We first met Adi Goodrich through our mutual friend and photographer, Meiko Takechi Arquillos. Adi makes a living as a set designer and art director. Her work is amazing. She builds larger than life sets, full of surprise and wonder with a vibrant palette of color. The first project we worked on at Poketo was an old school portraiture set where the public came in and took their portraits. We encouraged people to bring their loved ones, friends, pets and family, and hundreds of people showed up to take their portraits in front of this larger than life set. The photographer, Meiko, shot the photos. It was a true collaboration between new and old friends.
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