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Interview with Andrew Deming:

Molly Martien: I was wondering if you could start by telling me about your childhood? Where did you grow up?

Andrew Deming: I was born in South Carolina and went to school in Central Florida. I was pretty shy and not particularly sports oriented, so I was lucky to have found music early on. I began playing drums at 12 and guitar the following year. Music was really my first creative outlet and today I see a lot of continuity between that background and the work I do today.

Molly Martien: How did you make your way into the world of design?

Andrew Deming: I began studying graphic design partway through my time in undergrad. I was so drawn to the work that friends of mine in the design program were doing and ended up making the shift. A year or two into studying, I started to become more aware of design not just as a career path or creative expression, but as a real catalyst for change. I knew pretty early on that I wanted to remain in the design field but that I wanted to do more than sit at a desk all day and get handed briefs on new websites to design.

I moved to SF immediately after school and worked at a handful of design agencies in a graphic design/branding/web role. It was great foundational experience but it was through my grad program and time at fuseproject that I got more into the world of industrial design. Traditional graphic design skills are still my core competency but I’ve since opened up to a broader world of design.

Molly Martien: While you were growing up was design always apart of your life?

Not at all. I credit my parents for making travel and museum visits a regular thing in my life, but I didn’t have a single legitimate art/design class until my second year in college. When I was a kid, I watched a lot of HGTV and developed an obsession with Frank Lloyd Wright at a young age. So I suppose I was sort of looking for it, even though good design wasn’t immediately found in my surroundings.

Molly Martien: How did your MBA in design strategy from CCA inform how you run your store today?

Andrew Deming:The MBA in Design Strategy program was instrumental in setting me on my current course. Whereas most graduate programs lead in a focused direction, this program was broad and incorporated teaching and perspectives from a range of disciplines. I started the program very young and green and benefited immensely working with many of my amazing classmates. The program helped me in the process of growing Yield, not so much in the way of concrete lessons about building a design/retail business, but through shifting my way of thinking, opening me up to be more comfortable with the unknown, and surrounding me with a community of supportive and talented peers.

Molly Martien: What were you able to learn from working with the Swiss designer Yves Béhar? How did working alongside, and collaborating with Béhar influence you?

Andrew Deming:Yves was both demanding and encouraging, allowing me to create a space for myself within the company where I could for the first time exercise the full range of my abilities and interests. I learned an incredible amount through the experience.

The approach Yves takes with any challenge really resonates with me. There’s an innate and intuitive sense of what people want, paired with a rigorous strategic exploration of the context, market, etc. It’s not an approach that says “I’m the designer. Here’s what you get” nor is it an approach purely dictated by research findings without a strong point of view.

My time at fuseproject introduced me to design at a level that I hadn’t experienced before. Higher profile work comes with higher stakes, more praise, more criticism, more of everything. Yield is certainly different. We’re a small business and massive scale is not within our sights, but it’s our aim to be producing work that achieves a similarly high level of craft, where every step of the experience is thoroughly considered.

Molly Martien: Do you and your business, and design partner Rachel Gant collaborate on your projects? For example, what exactly is your creative process while you were creating your ceramic "French Press?"

Andrew Deming:Rachel and I collaborate on every product we produce. She’s the trained industrial designer and really the talent behind each piece we make. Together we design the products, packaging, marketing materials, etc.

This particular product began with a conversation, or a complaint rather, that we couldn’t find a French Press that was something we both wanted to use and to have on display. The design came together fairly quickly. We spent the longest amount of time on the handle, looking to achieve a comfortable fit in the hand and an iconic profile. It started with drawings, renders, 3d prints and then real samples.

It took us the better part of a year to source manufacturing for the product that met our expectations. This is truly the hardest part of what we do: sourcing manufacturing and managing the supply chain for a range of product types, sizes and materials. We view quality control as the last critical step in the design process, ensuring that we give a top quality piece and great experience to each customer.

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http://www.aestheticarchvist.com/#!An-Interview-with-Yield-Designs-Andrew-Deming/c21kp/55b8b1770cf285bbf2ffab14

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