Brand Booklet
About poketo
A WOR LD OF CR EATIVE R ETAI L POSSI B I LITI ES Poketo™ is an independent lifestyle brand with a proven track record of sell-ability and a loyal (and ever-growing) fan base. Its infinite pool of international artists—from Los Angeles to London, Paris to Tokyo, Beijing to Berlin—create Art For Your Everyday ™, design-driven wares that can be translated to all major retail categories. In the following pages is a sampling of what products you can produce in partnership with Poketo.
POKETO I N A N UTSH E LL Founded by husband-and-wife team Ted Vadakan and Angie Myung, Poketo (pronounced poh-KEH-toe) has been commissioned by Nike, MTV, SF MoMA and, more recently, Target to create exclusive lines stamped with the brand’s signature fun and functional style. In 2010, Poketo’s 52-piece accessory collection for Target sold out in stores nationwide. To date, the shop has collaborated with hundreds of international artists to produce lifestyle wares that infuse art in daily living. Poketo’s line of wallets, stationery, housewares, accessories, and apparel are available on poketo.com and have appeared in llew York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Real Simple, Dwell, Entertainment Weekly and more.
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PR ESS
Wanting to showcase their friends’ work, a couple put fellow artists’ designs on affordable items. They still do — on a larger scale. — LA Times Poketo has gone from being a jumping-off point for unknown artists to being a prestigious destination in its own right, one that established creators want to work with; what started as a promotion has become, instead, a bona fide medium. — New York Times Magazine The T-shirts at concert merch stands just ain’t cuttin’ it no more. That’s why bands like Weezer, the Shins, and the Postal Service have solicited design collective Poketo to hook them up with these whimsical wallets. — Entertainment Weekly Los Angeles-based design company Poketo’s claim to fame is its artist wallets. Featuring the work of top-notch artists from around the world, the wallets are each intended to be “a traveling art show” and make art and design available to the masses. — Dwell Magazine Target’s teamed up with Poketo, the L.A-based arts collective that works with international artists to create affrodable, creative accessories that you can’t find anywhere else. — Nylon Magazine
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CASE STUDY: POKETO FOR TARGET SOLD IN OVER
1,600
TARGET STORES NATIONWIDE.
DOUBLED
THE ACTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA FAN BASE.
POKETO COLLECTION 2010 FOR TARGET
52-PIECE ACCESSORY COLLECTION.
SOLD OUT WITHIN FIRST FEW WEEKS OF LAUNCH.
Last Fall, Poketo partnered with retail giant Target to produce a 52-piece accessory collection stamped with Poketo’s signature fun and functional style. The line was an instant hit, garnering media coverage from the Los Angeles Times, Nylon Magazine, Time Out New York, NBC New York, and the Chicago Sun TImes among others. Shoppers instantly loved the collection and Target stores nationwide were sold out in a matter of weeks.
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APPAREL
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ACCESSORIES
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LIVING
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TABLETOP
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KIDS’ LIFE
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STATIONERY
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DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE BOOK AT WWW.POKETO.COM/ASSETS/LICENSE-POKETO.PDF
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News Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Accessories With A Story Eco Party Mearry Unveils Upcycled Accessory Line Made From Vintage Sofa Leather LOS ANGELES-- April 15, 2011-- Mass produced gives way to one-of-a-kind, no-other-like-it-in-the world. As a follow-up to its massively successful release of upcycled bags made from street banners, vintage clothing and couches this time last year, Eco Party Mearry unveils a beautifully handcrafted line of upcycled accessories made from 100 percent vintage sofa leather. Rescued from the waste stream, every handmade (not manufactured) accessory was made from furniture that was nearing the end of its own lifecycle. With no two alike in color, texture or material origin, every accessory features a different combination of soft, supple, leather fabrics that will never be replicated again. The line predominantly features shades of cream and brown paired with other earth tones and black leather swatches in a variety of textures. A colorful variant featuring pinks, cool blues, mint greens paired with earth tones (and sometimes metallics) are also available for the more adventurous. Unpredictable as they are delightful, each accessory is a unique statement of sustainable design. “Each piece is high in style and low in impact, which make them perfect for a young generation of more conscientious doers and thinkers,� says Ted Vadakan, Co-Founder of Poketo. The 2011 collection from Eco Party Mearry includes:
