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Mayumi Haryoto: Reinventing Creation
Mayumi Haryoto (JP/ Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak)People who work in the local creative industry are full of discouraging stories of violations of intellectual rights and licensing agreements â something that Mayumi Haryoto wants to stop
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Mayumi: (JP/ Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak) (JP/ Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak)
Mayumi Haryoto (JP/ Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak)
People who work in the local creative industry are full of discouraging stories of violations of intellectual rights and licensing agreements ' something that Mayumi Haryoto wants to stop.
The illustrator eventually wound up organizing her own agency to represent graphic artists ' and to educate clients.
Bad Traffic
'Intellectual property has hardly been recognized in the country until recently,' Mayumi said. 'We usually set a price for our commissioned work depending on the size or the difficulty levels ' but when our work is used for a year-long brand promotion, for instance, or placed in certain advertisement media, then a licensing fee is a must.'
Born in Jakarta on May 24, 1983, Mayumi is the only daughter of food-and-beverage entrepreneurs Tripartito Haryoto and Japan-born Yoko Oshika.
After finishing high school, Mayumi, who was always drawing as a child, wanted to work in the anime or game industry, only to find that no local university offered such classes and that the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis made studying in Japan impossible.
'I asked several universities, including ITB [Bandung Institute of Technology], whether they had digital desktop publishing as part of their curriculum. They laughed it off and suggested that I take a computer course instead.'
Instead, she took a one-year course at the Digital Public School, now the International Digital School, and started work at 19.
Soup for Soul
'I already have the skills and the network, I don't need a degree. A degree is not a necessity in the creative industry,' she says. 'Fortunately, my parents are not the demanding type ' as long as I'm responsible with my life choices.'
After nine years in the business, Mayumi has been the art director of an advertising agency and worked on films, video games and for a record label.
Mayumi illustrated the cover of Centralismo, the debut album of SORE, where her older brother Ramondo Gascaro serves as singer-songwriter.
The album was included on a list of 150 all-time best Indonesian albums by Rolling Stone, while Mayumi won the Best Album Cover award at the Asian Voice Independent Music Awards 2009 in Malaysia.
Album cover for Centralismo
She focuses on illustration, evincing a style strongly influenced by the American vintage/retro style of the 1950s and the Japanese ukiyo-e paintings.
Her works can be seen on the covers of albums by The Cash, Naif, Ape on the Roof and Tika and the Dissidents; the poster for Joko Anwar's thriller Pintu Terlarang (Forbidden Door) and a mural at the Howdy Hello Hola Hey Ho restaurant in Grand Indonesia, Central Jakarta.
Mayumi says that she's always been critical of her work and doesn't like to boast. 'But if you asked me which piece was the most impressive, my answer every time would be the last one ' because at that time you usually become more mature in choosing subjects and have already got the hang of the technique.'
When working as a freelancer, Mayumi realized she needed to work with others to improve the situation for artists and formed a company to represent her peers.
After a year, the firm's name, Oshika Representatives, was changed to Fabula Agency, referring to the Latin word for fables, which flourished in the 18th century, the golden age of illustration.
Mayumi's work at the agency, which still numbers fewer than two dozen people, includes preparing contracts, tax management and creative consultation. 'I want to keep the company lean, so we can communicate better and respond to the market faster.'
Finding people who can work on deadline, however, is tough. 'I have to be selective,' she adds.
Mayumi said she already knew Google's preferred illustration style when the Internet company contacted her to create a 'Google Doodle' homepage for Aug. 17 to honor Independence Day.
She presented the works of four associates to executives at Google's US headquarters, who chose Tommy Chandra.
'It was the first time ever Google outsourced talent, as they have their own team for the homepage,' Mayumi said.
Although the agency is still new, Mayumi says it has solved some of the problems plaguing local designers and artists.
Next up is expanding to include IT people, producers and distributors, she says. 'We've seen talented people create a game, release it and it dies. Within the right ecosystem, we can keep 'reinventing' a creation.'
