Author and Illustrator, Dick Bruna, is one of the most famous creators of picture books in the world. Having written and illustrated almost 100 books and translated into 40 different languages, Bruna has sold more than 80 million copies worldwide. Bruna’s books include characters such as the brave little dog Snuffy, the friendly lady pig Poppy, the bear Boris and Barbara and most favourite of all Miffy, the little white bunny. 
Dick Bruna was born in the city of Utrecht, Holland, in 1927 and from a very young age Bruna had a passion for drawing. From a family of publishers under the name ‘A.W Bruna & Son’, Bruna’s father wanted him to follow in his footsteps. After losing interest in school, Bruna went to London to learn the trade of publishing. Inspired by the paintings of modern artists like Picasso, Barque, Leger and Matisse he then came back to Holland and put his artistic talents to use as an illustrator for the family business. Bruna has spent his later carer developing his skills within the picture book genre, designing simple, bright, bold characters along with a fun loving storyline.
Designs of Bruna’s characters and illustrations are simple and direct, leaving out details and focusing only on the essentials of a subject/animal. His drawings consist of simple outlines with no depth, using vivid bright colours such as red, blue, yellow, white and green. Bruna spends a majority of his time finding the exact colour for characters, such as grey for an elephant and the right brown for Boris Bear. Bruna’s theme around his characters focuses on simple friendly stories, never scary, creating a warm and safe atmosphere for children and occasionally books like Miffy is crying and Miffy in hospital aimed to help children cope with fear of mastering something difficult. Bruna uses language appropriate for a 2-6 year old choosing straight forward and easy to understand. Without loops or swirls Bruna’s simple bold text usually consists of four lines, the last word of the second line rhyming with the last word of the fourth line. This makes Bruna’s picture books fun, enjoyable, quick and easy to read. 
When working on a new book, Bruna first draws the illustrations and then focuses on the text. There are always 12 illustrations, which appear on the right page, and 4 lines of text, which appear on the left page. Bruna follows a design process that involves firstly of dividing the story line into 12 sections, together with 12 pencil sketches. Using black paint, Bruna carefully paints the outline and puts the rest on film. Underneath this film, a transparent illustration, he is able to apply colour. If Bruna painted colour straight onto the paper and was not happy with the colour he chose, he would have to draw his illustration all over again. This way, applying colour on film, he is able to mix and match the different colours until he has the right colours. Bruna’s illustrations may appear to look easy however they are not. For a book consisting 12 pages, Bruna will design several hundred sketches and throws out the same amount. He spends months using different tools and methods before he is 100% satisfied. Bruna was born into an age where there were no laptops, tablets or modern cameras. Bruna did it the old fashioned way, using typical tools such as the pencil, brush, poster paint, scissors and glue and often used the collage technique. 
For years Bruna has illustrated covers for many paperbacks in the ‘Zwarte Beertjies’ detective series. Also designing and illustrating posters and advertisements for the books of Bruna publishing. Since 1971, Mercis bv has been responsible for protecting Dick Bruna’s copyright. All reproduced illustrations and product designs must get full approval first, before being put into production. This includes all products from toys to media. Most popular toys include jigsaw puzzles, games, inflatable toys, soft toys and toys for toddlers. Since 1995, Mercis publishing has been the Dutch publisher of Bruna’s books. Mercis Media has been operating in developing media – oriented products such as CD’s, DVD’s and CD-ROMs, as well as the development of TV series which appear on television all around the world. Mercis Media makes sure all products live up to the Bruna standard.
Many people wonder the secret to Bruna’s success. I think all these elements; Bruna’s simple bright colored characters, warm friendly storyline, bold rhyming text all has do to with Bruna’s success. Not to mention his never ending product line of books, toys and media for all ages. Children love Bruna’s books and TV shows not because of the graphical or animated effects of his characters. In my opinion, it all comes back to Dick Bruna’s time and effort he has spent sketching, gluing, painting and color arranging to create such basic effective designs.
