Vacation Days Delta Pocket Square and Rho Pocket Square are available at poketo.com and the Future Desert Note Cards (pictured above) are available at the Poketo Flagship.
We are currently detoxing over at the Poketo HQ, munching on kale (much like guest of honor Cleo the Bunny, pictured above), as we gear up for this Saturday’s cocktail party & book signing with The Jewels of New York and Pharmacie. Diana Yen, founder of The Jewels of New York, will be serving layer cakes inspired by the abundance of seasonal fruit at Los Angeles farmers markets, and Talmadge Lowe, founder of Pharmacie, will be shaking and straining The Queen’s English, a cocktail consisting of vodka, lime, cucumber, and celery seed shrub. The party is taking place at the Poketo Flagship from 6-8pm, and we recommend arriving on the earlier side, as we plan to imbibe in more than one of each of the above mentioned delicacies. Space is limited, as are desserts, so please kindly RSVP@poketo.com. See you Saturday!
WHAT: Cocktail Party with The Jewels of New York
WHEN: Saturday, September 6th, 6 – 8pm
WHERE: Poketo Flagship, 820 E.3rd St, Downtown LA
RSVP on Facebook
In 2010, we had our biggest collaboration yet: a 52 piece accessories collection with Target. We worked with over 20 artists to make bags, purses, umbrellas, water bottles, laptop cases, and more. The capsule collection popped into every Target store in the entire country displayed on 8-foot racks, front, and center. People from all over the country sent photos of themselves posing in front of our displays, with most of the racks bare and picked through. The collection had completely sold out.
We had grown our business from just two of us to a full-time staff of six and were producing more and more products. It wasn’t long before our once-immaculate loft turned into a monster mess and we were bursting at the seams again.
2012 - 2018
In 2012, in search of a newer, bigger workspace, we came across an empty storefront on the opposite side of the then-desolate Arts District at a very affordable rent. At 4,000 square feet, it was nearly 4 times larger than our loft, offering us room to grow. This was a big step for us.
The rent was higher, space was bigger, and the neighborhood was a ghost town with little to no foot traffic. But, we signed the lease and moved our operation into the new space. We designed the office and store ourselves, making movable fixtures so space could constantly evolve depending on the art shows and events we had. We started having bi-monthly art events, talks, and numerous workshops to engage our community.
Official opening night of Poketo's first shop in the Arts District, July 2012
We needn't worry. It wasn’t long after that our shop started receiving various awards including “the best shop in LA”, and started being included in publications like Monocle and Wallpaper Travel Guides as a must-visit shop.
In 2014, we opened our second location inside the new The Line Hotel in Koreatown. We developed a more robust workshop program with topics ranging from art, design, and business to social media, and even food.
In 2014, we “popped-in” to eight Nordstrom stores nationwide as part of an ongoing series of themed pop-up shops featuring eclectic products in specially designed displays. We worked with Nordstrom’s team to create these mini versions of our store and filled the pop-ups with some of our favorite designers.
In 2016, we opened our first Westside location in Culver City, at the new retail project Platform. Now our customers didn’t have to travel all the way from the Westside to Downtown to shop. Believe me, with LA traffic, a drive like that is a big deal.
By 2017, the once-deserted Arts District was transformed with new eateries and shops, becoming the hottest neighborhood in Los Angeles. Buildings were going up everywhere and all the old properties were snatched up by developers. Our building was one of these properties and we had to move out of our first location. As we left, our community came through to support us, telling us how much they loved having us there and how important we were in building the neighborhood. Luckily, we found another home just a few blocks away in Little Tokyo and moved our shop there, where it stands today.
In 2018, we opened our biggest and most daunting shop to date: The Poketo Project Space at the new retail project, ROW DTLA. In preparation for leaving our Arts District location, we had been working on this new space for over two years. When I say worked, I mean we did everything, from HVAC, electrical, and plumbing, to the floors and fixtures. What was once a parking lot for a produce market, is now 3000 square feet of interactive concept space where we hold many of our workshops and pop-ups featuring our favorite brands and designers. So far we’ve hosted Garmentory, Baggu, Swedish furniture design house Hem, and furniture designer Stephen Kenn. This month, we are opening our next Row DTLA pop-ups: a Korean Design Pop-Up held in collaboration with the Korean Institute of Design Promotion, and a pop-up by furniture design team, Estudio Persona.
