Today we’d like to introduce you to Travis Hyatt.
Hi Travis, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Background: I was raised in Oregon by my foster parents. I joined the military at age nineteen which moved me to the Nashville area where I worked on rotor wing aircraft as an electrician. Exhausted from six years of routine sacrifice, I discharged from the army and moved to Savannah, Georgia to manufacture new private business jets. This lasted about five years before I realized that the corporate life started to feel like a trap. I decided to pursue an industrial design degree, which moved me to Chicago and then Los Angeles. Upon receiving my diploma from Otis College of Art & Craft in 2022, I moved to Raleigh where I started my namesake business: Travis Hyatt Design.
Story: My foster parents ran a sign shop in our hometown which introduced me to woodworking at a young age. I would help out with various aspects of sign making and it familiarized me with small power tools. I was also close with my grandmother who I would spend every other weekend with. She always had craft projects ready for me when I would visit which fueled my creativity. I started becoming a “weekend-warrior” woodworker while working in aviation and with encouragement from my partner, funding from Uncle Sam, and craft to guide me, I pivoted from the security of aviation to shift my weekend passion into a new career path.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I was taken from my mother at age three, homeless with my father by age ten, navigated foster care into my teens, deployed to multiple war zones, and earned a bachelors degree with highest honors. But starting and running a creative business has been one of the hardest experiences of my life. The stereotype of a starving artist is very real and success requires a lot of fortitude.
Designing and making bespoke furniture is an expensive task and every project requires a tremendous amount of time and attention. The current outlook on the value of furniture has been extremely skewed by the globalization of furniture manufacturing. This is great for giving customers more options at better prices, but it is horrible for craft in America. This makes charging what it cost to actually produce artisan furniture extremely difficult because society has come to value what goes into their home with a warped lens.
With that, I am blinded by passion which makes the struggles both a guide and blindfold. Being an artist and earning a living are constantly at odds with one another for entrepreneurial creatives.
Some of the primary struggles I endure are time management, securing continuous sales, marketing in a world of slop, imposter syndrome, wearing too many hats, managing the logistics of large products, administrative distractions, cost of machines & material, shop maintenance, small workspace, loneliness, etc.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I generally tell folks that I create heirloom stories. Meaning, I try to integrate a tangible narrative into each piece of bespoke furniture that I design. Every detail is thoroughly considered to help communicate that story.
My design language is driven by my own aesthetic preferences, craft forward from working in various cabinet shops, and simply functional from my time in art school. Most of my work is contemporary and material constrained. I stay true to the inherent properties of hardwood and integrate soft edges anywhere I can, which makes for much more approachable pieces. When I am in the process of puzzling through a new design, wether behind my pencil, computer, or router table, I get a satisfying sense of play which can be found within the forms and details of my work.
What sets me apart from those in my industry? There are so so many incredible artisan makers out there and they are all worth working with. We all have a story tell and set apart only by aesthetic, location, and background. I encourage you to visit my portfolio and decide what makes my work different.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Anyone interested in working together can reach me by email or phone, both of which can be found in my portfolio website: travishyattdesign.com
From there we can set up a meeting over coffee or video, get to know each other and begin the collaboration process.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://travishyattdesign.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/travishyattdesign/
