As the founder of Design Milk and now part of the team behind TRAME, Jaime Derringer moves fluidly between the worlds of art, design, technology, and storytelling. Ahead of her panel at NeueHouse during Art & Design Weeks, she shares how her eye has evolved over the years, what still surprises her, and why she doesn’t live in a glass box.
NEUEJOURNAL: Where did your relationship with design begin — and how has it evolved over time?
JAIME DERRINGER: From a young age, I was interested in creativity, art, design, and architecture. My earliest memories of having a connection with the built environment was my love for the one weird house in my parent’s neighborhood, which was a midcentury modern ranch amongst an endless sea of suburban sameness. I connected with it and since then, I’ve always gravitated toward the zig when everyone and everything else zags.
It has certainly evolved over time, growing with me as I age. The one thing that has been a constant has been that I always choose things that I love, whether or not they will fit within a trend or an aesthetic. My home is very eclectic and a bit weird inside, but I live in the ‘burbs. It surprises people who expect me to live in a minimalist glass box. The older I get, the more I seem to care less about trends, and the more I desire comfort and self-expression.
NEUEJOURNAL: You’ve championed contemporary design for nearly two decades. What still excites you most today?
JAIME DERRINGER: It’s the same thing that has always excited me: the creativity of people and the possibilities of what could be—whether that’s using ancestral techniques in new ways, innovative use of materials, or creative technological applications.
NJ: Design Milk has always had a forward-looking sensibility. What are you noticing now — visually, culturally, or technologically — that feels like the next chapter?
JD: All eyes are on AI right now, so of course I’m keeping a close eye on it, too. My main passion has always been in art, design, technology, and craft. I’ve been helping build a new company, TRAME, for the past two years alongside an incredible team from Paris. We’re building the future of design using algorithms to create unique objects at scale. We are a small, passionate team that believes that machine-assisted human creativity can combine with traditional craft to deliver beauty, storytelling, and material culture.
I’m also very curious about physics and space, and I have become a late-blooming sci-fi geek. Oh – any quantum computing! That excites me.
NJ: As both a curator and an artist, how do you approach the act of making versus the act of sharing?
JD: When I’m making, I’m not thinking about anything or anyone else. It’s intuitive, personal, and often a bit messy. It’s where I follow my curiosity and try to make sense of the world… but also how I process my emotions.
Sharing is different—it’s about stepping back, shaping what I’ve made, and thinking about how it might connect with others. I don’t often share the making, although sometimes I share works in progress.
When it comes to curating and sharing other people’s work, I love the act of sharing. It’s the way I express my curiosity about the world through others, which gives me a lot of satisfaction. Connection through sharing and storytelling is one of the fundamentals of being human. Building a platform for others is one of the most meaningful things I’ve done in my career.
NJ: What’s one question you wish people in design asked each other more often?
JD: How do we join forces to secure the future of human creativity in an increasingly digital world?
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