Garmentory Pop-Up at Poketo Project Space
Hem Furniture Pop-Up at Poketo Project Space
Superbaggu Pop-Up
June of 2018, we also had the honor of receiving the EDGE Award. The EDGE Award recognizes emerged talent who are making a mark on their industries and communities, and we’re thrilled to be recognized.
2018 also brought us the opportunity to open our first shop outside of LA at Denver’s brand new hotel project, The Source Hotel.
The Future, 2019 and beyond
We’re in the last stages of finishing our upcoming book published by Chronicle which is due to come out Fall of 2019. It’s about our friends, artists, collaborators, and the spaces of people we admire. It is not an interiors book about the rich and famous living in unattainable homes. This book is a celebration of creatives, their work, their spaces, and their personal and professional philosophies.
We are excited to continue creating and designing products that are beautiful, unique, and useful, that bring joy and efficiency to your lives. We look forward to collaborating with more designers, brands, artists, makers, and creatives to bring art and design to your lives through exhibitions and workshops.
Here are some of the questions we get asked the most. If this doesn’t cover it, always feel free to email us at hello@poketo.com or via @poketo on Instagram and Facebook.
FAQ:
1. How did Poketo Start?
I used to always say that we didn’t start Poketo, Poketo started us. It really was an accidental business. It's a side project turned business.
2. Where did the name come from?
Since our first product was the artist wallet, I thought of the word “pocket” and the way my grandmother pronounced it, with a Japanese/Korean accent, as “poketo”. We liked the way it sounded.
3. How do you pronounce Poketo?
It’s Poh-Ke-Toe, not Poquito, not Poke-too, not Pocket-o.
4. How the hell do you live and work with your spouse?
I guess it’s always been that way from the very beginning so we don’t know anything different. I’m not saying it’s easy but we’re always supportive and we’ve got each other’s backs no matter what. We often have differing opinions but always come to a compromise.
5. Wow, how did you guys grow so quickly?
Well, we didn’t really. It took us 15 years. It took us 9 years just to open our first brick and mortar. Not many people know that we existed for 9 years before we opened our doors.
6. Do you guys have investors?
Nope, never, we don’t owe anyone one cent. We are 100% independently funded, thus the slow and steady organic growth.
7. What’s the hardest thing about owning your own business?
See above. Trying to run a completely independent small business in the age of Amazon is really freaking hard. We’re your local business, we employ your local workforce, and we give back to your community through different non-profits so people, please support your local businesses every day.
8. When are you opening a shop in SF, NY, Tokyo, London etc.?
We don’t have definite plans yet but if the opportunity is right and we feel good about it, you’ll be the first ones to know about it.
9. What’s next for Poketo?
See the “2019 and beyond” section above. To be honest, we never wrote a business plan and we’ve never had a 5-year plan. We grew organically and slowly, and we plan to do the same little by little. That’s part of why we’ve lasted this long.
10. I want to start my own business, any advice?
Have an original idea. Find the right people to work with. It’s a long, tough road and having a team to rely on and work with towards the same goal will make it much better. Don’t do it for money. There are much easier ways to make money. Do it for the love.
First and last photo by Bonnie Tsang
]]>• We are very excited to work with our friends over at Greenspark and Plastic Bank to reduce plastic pollution in our oceans! Starting on Earth Day 2022, a portion of every single order placed on Poketo.com will pay for 1 piece of ocean bound plastic to be removed and recycled in communities where there is high poverty and a lot of plastic pollution. Not only will this prevent thousands of pieces of plastic from entering our oceans, it will also help alleviate poverty in vulnerable communities. You can look at all of our contributions on our Public Ledger.
• All of our paper goods are made with FSC certified tree-free paper. The FSC stands for the Forest Stewardship Council, which is an independent body that ensures paper products are sourced from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits. Tree free paper is made from plants like grasses, bamboo, sugarcane, and hemp, which have a much smaller carbon footprint than traditional paper pulp made from trees.
• We have shifted toward creating more environmentally friendly and reusable products like our Glass Straws, Glass Spoons, and Bamboo dinnerware. All of these products were designed to replace disposable, single use plastics that clog our landfills and end up in our oceans.
