Design is in the Air

I recently had the pleasure of discussing one of my favorite subjects -- collecting design -- with a friend and fellow "design adrenaline junkie," financier Robert Tomei, for an interview we did together for the Financial Times. Robert and I have many things in common, but it was discovering our shared a passion for collecting design that I knew we were on the same wavelength. Collecting design is quite a new phenomenon so Robert was really ahead of the curve.

There are as many collectors as there are motivations -- some collectors follow their gut while others collect for status or for investment reasons. For me, collecting is very personal and I must have an instant reaction to something. I collect high and low. I do not rank anything by price. I once saw a set of furniture from the Star Trek movie at either the first or second Design Miami/ fair, and I had to have it. After seeing one slick piece of design after the other, it was refreshing to see something fun.

In the past couple of years, I've seen a move away from the stereotypical way of collecting -- one type of design, one specific period, one type of artist. We are in a time when we like mixing things again, and I hope we will see more and more of this mixing, of art and design, of high and low, to create something that is both challenging and balanced. At Design Miami/ last week, some of the works that caught my eye were Sebastian Brajkovic, Rolf Sachs, and Studio DRIFT. This afternoon I will be auctioneering the Design Masters sale at Phillips de Pury & Company. This week is all about design and it seems like design is really in the air.