We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jaime Derringer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jaime below.

Hi Jaime, thanks for joining us today. One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

Getting blocked creatively is one of the toughest challenges that an artist faces. If you sit around and wait for inspiration to come to you, it might never happen. I face these creative blocks often, and there are a few ways I work through them to get going again:

1) Just make something, anything. It can be bad. Then make another. And another. You might be uninspired or frustrated, but if you work those feelings out on paper or using whatever medium with which you work, I assure you, if you do this often enough, something will come out of it that points you in the right direction.

2) Get a change of scenery. Go outside. Go for a hike. Spend a weekend camping, or visiting your favorite national park. Go to the aquarium. Bring a sketchbook. Just get away from the everyday place where you usually create.

3) Try a totally new medium. If you usually paint, go get some clay. If you make metal jewelry, try carving some wood. If you work on the computer, grab a pencil and paper and start drawing. Sometimes being too comfortable can bring on boredom, monotony, and a relapse into old patterns. Changing it up can help stir the pot.

4) Take a real break! Perhaps your block is because you’re forcing things. Usually I recommend working through these by doing the other steps first, but if that doesn’t work, maybe your brain and body are telling you that you need rest time. A rest can be stepping away from the computer for a few hours, or a walk, or a week-long vacation… it varies, but I find that some of my most exciting and creative ideas come when I’m not actually sitting at a desk or standing around in my studio. This isn’t sitting around waiting for inspiration, but rather experiencing other things (aside from your creative tools) to help unlock other parts of your brain, which can lead to reinvigoration.

I do all of these things regularly and they really help me, so I hope that they can help others, too!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

In 2006, I founded a blog called Design Milk, which grew to 250 million pageviews and over 9 million social followers, in addition to becoming one of the most popular destinations for design, interior design, and architecture. In 2019, it was acquired and I became Chief Creative Officer of the new company, which included Design Milk and Kaufmann Mercantile. During my time as CCO, Design Milk launched ecommerce in addition to expanding its media business. In 2022, I became a Board Member. This is my proudest achievement.

In addition, I co-launched Clever, a podcast about design and formed a production company called 2VDE Media with designer and educator Amy Devers.

I have been an active artist since 2006, creating drawings, paintings and wall sculptures. In 2021, I launched numerous collections and 1/1 artwork as NFTs, most of which have been acquired by collectors.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

Right now, NFTs seem to be quite polarizing. However, I find the technology (blockchain) and the potential that web3 has to offer creators to be fascinating and exciting. The opportunity for artists to receive lifetime royalties on their work, and to own their work outright, are most exciting to me. The current NFT community is putting artists and creators in the spotlight like never before, which has resulted in a mini Renaissance.

If artwork is headed in the direction of NFTs, which I think it is, there will be a new generation of artists and collectors that can grow beyond the current traditional gallery-driven and wealth-driven “Art World.” The artists who are currently rallying around NFTs are creating a whole new creative community that is collaborative, supportive and motivating. I think it’s a really exciting time!

That being said, I’d like to see how we can overcome some of the challenges that still face NFTs and blockchain, including environmental issues as well as copycats, scams, hacking and security breaches. These are the negatives that cannot be brushed under the rug and should continue to be part of the conversation, as we move toward web3.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

As a society, we have placed more value on productivity than anything else, but we’re not machines. Give people time to be creative. This has been my mantra for the past ~5 years! This is primarily a call to employers to allow some brainstorming, or free thinking time, to occur regularly on the schedule. Give people a few hours each week to get outside of their daily tasks and think about creative ways to approach their work, or fun things that their company can do to expand or help other employees, or whatever! Make sure they’re taking vacations! Make sure they have the proper mental health resources. Give them the breathing room to grow.

This goes for artists and creatives, and those who are self-employed, too. Fit some daydreaming time into your schedule. Not TikTok scrolling time—real daydreaming! When was the last time you were waiting in a line and did not pull out your phone? Set time limits for your apps. Go on a weekend tech sabbatical. Do something that allows your mind to take a deep breath and stretch.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://jaimederringer.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/jaimederringer
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimederringer/
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/jaimederringer

Image Credits
Portrait of Jaime Derringer in her studio by Jenny Siegwart