• Have you ever received an order from Poketo in a different company's box? That is because we re-use boxes that we receive from other vendors instead of tossing them in the recycling bin. By doing this we are turning what would be a single use item into a multi-use item - yay!
• We no longer purchase any boxes or shipping supplies from the company Uline. This is because Uline's owners have contributed tens of millions of dollars to political candidates and causes that are hostile to environmental protection and sustainability. We are proud to now work with a Los Angeles based supplier located less than 5 miles from our shop.
• We have eliminated new plastics from our shipping materials. You won’t find us using plastic bubble wrap, plastic tape, or styrofoam peanuts to protect your items, only paper/cardboard or biodegradable foam peanuts made from corn starch. Any plastics that you do find in our shipping materials are 100% re-used from packages that we receive at our warehouse.
• Speaking of plastic, we have begun phasing out regular plastic sleeves for compostable sleeves for our greeting cards and postcard packs!
• We started using stamps to mark boxes as fragile instead of stickers. This was 100% motivated by our desire to reduce our carbon footprint and not at all by the fact that using a big rubber stamp is fun.
David Irvin (designer for LINE HOTEL, Gjelina, Sprinkles, Hinoki & the Bird featured in our book) at his hotel, Native, in Malibu, CA.
Much of the reason why we wrote this book stems from our own struggle to balance work/life. Both Ted and I have lived together and worked together 24/7 for the past 16 years, and it's always difficult to find the ideal work/life balance. But it also can be the most enjoyable part of what we get to do every day. We get to enjoy all the small victories while also sharing the difficulty of running 100% independently funded business as a team.The Poketo Project Space @ ROW DTLA, one of four stores across LA.
We've since filled the space with the things we love. From the products that infuse art, design, and fun into our every day to the various pop-ups, art shows, and workshops with collaborators, Poketo is definitely a creative space for me. I’m personally inspired by the people that fill this place, whether they're our team, the designers and artists we invite, friends, workshop attendees, our supporters and just about anyone who steps into the store.3. I know you used to dance with some big names in music. Who were some acts that you used to tour with and can you tell us a funny story if you have any.
5. The pandemic has been so tough especially for performers and I love how you pivoted yourself in another direction. What advice would you give to those who want to pivot their careers, interests, and passions into something new?
If you’re wondering why we named this all-purpose planner the Project Planner, here’s your answer. There’s space for 100 projects in the planner, allowing you to narrow each project down with tasks, timelines, and space to visually track your progress by shading (may we suggest our Accent Double Tip Highlighters to do the job?).
Whether it’s a project, task, idea, R&D, meeting, or something else, the planner provides a section for you to record it all in one place. Even if it doesn’t fall into a neat category, this is the spot to get your thoughts out of your head and onto paper.
Because having extra lined pages always comes in handy. The notes section means the Project Planner can be your go-to for all of your ideas, reminders, musings, or sketches.
Swing State Campaigns
- Angie Myung and Ted Vadakan, co-founders
UPDATE: Starting June 9, 2020, we'll be donating 10% of all of our sales to Black Lives Matter, The Bail Project, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund through the end of the month. This is in addition to the donation that we made as a company last week to these organizations. Though we're still struggling in the midst of closed stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to give as much as we can while keeping the business afloat.
Keep reading to learn more about the inspiration behind the collection from our co-founder and Chief Creative Officer and get to know our newest additions...
“Following the success of our fall 2019 collection, which was inspired by Bauhaus and focused on primary colors, we wanted to play off of colors we hadn’t used before that symbolize spring. We chose pretty mint, kelly green, soft coral, and an interesting shade of purple because we loved how they matched some of our favorite fruits, and the word ‘fruition’ came to mind! Just as farmers and gardeners earn the fruits of their labor by gathering their seasonal crops, we work hard in achieving our goals so our dreams come to fruition.” Angie Myung, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer
“With this theme of fruits in mind, we played around and created some cute pins and hats. We also put the idea of being ‘in fruition’ into some of our classic pieces like our planners, notebooks, and even bookmarks.” - Angie Myung, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer
Our new Pen Clip Set is a brilliant take on our classic Shape Paper Clips. The new design allows you to snugly slide a pen on the page you’re saving so you can pick up right where you left off. They fit perfectly on our new fruit Object Notebooks and Simple Lined Notebooks!
