AVONTUUR IN BIRMA
Le sbire de Birmanie, 1962
- O.S.S. 117 HOUDT VOL
O.S.S. 117 rentre dans la danse, 1961 - O.S.S. 117 EN DE CHINEZEN
Chinoiseries pour O.S.S. 117, 1962
- TOPCONFERENTIE
Les secrets font la valise, 1962 - AVONTUUR IN BIRMA
Le sbire de Birmanie, 1962
SCHOTEN VALLEN IN BANGKOK
Double bang à Bangkok, 1964
- VOL GAS VOOR O.S.S. 117
Plein gaz pour O.S.S. 117, 1962 - O.S.S. 117 IN AMSTERDAM
Strip-tease pour O.S.S. 117, 1962
- O.S.S. 117 OP ONBEKEND TERREIN
Cache cache au cachemir, 1963 - PANIEK OP WAKE
Panique à Wake, 1964
ONHEIL UIT CALCUTTA
Lila de Calcutta, 1964
- O.S.S. 117 IN DE KOU
Tactique arctique, 1965 - O.S.S. 117 TE WAPEN
Alertre, 1965
- O.S.S. 117 SPEELT HOOG SPEL
O.S.S. 117 joue le jeu, 1965 - O.S.S. 117 PLEEGT VERRAAD
Vous-avez trahi, 1965
O.S.S. 117 IN TOKIO
A tout cɶur a Tokyo, 1968
- EN DE MONSTERS VAN HOLY LOCH
Les monstres du Holy Loch, 1966 - O.S.S. 117 IN HET NAUW
Angoisse pour O.S.S. 117, 1966
- KORTE METTEN IN MANILLA
Partie de Manille pour O.S.S. 117, 1968 - O.S.S. 117 ZIET SPOKEN
Les marrons du feu, 1968
OP HETE KOLEN IN POLEN
Affire No. I, 1968
Dick Bruna book covers
There’s been some debate about copying and stealing design work lately (thanks to Jessica Hische’s Inspiration vs. Imitation). The line between ‘being inspired by’ and ‘stealing from’ can be pretty thin. But sometimes it’s just a matter of design conventions. Every decade has it’s design conventions. During the 1910s/1920s almost every car manufacturer logo had a tail. During the 1950s almost all logos from department stores were handlettered. The same goes for chrome scripts on cars. A couple of years ago all “2.0” websites contained glossy buttons and gradients.
I’m pretty sure some of you who see the images above will instantly say: “Saul Bass ripoff!” The image below shows there are indeed similarities between Dick Bruna’s O.S.S. 117 character (late 1950s, early 1960s) and Saul Bass’ Anatomy of a murder (1959). But look at Bruna’s earlier work from the 1950s and you’ll see he used the same technique before. Did they steal from each other? Probably not. I’m not sure they were aware of each other’s work. There was no internet back then. Bass became quite famous during the 1950, but it’s hard to say how well known Bruna was at the time. Chances are if they saw each other’s work they would say: “Matisse ripoff!”
Dick Bruna
Dick Bruna (1927- ) is best known for the creation of Nijntje (a.k.a. Miffy) children’s books. In total they have sold over 85 million copies. He also designed over 2,000 book covers during his prolific career. The O.S.S. 117 books were part of the Black Bear series. For every author Bruna created an icon, which appeared on multiple books so readers should want to collect them all.
O.S.S. 117 (Dick Bruna, late 1950s, early 1960s) vs. Anatomy of a murder (Saul Bass, 1959)
