Japan Typography Annual 1985 [Design by Helmut Schmid]

Japan Typography Annual 1985, Japan Typography Annual 9, edited by Japan Typography Association Annual Editing Committee, 1985. Robundo Publishers, Tokyo, Japan. 8.5 x 12, pp. 311 plus trade ads with Japanese text (English for most essays). Printed in Japan. Superb design by Helmut Schmid!

An extensive reference on Japanese graphic design published in 1984–85. With an introduction about the 20-year history of the Japan Typography Association by Minoru Niijima, editor-in-chief. With interesting Japanese/English essays including: What is new in the new typography? by Wim Crouwel; The Good Old Neue Typographie by Paul Rand; Typographie als Kulturgut by Josef Müller-Brockmann (Japanese/German only);  Typography is changing by Prof. Hermann Zapf; and Personal Thoughts About My Professional Neighbors by Wolfgang Weingart.

Heavily illustrated with mostly black and white design works in categories featuring: Editorial, Printed Matter, Diagrams, Advertising, Typefaces, Logotypes, Symbols, Pictograms, Corporate Identity Systems, Three-Dimensional, Screen and TV Titles, Research and Publications, and Experiments. Trade advertising towards the back.

In a letter to Wolfgang Weingart (June 10, 1985), designer Helmut Schimd wrote: “to work on the annual was exciting. Especially the texts on typography and designing with the works of Kohei Sigura. Fundamentally, however, an annual is a bit like a supermarket. I find your essay in the annual very thoughtful, except for the paean to Japanese design. But from afar, things always tend to look rosy. Here, we stick to the everyday, like you do in Switzerland. Swiss design may at present be anemic. But I consider it basically honest. Here in Japan, design is artificial.”

A nearly fine hardcover and dust jacket with barely a hint of wear. Oddly, page 157/158 has become detached and is laid-in. Interior pages are bright and clean with a sturdy binding. Hard to find in the USA!