The new Shapes Magnet Stand and Wave Magnet Stand sets are a modern way to display the images that inspire and move you, no matter how often they change. Whether it’s a photo of your best friend, favorite artwork, or one of our Tutti Frutti Postcards, our magnet stands are the perfect support system.
Flipping through your favorite cookbook and want a delectable way to mark your must-try recipes? Sounds like a job for our new fruit-shaped brass bookmarks, available in Pear or Banana. Our always-popular brass bookmarks are durable, beautiful, and bring a touch of art to any book or magazine.
If you’re finding all of this as mouth-watering as we do, check out the full collection or peruse our lookbook for more inspiration.
]]>2019 has been a giant leap for Poketo. Poketo is 4 stores strong in LA now, online 24/7, over 500 retailers globally, and our customs and workshops program continues to thrive.
Images Left to Right: Poketo Home / The Creativity Journal.
This year brought a record number of new Poketo's own products in areas that we’ve never explored before. Some highlights have been the much anticipated Poketo Home collection featuring bamboo plates, tea towels, and more. We also created wellness-based planners, the Self Planner and Creativity Journal, to help you prioritize your self-care must-dos. We also made a colorful line of socks! It's always so exciting to see you all love and share all the hard work we put into each collection. We look forward to sharing what we have in store for 2020.
Images Left to Right: Poketo x Casetify / Poketo x Thousand.
In addition, we’ve also done many partnerships with some of the best in the industry to make artful products. We were thrilled to work with Beyond Yoga in athleisure wear, Casetify for phone cases, Corkcicle in drinkware, and Thousand in bicycle helmets. This year has solidified our communities that share Poketo's value of "Art Every Day".
Image: Poketo Creative Spaces
The highlight of our 2019 has been the publication of Poketo's debut book, CREATIVE SPACES: People, Homes, and Studios to Inspire (Chronicle Books). Chronicle Books took a chance on us first-time authors to produce a beautiful book on Poketo's history and the creative community and friendships that surround us. The 272-page book is an in-depth tribute to independent artists and their entrepreneurial spirit, passions, inspirations, and desire to never be static.
Image: Ted & Angie on the road for the Creative Spaces Book Tour.
The launch of the book took us on an 9-city book tour through Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, New York, Boston, Denver, Austin, and Seoul. We got to connect with creatives from each city and realized that all of us are yearning for community. The number one question we kept on getting was, "How did you build the community?" As we looked out in the crowd, it was obvious that this moment of being together, seeing each other, sharing stories, shaking hands, laughing... this is how the community is built. It's simple- it’s to be present, show up, and be open to new friendships and new ideas.
Images Left to Right: Ted in convo with CHIAOZZA, Tinker Watches in NYC / Ted making memories with the community!
Creativity is a process as it is a reward. It’s like climbing a mountain, one foot in front of the other, tirelessly moving along, stumbling and getting back up, taking in the vistas and victories in-between, and sliding down the descent, playing in lakes, valleys, and waterfalls, only to climb back up and do it all over again. The last 16 years have been all of this and more. From the challenges of learning and doing new things, we reap the rewards of putting in the hard work and taking the inherent risks of doing things we are unfamiliar with.
But the coolest part of the journey is to be doing it with all of you. Poketo would not be here without you, here with us. Because of your support, encouragement, and passion, you made 2019 a year Poketo will remember.
Cheers to 2020, cheers to you and cheers to our community of friends, family, and creatives that are here enjoying the ride, not just the destination.
Ted Vadakan, Co-Founder
]]>#imakealiving is such a natural fit for Poketo, in our 16-year history, we've been through so many ups and downs and have learned so much about building the brand and growing our business naturally. We love to share what we've learned over the years so that we can inspire dreamers and doers to chase their passions and not be afraid. During our book tour with CREATIVE SPACES, we have toured 8 cities in the US and Canada. We were honored to have Freshbooks support a few of our tour stops in LA, NYC, and Austin.
