Why, hello! Good for you to drop by, because it's time to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Ted Vadakan of the lifestyle brand Poketo.Who are you?
Ted Vadakan... one half of the art/lifestyle brand, Poketo. My other half is Angie, she's the prettier half.
What are you?
A brother, a husband, a friend, a lover, not a hater.
Where are you?
I'm in Los Angeles... but, sometimes my head is in the clouds, I like to zone out and dream of travels. So much of our inspiration at Poketo is from traveling.... meeting creative people, eating great food, just wandering and finding cool stores and things. All the encounters and discoveries go straight back into Poketo. I spent a year in Hong Kong and Thailand, working and traveling... I had a little shack on Lamma Island and would take long walks through lush fields and buzzing cicadas to get to the sea to swim. I like being carefree... I hope that comes through with Poketo too.
Where are you from?
I'm pretty much a California kid. Grew up in So. Cal, spent time in Nor. Cal and now back to sunny So. Cal. I love LA!
What do you do?
My wife Angie and I run Poketo.com. We work with artists from all over the world to create everything from apparel, accessories, wallets, housewares, stationery, and whatever we can dream of. The philosophy of Poketo is, Art For Your Everyday- by making products you use, wear, read, eat off of.... art becomes a practical part of your life, . We started in 2003 by doing an art show with a group of close friends. We had the artists design the graphics for a wallet, our very first product. The wallets sold out at the show. We were so excited by the response from people, we just continued to do more, adding more artists, adding more products, having more events and art shows, every year just expanding the idea of what Poketo could be. Some of our goals for Poketo are to make art part of the everyday experience and to also expose emerging artists to the wider world. We have now collaborated and created collections with over 200 international artists, bands like Weezer and Arcade Fire, museums like SF MoMA and DeYoung, and last year we completed a 52 piece accessories collection for Target. We got over 20 of our artists involved in that collection and it was distributed in over 1600 stores nationwide. All the while, we continue to find new artists and make Poketo.com a destination for cool art and design related products. I love what I do, Angie and I have fun.
What are you all about?
Trying to enjoy life, not sweating the small stuff, thinking big, keeping real, remembering life is what you make of it.
What makes you angry?
I'm Thai, I don't really get angry. :) Just kidding.
