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  Truly Tulisan
The highly coveted & collectible brand Tulisan, has opened its first bricks & mortar store in Jakarta. Melany Zwartjes takes a closer look at what makes this capricious brand so unique.
POSTED : November 25, 2011
Tulisan is a local brand of high quality house wares and totes founded by Melissa Sunjaya in 2010. Since its inception, the brand has become known for its whimsical illustrations and dreamy color palette. What starts out as a black ink sketch using pointillism, vignetting and cross hatching techniques, eventually become colorful meticulously crafted prints, that convey a such a fanciful sense of whimsy that the viewer feels as if she’s looking directly at one of Melissa’s daydreams.
In fact, when it comes to the ever popular Pepe dolls, the notion of possessing a dream incarnate is accurate. These little dolls are the fifth and latest edition from Tulisan, titled “Pepe and the Flying Balloon,” they stem from a story Melissa created about, “a little girl from the street who met a magical doll named Pepe in her dreams.” The child’s dream changed her outlook on life, and Pepe is now changing the lives of many children, as profits from the sale of each little doll, which sells for Rp 98,000, provides meals, education, school supplies and health care for a child from the nonprofit foundation dedicated to rescuing Jakarta’s street children, KDM.
With the opening of Tulisan’s first bricks and mortar store inside Darmawangsa Square Melissa will be able to further expand her popular brand to include a comprehensive line of fashion and accessories, work organizers, home decorations and paper products and ultimately become a full fledge lifestyle concept store.
It’s an exciting time for Melissa and her team at Tulisan. Her brand, which already includes a special curatorial project, (illustrations my Tikyta Syarani a.k.a. “Tatoulla”), will in 2012 feature art by Myra Bianda. Each special collection stems from a short story. The narrative quality of the brand is palpable, and adds a layer of imagination that is rare in today’s logo obsessed market. But it’s this very quality that has attracted a loyal fan base, which appreciates Melissa’s handmade objects and loves the soulful creativity they convey. Tulisan has a bright future in store, and we can’t wait to see what Melissa dreams up next.
Tulisan Words & photos by Melany Zwartjes 
 
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