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  The children’s line, Cereal Nation’s debut collection revolved around the theme “early learning” with a old school twist. Noticeable with its timeless designs, the line includes an array of products that will support the child of age 3 – 12 with the offering selection of apparel, shoes, posters and special edition storybooks.Amongst the various product offerings, the storybooks was delivered the with special involvement of author Melly Sutjitro, with the known moniker Melly Berry, and talented illustrator, EorG, EMTE (Muhammad Taufik), Ykha Amelz, Ella Elviana, and Lidia Puspita, published by publishing company Else press (littl-else). A week into Cereal Nation’s Birthday (which is on the National Children’s Day), we got a chance to interview the wonderful people behind Cereal Nation, as well as the illustrator and author who contributed to the Mellyberry’s Children Book Series. Enjoy! W: Could you tell us briefly about the Mellyberry’s Children Book Series. CN: Well, Cereal Nation really began with us mopey adults tapping into our childhood memories and letting whatever wild adolescent imagination inspire us to create a line of children’s apparel that is, as a certain Beach Boys’ song excellently explains: Fun Fun Fun! As for the Cereal Nation-edition books, early 2011 we were getting ready to launch our first line to the outer reaches of your inner child’s consciousness, and Else-Press (littl-else) approached us with publishing children’s stories and illustrations that they had ready. We loved Melly Berry’s stories and the illustrations that accompanied them, and so the special-Cereal Nation edition of these books was born (hooray!!!). Only 100 copies of each book were made for this collaboration, and each includes a Cereal Nation poster specially designed by each respective illustrator (thank you guys!). Be sure to read these books, they were written for kids 1 to 1000 years young! Author: Melly Sutjitro W: How did you get into writing? As far as I remember it, I always love writing. I’ve been writing since I was a kid. I remember how I loved those essay writing tests at school. I used to write longer answers than I was asked and it amused my friends and my teachers deeply. “You are asked to write only half page, not two and half pages.” My passion for writing was first acknowledged by my 5th grade teacher who, despite my ignorance, enrolled me in multiple writing competitions. One of them ended up in me representing my school’s district in some sort of national writing competition. I forgot the name and the date, but I remember that I went home with a 2nd place trophy and a proud smile that day. I guess you won’t be able to write well unless you read too. And there’s my other passion, reading. Some of the books I collected back then are still here with me in good condition. Every time I read a new book or an article, especially a good one, it never fails to open my mind, tickle my curiosity, enhance my imagination, and inspire my spirit. All of those are important factors in writing stories. W: What was your creative process in writing the Mellyberry’s Children Book Series? I am at my most creative state when I am daydreaming ☺. It means I am in a relaxed mood. No wonder that most of my children’s story ideas came to me during my bed time routine with my kids. It was the same process with each of our CN/Littl-else books. Three out of five CN/Littl-else books that I wrote were originally created during those moments with my kids. Once I got the story in my head, it flows to my computer. I rarely edit my draft right away. I usually do my second look after a few weeks, sometimes months. The final part of my story writing is to read it to my husband and my kids first before anyone else. I am lucky to have the three biggest critics/fans in my house. Children, especially, are very honest. They’ll tell you what they think of the story point blank, no sugar coated needed. My kids will tell me honestly if the story or the character is ‘awesome’, ‘cool’, or ‘yuck’, ‘mean’, or simply ‘sweet’. Their constant ‘why this’ and ‘why that’ would then make me improve the plot and tie up loose ends. W: What have been the challenges you’ve encountered in writing children’s book? The big challenge would be to think like a kid. Sadly, that’s the thing that we, adults, often forget. The other challenge for writing children’s book is how to keep the story interesting without dragging it too long or making it unnecessarily complicated, without losing the moral that I want them to grasp. W: The Mellyberry’s Children Book Series carry five different themes. What are the messages that you would like children to learn from your stories? They may carry different themes, but at the end they all tell the same message – be an open minded person. Don’t judge someone or something too fast or too blindly. Once your mind is open, you’ll become a (much) tolerant and sensible person. It’s superbly important to be an open minded person, who acknowledges and respects differences in others without losing the very core of who you are. Imagine how strong our nation would be in the future, when our next generations display and exercise these kinds of qualities. W: Being a mom of two, has that shift your perspective in writing? And what fascinates you the most about children? Being parents changes everything in a magical way. I’d say that it has contributed a lot in my writing style and the things that matter to me most. Aside from being honest, fun and creative, children fascinate me in many other ways. They are open minded little people with big energy. They make simple things fun in a big way. In their pure mind, they see others as unique individual regardless of the race or religion or skin color. There are so many things we can learn from the young minds. W: What is next in line for you? I will keep writing, of course. My writing will continue to underline matters which are close to my heart – women and children. There are couples of developing stories right now, from novel and mommy’s diary, up to junior novel and children’s fables. It’s great to do what I love. I can only hope that my readers love the works that I write ☺
“When Prince Brite and Prince Nite were born, the whole Kingdom celebrated with a blast of happiness. Peace and prosperity soon followed. But ambition and greed clouded the the Kingdom’s future. Day and Night W: Can you describe about your previous (art)work? What theme do you normally explore in your work? Just recently, I’ve just done one for a “save the earth” project. Before CN books, I’ve just done a children’s books which takes the normal issues in to a fairytale setting. I don’t normally explore my work in to any particular theme. I usually explore my work in to the story theme that I’m working on. Each story is different than another. W: Share us a bit about your illustrations for the Mellyberry Children Book Series. I’ve done this book with the consideration of the ancient setting and it’s mystical fairytale attachment to it. Also the storyline is more serious. So I make my artwork in a serious but still colorful way for kids to enjoy. W: What was your creative process behind it? Playing with many styles of drawing including acrylic on wood with digital means. W: What do you draw your inspiration from? Any artist or particular people that inspire you? Yes, this book is so very inspired by other artist like my other works. But.. this is so embarrassing.. I forgot his name. I often forgot names, but I remember his artwork in detail. W: What is next in line for you? Maybe I’m thinking of making my very own first book this year. Maybe.. If things doesn’t get in a way. Rainbow Can you describe about your previous (art)work? I’ve done illustrations for various book covers, magazines( mostly fashion), and various children books. What theme do you normally explore in your work? Daily life mixed with my ‘own imaginary world’ Share us a bit about your illustrations for the Mellyberry Children Book Series. What was your creative process behind it? I used a lot of mediums-from watercolor, marker,ecoline, acrylic, I even scanned a woodboard for the background elements. Whether its been easy or its been hard, its been a lot of fun.