The new line of upcycled accessories is a welcome addition to an evergrowing line of sustainably-designed fashion products made in by Eco Party Mearry, a South Korean design non-profit known for repurposing cast-off materials. Each purchase goes toward environmental and economic programs in the developing world. The new accessory line is now available starting April 15, 2011. For samples, high-res photography or requests to interview with the designers, please contact Carren Jao at media@poketo.com.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Breathe new life in your living space: New Urban Gardening Collection Handcrafted by California artisans LOS ANGELES—August 1, 2011—Year-round sunshine provides ample inspiration for a new urban gardening collection that works just as well indoors as outdoors. Two California designers dive into the Gardening category with an ongoing mission to cultivate a more holistic, inspired and creative lifestyle. The urban gardening collection includes: A-frame plant hanger
Inspired by A-frame architecture, California designer Danny Simon infuses the same post-war golden era vibe into the A-frame plant hangers. Warm materials like the Ipe plank, a popular material for sculpture; olive green deadstock military cotton strapping; and bronze hardware keep the feel earthy but still elegant. Hang these on the porch, on any exposed beam or have it perched by a window to capture the warmth of California living. Three-ring mountable planter (in White and in Steel)
Los Angeles-based designer Eric Trine re-purposes steel rings normally used for building fences into this mountable planter that lets nature shine instead of the object. This mountable planter disappears into the background while your greens or succulents pop with color. Not a green thumb? Use these mounts to store stray pens and utensils freeing up valuable desk or counter space. Choose from white or steel.
Three in the round plant stand (in White and in Steel)
Add a dash of design anywhere you have desk space with this plant stand handcrafted in California. Showcase your trifecta of potted plants with this elegant plant stand in white or steel. Take them out to the porch or bring them inside for an in-home garden. Better yet, bring these on a picnic, switch out the pots for new ones and...voila! an instant utensil holder sturdy enough to withstand windy days. Choose from white or steel. The new urban gardening collection opens new ways to cultivate a bit of green the city. The new line is now available starting August 2011. For samples, high-res photography or requests to interview with the designers, please contact Carren Jao at media@poketo.com.
Catalog Product naming, product descriptions and taglines
NEW YEAR, NEW YOU
KICK OFF THE NEW YEAR WITH THESE GREAT FINDS
LIVING
EARTHY ELEGANCE INSPIRED BY A-FRAME ARCHITECTURE. HANDCRAFTED IN CALIFORNIA.
A-FRAME PLANT HANGER $78
MODERN SIMPLICITY HANDCRAFTED IN CALIFORNIA.
THREE-RING MOUNTABLE PLANTER - WHITE $35
THREE-RING PLANT STAND - WHITE $40
THREE-RING MOUNTABLE PLANTER - STEEL $25
THREE-RING PLANT STAND - STEEL $30
ACCESSORIES
TERRA NOVA iPHONE 4 CASES $36
SCULPTURAL INSPIRATIONS.
SLEEK AND SIMPLE, A FITTING HOME FOR YOUR PRIZED iPAD.
ENVELOPE iPAD CASES $48
SLEEK AND SIMPLE, A FITTING HOME FOR YOUR PRIZED iPAD.
TWO TONE LEATHER iPAD CASE $ 64
THREE DOTS iPAD CASES $48
MASS PRODUCED GIVES WAY TO ONE-OF-A-KIND. ACCESSORIES HANDMADE FROM FURNITURE LEATHER NEARING THE END OF ITS LIFECYCLE.
UPCYCLED LEATHER CARD CASE $34
UPCYCLED LEATHER CLUTCH $44
UPCYCLED LEATHER POUCH $36
UPCYCLED LEATHER PASSPORT CASE $44
UPCYCLED LEATHER BUTTON WALLET $34
ART IN YOUR POCKET.
ARTIST-DESIGNED WALLETS $20
FUN AND CONTEMPORARY WITH A VINTAGE FEEL. HANDMADE IN BROOKLYN FROM REPURPOSED HARDWOOD.
BALANCING BLOCKS $70
STATIONERY
TOMORROW PLANNERS $28
KEEP YOUR LIFE IN THE LINE, BUT LEAVE A LITTLE ROOM FOR DREAMING.
OPEN-DATED WITH PERPETUAL MONTH VIEWS, WEEK VIEWS, NOTE PAGES, AND GRID PAGES.
