Jerome Tave and 10th Floor Studio

The future of design, much like the future of humanity, will be shaped by multi-faceted minds. The challenges created decades ago have compounded themselves beyond linear, single-minded solutions. Any hope will require the skills of a savant.

Tucked away in the overcast tech-metropolis of San Francisco is one such person. Jerome Tavè is a multi hyphenate designer, artist, and budding bonsai-ist. With stints at RKS Design, Dialpad, Spotify, and a host of private consulting contracts under his belt Jerome has crafted a career that views sustainable solutions as a given, not an addendum. Over the last decade he has worked to integrate environmentally conscious solutions into the corporate design-thinking where he specializes in Interaction Design. But, recently he decided to return to the world of product design. Along with his studio partner Kyle Lawson, and frequent visiting friends, he founded 10th Floor Studio. The studio’s work blurs any distinctions between product design, service design and contemporary art, and they operate with one mission: to save humanity from itself.

I recently sat and talked with Jerome about his current career choices, life as a foreigner in today’s America, and how he believes fungus will save the world.