Our Design Team
Carl Muller
Independent Furniture Designer
Carl Muller is an independent furniture designer based in Seal Beach, California. He has been working with Elite for almost twenty years, with well over 200 designs brought to market. Most of these items are still in production, and many continue to be top sellers.
Muller strives to make every design a fresh statement, combining comfort, elegance, and economy. Although most of his designs embody a pure contemporary sensibility, Muller also interprets historical themes with a modern touch. He is influenced by worldwide trends in design, past and present, while maintaining a keen sensitivity to marketplace realities.
In addition to his sizeable contribution to Elite, Muller also designs for several outdoor and office/contract furniture manufacturers, with award-winning results. Muller received his B.S. in Industrial Design from California state University, Long Beach. Other areas of study included architecture, music, and graphic design.
Rick Lee
Product and Interior Designer
San Francisco product and interior designer Rick Lee finds inspiration for his work everywhere-from a gnarled oak tree to a sleek pocketknife. Building a reputation as an innovator at the vanguard of modern design, Lee combines rational thinking with radical influences to create striking pieces ranging from whimsical to minimal in aesthetic.
Of Chinese descent, Rick was born in Korea and came to the U.S. as a teenager. After earning a degree in Industrial Design, Lee jumpstarted his career creating pieces for notable furniture manufacturers and design studios in Chicago.
However it wasn’t until he moved to Milan, Italy in his mid-twenties that he began to craft the distinctive artistic style seen in his work today. In Europe he incorporated the minimal principles of Bauhaus with experience he gained working at the irreverent design firm of Studio Alchimia, to forge a unique style that is both vibrant and charismatic.
Javier Palomares
Independent Furniture Designer
Javier is the founder of Curve Ahead, a design firm specializing in the full range of capabilities that develop ideas into innovative solutions for consumer products and furniture. Curve ahead’s clients/partners include Disney-Bruckheimer films, Espacio Sami Hayek, Dellarobbia USA, Nova Lighting, and Orange 22.
Javier’s designs have been displayed at the High Point Market, Bernhardt Design at ICFF, Javits Center, and the Dwell in Design show, Los Angeles. Javier was born in Bogota, Colombia. He has a degree in Industrial Design from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and a B.S. in product design with honors from ArtCenter College of Design.