The accessory geniuses

In 2002, the husband-and-wife team of Angie Myung and Ted Vadakan founded their design company, Poketo, just as they started dating. Now they’re a golden couple in the accessories world, bringing together artists, illustrators, and designers to create their colorful, quirky lines. In addition to collaborating with companies like Nike and MTV, they launched their second product line with Target this summer and opened a brick-and-mortar store in L.A. in the summer of 2012. Here’s how they do it. poketo.com

Myung: First of all, we have very different ways we think about design. Ted is an eternal optimist. I’m a little less so.

Vadakan: I like to throw a bunch of ideas in the pool and see what’s possible. Angie tends to rein things in and view things more realistically. For example, with the first Target line, Angie designed all the silhouettes and knew what she wanted.

Myung: I’m more about making the dream into reality, but luckily, we’re on the same page when it comes to aesthetics.

Vadakan: Angie’s great at the product, and I love bringing people together. Which is good because Poketo is not only products, but also a community of creatives, artists, and fans of design. We only work with people who are joyous to work with.

Myung: Everyone always says, How do you work together and live together? We literally are with each other 24/7. But as soon as we met, we started this fun project called Poketo and just went with it—we don’t know anything else.