and elegant.