PERPETUAL PLANNERS $26
SHARE YOUR PERSONAL STORY
DRAW YOUR MIND JOURNALS $22
DRAW YOUR MIND JOURNALS $22
INSPIRATION IS A CLICK AWAY
YELLENA JAMES
ARTIST-DESIGNED MOUSEPADS $15
LISA HANAWALT
ANDRE A WAN
JOLBY
HANAKO CLULOW
CIRCULAR MOUSEPADS $12
APPAREL
ANTIQUE KEYS ECO-PULLOVER WOMEN $52
COZY UP TO COOLER WEATHER WITH THESE ECO-FRIENDLY SWEATERS AND PULLOVERS.
DREAMCATCHER ECO-PULLOVER WOMEN $52
BEARS ON BIKE ECO-PULLOVER WITH POCKET WOMEN $58
BIG SUR ECO-PULLOVER WOMEN $52
ANALOG LOVE.
CASSETTE ECO-HOODIE UNISEX CUT $58
CASSETTE TRIBLEND V-NECK WOMEN $33
CASSETTE SHIRT UNISEX $30
DISCOVER MORE AT
POKETO.COM FOR MORE INFO CONTACT
MEDIA@POKETO.COM
Blog Posts
BLOG POSTS Alongside media outreach, Poketo increases awareness for the work of emerging artists by conducting interviews and developing content highlighting participating artists, which can be found on www.poketo.com/blog. Here are selected entries: art • artists • interviews • wallets
Hanging out with Nick Lu Summer’s been on everyone’s mind. For Los Angeles-based artist Nick Lu, it meant swimming deep into the heart of the ocean. We took some time to ask this Art Center grad whose work has been seen in the New Yorker, The Globe and Mail, American Illustration and many more a few more things about his work and his passions. Read on:
If you only had three words to describe Nick Lu, what three words would those be? Positive, creative, sporty How did you discover your love for illustration? I’ve been drawing since I was a kid, so it’s been a pretty organic process.
Could you share your favorite illustrations (of any kind). How did they make it on the “favorite list”? Anything with a cool idea catches my eye, I don’t really care too much about style. What or who are your current inspirations? Polish book covers, Tatsuro Kiuchi, Michael Swaney, Gary Panter.
If you had one dream project, what would it be? Something with a huge circulation, like stamps or currency; collaboration with fashion brand; more editorial illustrations for major magazines would be nice.
Could you tell us a little bit about your design? How did you come up with it and what’s going on in the scene? I think it was one day a friend asked me what new things would I want to try, I
said scuba diving, and we talked about how cool it would be and the fear of being so deep under water, that’s where the image came from.
What a great way to spend a summer day! Thanks for chatting, Nick! Find more of Nick at nicklu.com
interviews • los angeles
Awkward beauty by Winnie Truong When you look through Winnie Truong’s work, you’ll find a collection of other similarly detailed works that often remind us of our long-forgotten adolescence (braces, blemishes and all). Despite that, Winnie’s work manages to show us that it really wasn’t so bad after all. Could you tell us a little about who Winnie is? A nice city girl with a zeal for art, parks and naptimes. How did you discover your love for drawing? Drawing has always been something I’ve done as preliminary work in my sketchbook. When I first started going to art school, I convinced myself that I wanted to be a painter only to later find that drawing was the thing I could handle with ease and that best suited what I wanted to express.
You work always sits at the borderlines of beauty and beastly, awkward and strangely graceful. Why is that? The fascination comes from that tension between that attraction and repulsion
the viewer experiences upon seeing the work‌ and people tend to have great opinions on one or the other. With every drawing I’m creating new viewpoint on that matter that I also have yet to resolve. Your drawings look so detailed, how much time to do you spend on each? The largest drawings take a few weeks to a month to complete. Sometimes I get really obsessive, and even after spraying fixative on the drawing, I am adding little marks and stray hairs here and there.
When drawing to that level of detail, what tip could you share with other people? Patience. And hand exercises to avoid carpal tunnel. Why hair as a subject? Hair continues to fascinate me as a naturally occurring thing on our bodies that can be styled and adorn as expression of class, culture, gender, and even personality, and especially at its extremes. The act of drawing for me also has a direct connection to hair in that every mark translates into a single strand.
What about the gap teeth, braces and freckles? My attraction to those attributes probably comes from the fact that we associate them with that adolescent stage in life when those things don’t seem beautiful, but rather as awkward and unwelcome features.
