A Guide to Table Settings
Fear not, diners. Navigating through a formal table setting is easier than you think.
Travel in Style: Yield Design
When home begins to feel stale and the restless race of your nomadic heart can no longer be tamed, it’s time to give in and chase your bliss. Out comes the backpack that has saved your hide a time or two and the dirt covered hiking boots that know the shape of your feet. In the heat of “travel fever” you need portable gear that’s both rugged and dependable. While functionality may prevail, a dash of style is always welcome.
Andrew Deming and Rachel Gant, the founders of Yield Design, know exactly this. There’s a reason their clean, modern interpretations of classic housewares and accessories are sought after both in the U.S. and abroad. At their studio storefront in St. Augustine sits a sign that reads: Design is not a job, it’s a perspective.
And perspective is what they found when they made their move from the West Coast to Northeast Florida in 2014. “Everyone thought it was Andrew’s idea to move to St. Augustine, but I was the one who suggested the move,” said Gant. “We’d been visiting once or twice a year and I was really enamored with the city.” Andrew, who is from Melbourne, Florida and a graduate of Flagler College, was hesitant about moving back into his comfort zone.
The transition, however, proved to be a very good lifestyle fit. St. Augustine’s relaxed, small town atmosphere simplifies daily tasks and allows more time for design and other pursuits. By keeping manufacturing in the studio or close to home, Deming and Gant are able to track a product’s creation carefully and adjust with agility to changing circumstances. Rather than stifling their creativity, life in a small town has almost helped develop it.
From San Francisco to Florida, and every place in between, travel has been a recurring source of inspiration for these designers as they seek to refine their craft.
A handful of Yield housewares are especially well-suited to life on-the-go. Gant’s cleverly reimagined portable leather and stainless steel cups, for instance, are perfectly poised for a leisurely happy hour trip to the beach. Influenced by a charming set of vintage camping cups Gant discovered while studying abroad in Stockholm, over years of use, her set had missing parts and broken pieces, leaving Gant in search of a suitable replacement. Finding none, she set forth to design her own, and the result is now Yield’s stainless steel cup set.
If you’re a wandering wine and whiskey enthusiast, or just looking for fresh perspective on everyday accessories, check out Yield’s wares. You may be surprised and delighted with both their form and function.
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