(1927–), Dutch artist, world famous for his picture books. Without any professional education, Bruna started as a graphic designer when he was twenty years old. Since then he has made more than two thousand book covers for the publishing company owned by his family. 0195146565.Bruna-Dick.1.jpgDick Bruna. The letter Q from Dick Bruna's ABC Frieze (London: Methuen Children's Books Ltd., 1971). Reproduced courtesy of the Cotsen Children's Library, Princeton University Library
In 1953 Bruna published his first picture book, De appel (The Apple). His most famous character appeared two years later in his third picture book, Nijntje (1955; English trans., Miffy, 1970). These first books were 21 centimeters high and 15 centimeters wide; after a few years he discovered this was too large for a toddler's hands. So, since then, Bruna's books have had a characteristic size, used for more than one hundred books: 15.5 centimeters by 15.5 centimeters. They always have twelve pictures on the right and twelve text pages on the left. Apart from the size change, all Bruna's now-typical characteristics were there from the beginning: only clear colors, red, blue, yellow, white, and green (always the same red, blue, yellow, white, and green), sometimes orange, never purple. But there are a few exceptions: gray for the elephant, brown for the bear.
Still more significant is the typical Bruna style, the result of a long process of reduction. After his first sketches, he deletes more and more details in every next drawing, until only the essential features are left. The first time Miffy was sad, she cried five or six tears; in the final picture, there was only one left. Thus it became a “pictogram” of sadness. Perhaps this is the reason why Bruna's drawings are appreciated all over the world.
Bruna's books have been translated into more than thirty languages. Because of his success, his characters stepped from the books to bed linen, towels, curtains, night-lights, cosmetics and toiletries, baby shoes, socks and T-shirts, glassware, bibs and aprons, soft toys, inflatable toys, wooden toys and jigsaw puzzles, buggies, tricycles, bicycles, bags, cards, and stationery.