(Creative Spaces Book Tour, NYC)
(Creative Spaces book tour, Austin. Photo courtesy of The Line Hotel)
In each city, we've invited different creatives and entrepreneurs to join us at each stop to "talk shop", to share their stories of building their careers, to laugh, and to dream all in hopes to inspire each other. Following a passion and starting something new can be daunting, the path is not always clear, there is the element of not knowing what will happen, but, that "unknown" means that there is no ceiling to what can be and that is where the magic happens. Something we've learned over the years is to not only ask "why" we should do something, but, "why not". When you ask "why not", the possibilities are endless.
The next stop for #imakealiving is in Toronto on November 20, 2019. Find more information at www.imakealiving.com. Poketo is proud to support this upcoming conference and provide our debut book, CREATIVE SPACES to the attendees of the final #imakealving event of the year.
]]>
The word that will continually pop into our heads while touring ANDlight’s 5,000-square-foot industrial space studio is flexible. These walls once housed a lumber-processing plant, followed by additional past lives as a wood workshop, a musical jam space, and an artist space.
Shot of ANDLight Space.
Admittedly it isn’t always ideal to work in a space where the retail and design teams have to operate within the same space as fulfillment and warehousing. But we agree about the numerous benefits of the “all under one roof" approach: Teams remain tightly knit, proximity promotes interaction, and the coordination between teams remains easier to orchestrate.
Join our co-founder Ted in conversation with Terri & Adam (CHIAOZZA) on Instagram Live this Friday 7/16 @ 12 PM PST. Simply follow @poketo and go to your IG Story dashboard to click in!
"What is it?? Is it aliens? Is it brains? Is it spaghetti?" - anonymous
Terri Chiao and Adam Frezza go by the combinations of their last names, CHIAOZZA. CHIAOZZA’s work is immersive and makes you feel like you are in a different world. The way they view art is like life - it’s organic, evolving, additive, and playful. Like us, there is a connection to their art, life, relationship, and philosophy. All co-existing, parallel and interconnected with one another. Below are snippets from a conversation Ted (co-founder of Poketo) had with the two artists.
On their beginning collaborations:
Ted Vadakan: How did you guys start working together?
Adam Frezza: One of the first times we worked together was when we made pancakes Terri noticed all the dips and crevices in the pancakes. I was like, “These are beautiful! You should make prints or make it more permanent.” So we put some printmaking ink on the pancakes and we made a plate essentially, along with these model prints of little cosmic Petri dish or moon-like designs. And each one was different so it felt like snowflakes or something.
TV: Oh wow.
AF: That was a lot of fun, one, and a way to play together in the kitchen. A lot of domestic relationships share making food, and that encouraged us to play beyond the kitchen.
On finding their inspiration:
Terri Chiao: Doing what you wanna do means also taking the time to follow through on ideas. However small they might be, or however unsure we might be about them. If there is a compulsion, then I feel like that just to be able to see where that goes and give it time to grow is something really valuable.
TV: For you guys, what are you following?
AD: That is a great question. I think it's sometimes an elusive hunch or phantom almost. For example, I really loved the shape of that stone we saw on that walk. It was an independent, unique experience but it was also shared when Terri saw another shape in a form she liked. A lot of it is pulling from experiences in nature, including the nature of the streets of New York. A certain shape of a pile of trash might be inspiring or something that we might get at the deli might inspire decisions we're making in the studio. It’s all sort of interconnected, strung together by hunches like "Oh, how could this guide me toward something." In the end, the discovery might be something we haven't seen before.
On creating art while taking care of their daughter, Tove:
TV: How's it been with Tove, your 9-month-old daughter, and your work?
TC: It's been amazingly pretty smooth. We're building a little loft for her because she's starting to move a lot...I think the first nine months have been nice - she chills out at the studio, there's a lot to look at and she's very engaged throughout the day. Now, she's really wanting to explore.
AD: She's been a sweet studio mate. Generally, she has her moments, mainly when she's tired. Otherwise, you look over and she's playing and smiling and bopping. There's always music playing, here [at home] and in the studio. She gets a lot of stimulation. It's a shared space so we have other people around that she gets to interact with.
CREATIVE SPACES is out now.]]>
Painting by Block Shop Textiles.
Whether through designs and products or collaborations and projects, Lily & Hopie are not afraid to try new things and explore new avenues for Block Shop. I feel they almost view Block Shop as an art project, being open and flexible to see how far they can take it. Very much like how we view Poketo.
Block Shop Textiles work.