Are your drawings based on real people? They aren’t based on anyone in particular. The faces are based loosely on people seen fashion and hair magazines. I take the models and their blank expressions as a platform and then the exaggerated hair and blemish stand in as extensions of personality and whim. Although I have a good idea of the final work will look like, I do let the hair and the strokes of colour develop intuitively on the way. Ultimately the portraits become anonymous projections
of our feelings and notions towards the beautiful and grotesque, rather than of a specific likeness. Tell us a little bit about your design for the “Afterlife” series. I wanted to respond to the theme with an ambivalent point of view, in doing so I created the artwork using the changing states of ambiguous “life-forms” to tell a story through their disjointed relationships. I drew some not-quitepersons, and not-quite-creatures that I thought would illustrate both life and death simultaneously, so that the theme of “Life After Death” is open to individual interpretation.
Was it difficult to come up with your final illustration? The hardest part was mulling over what theme meant to me personally.
When not drawing, what would you be doing? Gallery hopping, bike riding, and noshing. And also doing the aforementioned with good friends. What other things are you passionate about? I’m currently addicted to watching Youtube snippets of ABC’s “What Would You Do?” with John Quinones. What other things do you find awesome? My cat, Berlin. The Wire. Midnight cycling. What’s next for Winnie Truong? I’m currently in studio working on new pieces for my upcoming solo show at ESP, opening this September in Toronto. I am also planning on releasing my first limited edition print in July, so look out for that! Find more of Winnie on winnietruong.com.
artists • interviews • wallets
Howie Tsui at the crossroads of culture When we first saw Howie’s wallet design, we were amazed at how much visual information he was able to incorporate within just a few inches of material. We’re not the only ones similarly stunned by his work. He’s been exhibited all around Canada. He’s also been spotted in Beautiful/Decay, Carousel, Color and Border Crossings. His work is also part of the Canada Council Art Bank collection. We caught up with Howie to ask him what inspired the design and how Chinese ink work may be a lot harder than it looks. Say hello to Howie Tsui: We read that you moved around a lot—from Hong Kong, Thunder Bay (in Canada), Africa and now back in Canada again. How did that affect your art? I think these divergent experiences provide me with a more radiant perspective of the world and our place in it. Given, that much of these relocations happened during my formative years, I think the imprint of these contrasting experiences is actually embedded deeper within my psyche than something that is consciously and painstakingly incorporated into my practice.
Your work is so dense, but the execution isn’t visually taxing at all. How did you first come to work with ink? I am using Chinese paint pigments for the most part. I started in 2008 working with this material on mulberry paper, which provides a tooth-y texture. The pigmentation is affective in achieving the faux-antiquated look that I was going for. My move to these materials from, say, oil and canvas, was an intentional departure away from traditionally Eurocentric mediums. I actually consider these works ‘paintings’, but from my experience applying to a Canadian painting competition, a painting must be on canvas or board.
What’s the most difficult thing about working with ink? There ain’t really an undo or paint over option. So each stroke, gesture, texture and line is pretty much final. Could you share what your studio is like and what your materials are? I have a very modest work/live studio space in my house. It’s basically a master bedroom that I’ve modded with a flat works storage shelf on the ceiling. There’s lots of light, a big ass table, plants and shelving for books. My big paintings are rolled up and placed in tubes. Other parts of my house also come into play. There’s a computer area on the main floor for digital and office work, and basement for storage. Outdoors areas are also available, when the tundra hath thawed, for power saws and messier work. What themes fascinate you and come up most in your artwork? Hmm. I’m interested in fear and it’s relationship to creativity, imagination, child-rearing, the absurd and it’s historic role in Asian cultures contrasted with its modern day manifestation. There’s a lot more things that I could get into, but you probably don’t want to get me started. I wish I could just say, “I like skulls. Yeah man. And diamonds. Yeah. They bad ass.” There’s a lot going on in the wallet design you made, could you tell us a little more about it? The design is taken from segments of my scroll painting “Tengu’s World” (2009) from my Horror Fables series. It features the Japanese folkloric figure of Tengu perched atop a mountain; a rooftop figure who is poisoning a sleeping wife by dripping poison onto a dangling string; impaled lovers; a blue guy tied to a tree and the Buddhist God of Heavenly Punishment is dunking baddies and biting off heads.
Your works are usually in scroll-format. How large are they usually? The largest ones are limited to the largest wall I have in the studio. They are 125” x 38”. The tall vertical ones are 75” x 38”. Tengu’s World from the wallet is 72” x 25”. How do you approach your work? Do you start from one end to another? Or do you work on whichever direction that catches your fancy? I usually have a few major anchor components in my composition and then areas for mid-sized content and also areas for free unconscious work. Usually bouncing back and forth between areas striving for a balance.
