At any given design fair, there’s one question people always ask each other: What did you like? I can never answer. You can mainline everything going on in contemporary design in an afternoon or two—whether you’re an admirer or a collector. But I’m terrible at giving hot takes. Roughly two weeks after an event ends, I go back through my photo library, and if I have a picture of it, I either loved it or hated it, which is to say I had a strong reaction.

If I really loved it, I’ll figure out where to spend more than a few passing minutes in a fair booth with work by the designer. If I hated it, I’ll ask myself why and hopefully learn something about how my taste is evolving. Either way, I always look forward to Design Miami, currently taking place on its home turf—they also do editions in Basel, Los Angeles, and Paris—with presentations by more than 50 galleries and designers. The fair opened on December 3rd and runs through the 8th. Earlier this week, I walked the aisles with photographer Ysanya Perez looking for highlights. Here are some of things I think I’m going to love when I finally revisit the images I snapped.

This was cool. At Czech glassmaker Lasvit’s booth, a cluster of glass pendants seemed to change the color of the light around them as they moved. They’re actually highlighting or blocking parts of the color spectrum as they slowly turn because they’re made from lanthanide oxides extracted from recycled electromagnets. I had to Google it. The Design Miami presentation was a little precious for my taste, but I could see designers doing interesting, experimental things with the materials." layout="" credit="Photo by Ysanya Perez" photoUserId=""/>

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