They once hosted a workshop with us. Like most of the artists that we invite to do a workshop, it was Lily & Hopie’s first time hosting. A workshop to us is an extension of our creative lifestyle, a way for our community to learn from the best, a way for people to connect and have fun with each other face to face. We love the excitement and buzz when you get people making, creating, chatting together in the same space. It makes us smile and our hearts explode. That has been the DNA of Poketo since day one, with an art show and friends.
The planning stages with Lily & Hopie.
Needless to say, it was incredible. It sold out and people from all over met us out in the desert for a weekend workshop. We all learned about block-printing, natural dying, the inspiration that is behind their work. Since that time, the girls had been so inspired by the experience themselves, seeing the magic of getting people together that they would go onto host workshops annually out in the desert.
The two creative forces behind Block Shop Textiles.
Lily and Hopie are just two of the coolest, nicest, most down to earth people. Their kindness is infectious… hard to explain, but, a smile from Lily and Hopie can just make your day. Both Lily and Hopie’s creative collaboration in work and in life has a magic sense of synchronicity. Sometimes, they don’t know who did what, which shows just how in sync and connected they are. After all, they are sisters.
Buy the CREATIVE SPACES book.
]]>Windy is the type of person that seems to just dive into whatever she does. Not only as an entrepreneur but also as an artist. There was a point where she was taking tons of classes wanting to find that spark. She found it through macrame, but the biggest learning and creative lesson was her self-initiated project The Year of Knots. She would learn a knot a day and document it. There is something so simple, so basic, but so beautiful and full of meaning and pragmatism in a knot. This exercise for the year allowed her to explore fiber arts. The Year of Knots was a year of experimentation now that she sees the bigger picture.
I loved hearing about how creatives like Windy make it work. And I like the idea that she looks back on her past and, though it may not be clear at the time, connects the dots of her life/trajectory to what she's doing now... even at 50, she's not done. She’s just getting started. She wants to do big projects, art installations, large scale environmental pieces with her work. And, she’s doing it. Her Year of Knots has paid off.
We walked to her home, about a 10-minute walk from the studio, also in the Mission District. Windy lives in a Victorian. The vibe of the house is warm, lived in, full of past lives and experiences and memories. You can tell she is a collector, which makes sense as a past record store owner. She has art, photographs, books, instruments, textures, and patterns are everywhere. Tons to look at, but, interesting, not cluttered. It felt like everything has its place.
Her house, front to back with the exterior gradient fade, is like a rainbow. And that’s kind of how Windy is… happy, kind, on a ride of life.
Join our co-founder Ted in conversation with Adi and Sean on Instagram Live this Friday 7/19 @ 5PM PST. Simply follow @poketo and go to your IG Story dashboard to click in! PS.
Creative Spaces is out now.
Something you'll often hear Adi say is, “I love you guys”, “you guys are the best”, and “you guys are the raddest.” It’s this sincerity that we also feel for her and also feel for her husband, Sean Pecknold. Sean is so kind and a strong creative force. He is a filmmaker and animator, but not in the digital realm. Animation is a painstaking process, moving each bit, to make even just a second of film. Sean is old school in that way. Even when you meet him, it’s like you are meeting an old soul. It makes sense that a set designer who dreams and builds with her hands would be with someone who dreams and tell stories with his hands as well. They are two gentle, kind, happy, and positive souls, a match made in my opinion.
I’ve learned so much about creativity from the both of them. One of the workshops they hosted with us, “Creative Breakthrough,” was about how to get ideas flowing. To get their minds active, you must first get your body active. It inspired us at Poketo to do this with our team every Monday morning. On Monday mornings, we have our team/staff meeting. We start that meeting with what I have called, “Monday Movement”. One of our staff picks a fun, pick me up song, then, we improvise and do moves in unison. Sometimes it’s hands in the air, dance moves, silly moves… anything to get the body flowing, blood pumping and creativity flowing. The Monday Movement is like an ice breaker for the week, giving us the energy to tackle it all. And that’s what I see Adi and Sean doing, they are constant movers, constant doers. Being static is not in their vocabulary.
Join our co-founder Ted in conversation with Adi and Sean on Instagram Live this Friday 7/19 @ 5PM PST. Simply follow @poketo and go to your IG Story dashboard to click in! PS.
Creative Spaces is out now