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 W: What do you draw your inspiration from?
Books (mostly design and illustrations), watch alot of animation movies, sharing thoughts with friends, taking pictures, meeting people, working with a team, and travelling. Life is an inspiration to me and I love to draw it. W: Any artist or particular people that inspire you? David Downton (I love his simple and spontaneous drawing style), Jordi Labanda (for his quirkiness), and mirko hanak ( I dig his bizarre watercolor technique) W: What is next in line for you? Doing some project design (illustrating the merchandise ) for Dunia Fantasy-Ancol.
“Life in the jungle was never the same again when a strange egg hatched. The Last Dinosaur W: Can you describe about your previous (art)work? What theme do you normally explore in your work? Basically I just simply like to draw. I just like to draw anything I’d like to draw, nothing specific or intended to be something conceptual at the beginning. But since I got a chance to be a full time illustrator in Still Loving Youth Magazine and Scandal studio back then, I began to took it in the next level as in exploring my drawing output. Eversince, I began to experience lots of exciting projects such as children illustration book, fashion illustration, coorporate illustration, customize local gigs posters, etc. Till now I’m still running various illustration & design project with my own Studio, THE RIGHT STUFF. Mmmm my normal theme? I like drawing rabbits . . it’s my own personal joke. Big front teeth, you get the idea.
I were involved in the first Else-Press Publishing’s children illustration book project that also collaborate with Cereal Nation. Basically the project is about a merge between one talented children book author, Mellyberry, with five local illustrators. When I read her script, I fell in love instantly and started to draw this super cute dinosaur book. W: What was your creative process behind it? From the five Mellyberry script, I got ‘The Last Dinosaur’. Did lots of brainstorming and character sketching with Melly. “How bout bigger eyes & bigger cheeks?!”, she once said with excitement. I usually use soft colors on my previous work, but for ‘The Last Dino’ I decided to go with full on bright colors, hope it doesn’t hurt the kids’ eyes. I enjoy drawing Big Eyes and the rest of the animal forest very much . . it was awesome. W: What do you draw your inspiration from? Any artist or particular people that inspire you? From the high and the low and the to’s and the fro’s. Dr.Seuss, Andy Riley, Laura Laine & Alphonse Mucha are some of my inspiring people. W: What is next in line for you? I’m preparing a solo exhibition. Wish me luck!
“A long time ago, both animals and humans were able to speak. But, one of them wanted something more. Did they get what they wanted? And how did greed reward them in the end?” - Why Animals Can’t Talk Why Animals Can’t Talk W: Can you describe about your previous (art) work? What theme do you normally explore in your work? Before this, I’ve done many illustrations for children’s book. Most of which are pictorial books. Other than that I’ve done illustrations for novels for both children to teenagers from the classic to contemporary genres. There isn’t any particularly theme in my work; most stories I illustrate are just ‘normal’ children’s stories. W: Share us a bit about your illustrations for the Mellyberry Children Book Series. For Cereal Nation, I made the illustration for the book ‘Why Animals Can’t Talk’. To make the story to life, we need to have an understanding [of the story] and believe it. It is only after that can we have an idea of which characters and scenes are suitable then we give the story its soul. My inspiration is from nature, from the books I read, from the artwork of other artist, from movies I watch, from music I listen to, and from many different sources. The artist that I like are mostly classic children book illustrator with their distinct style as Garth Williams, Beatrix Potter, Chihiro Iwasaki, Quentin Blake, etc. I like the sincerity that shines through their work. W: What is next in line for you?
“Andy is devastated when he learns that his very best friend will move to another country. He does exactly what any other boys would do in his situation. He sulks, he whines and he does everything in his power to stop his best friend from moving out.” – My Best Friend My Best Friend W: Can you describe about your previous (art)work? What theme do you normally explore in your work? My latest work is the illustration for the children’s book with melly berry. The theme that I usually work on is fantasy, women, and natural objects. W: Share us a bit about your illustrations for the Mellyberry Children Book Series. W: What was your creative process behind it? While stealing some time off of work, I started sketching Rico and Andi’s character while imagining the clothes they would wear. After it was agreed by else press and Melly, I started sketching the whole story from “My Best Friend”, then I transferred it to Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. W: What do you draw your inspiration from? Any artist or particular people that inspire you? My inspiration is from what I see, hear and feel. The magazine, internet, and comic books are part of my inspiration. W: What is next in line for you? For now I am still focusing in my current job. I still want to develop my illustration style, because at this point I haven’t found the appropriate style – Mellyberry Children Book Series is now available in Aksara Bookstore Kemang and can also be ordered online through www.elsepress.com Cereal Nation Official Website |
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