How has your work changed over the years? My practice has changed and matured quite dramatically in recent years. I’ve been very lucky to receive arts funding which allows my practice to be less affected by fashion and/or commercial pressures, while offering the chance to focus solely on developing projects that are honest, concept-oriented, explorations into that which I find intriguing. I think oppose to first asking myself, “What should this looks like?” I now ask myself “What is this about?” How do you see your style evolving in the future? From scroll paintings, I’ve moved to multi-media sculpture and producing magic lantern performances.
Next up, I’m messing around with re-configuring an old pinball machine into a human torso, and making an anatomically incorrect monument of an 1812
warrior out of epoxy-casted bones and organs. Oh and also depictions of selfinflicted diseases in the format of epic war paintings. Find more of Howie on howietsui.com.
art • artists • interviews
Poketo People: Nathalie Roland At Poketo, it’s the people around us that help keep it real. Inspired by their great vibe, this new series puts the spotlight squarely on them, their aspirations and their brushes with the Poketo world. It’s also a great way to keep in touch, don’t you think? Yeah, we thought so too! This week, we welcome to the Poketo spotlight one Poketo’s first-ever artists Nathalie Roland. Since then, she’s also popped up in the Poketo world with a few wallet designs, a print, and even an entire mural for a pop up shop we did in SF some years back! We’d love for you get to know Nathalie better. Say hello, guys!
Hi, Nathalie! So, three themes come up in your bio a lot: printmaking, music and cookies. How did you find your love for each? I fell in love with printmaking after seeing some etchings at an art fair in Santa Monica. The lines were so rich and warm, even though the image was two dimensional, looking closely into the lines, there was a beautiful density. I forget the artist’s name, but at that moment I was very intrigued. Music has been a constant companion since childhood starting with afternoons spent listening to my father’s Beatles records and the Salsa radio programs blaring through our house all day on Sundays. Cookies are sweet and they have a lovable blue monster spokesperson with a wicked theme song. If Nathalie were a cookie flavor, what would it be? I’d like to be a chocolate chip cookie, classic, comforting and delicious. Could you share your printmaking journey to us? Well now, I met printmaking roundabouts 1992. Here is a sample of one of my first prints in ’92.
I tried relief printing that year as well, I gouged a hole in my left hand and swore off relief printing. I got to know etching, engraving, intaglio and lithography thanks to Zarina Hashmi and Paul Rangell. I tried doing a lino cut followed by wood cut and I was hooked. Here is one of my recent prints made for a night some friends do at Make-Out Room. (Photo by Myleen Hollero).
It wasn’t til 2009 that I tried screen printing thanks to Anthony Skirvin and his friends. He introduced me to rubylith, which was a way to avoid the computer all together. Here’s a sample of one of those screen prints. I’m back to focusing on woodcuts again now.
Wow. You’ve certainly gone through a lot of different processes. What’s your favorite type of wood to work with? While I appreciate a fine cherry, I’m partial to pine. It is accessible, it smells good and it has a lot of personality. Working with its knots and grain can be challenging and rewarding. What do you think most people don’t realize when it comes to printmaking? It is technical and time consuming. For me that is part of the appeal, I find it meditative and I learn something new every single time. Could you share some of your favorite prints and the stories behind them? “Unknown Pleasures” is the title of one of my favorites.
This octopus has fallen in love with a human accordion playing swimmer but can only admire her from a far. A modest display of pyrotechnics is one way to signal seaside affection.
One of my favorite parts of living in San Francisco is the Chinese new year parade and the dancing lions. (Photo by Myleen Hollero)
I have a sentimental attachment to this next print which I made before I acquired my own press back when I was still printing with my feet. I made it to entice friends to participate in a mix exchange of sorts. People made 1 hour mixes and we broadcast a different one at 11am on the old headphonerecord shoutcast stream. It features our friend Eamon and Gina’s dog, Dogula and our cat Mochi. Now, onto music. If Nathalie were a song, what kind of song would it be? I can’t say what song I am yet, but I aspire to be a Vince Guaraldi number like “Cast your fate to the wind“. His songs possess a swingin’ sophistication… something I would like to at least touch in my lifetime.
Awesome. Thank you for taking us a on quick walk down memory lane, Nathalie! Thank you so very much. Very happy to be involved after so many years. Find more of Nathalie at headphonerecord.com.