Kan Tai-Keung: Pine Mountain Cloud — Desk Diary 1987 by Takeo, Japan [Design: Helmut Schmid]

Kan Tai-Keung : Pine Mountain Cloud, Desk Diary 1987, Volume 29. Takeo Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 1987. 7 x 12, n.p. [68] with Japanese, Chinese and English text. 

A quality production printed in Japan with a layflat front cover and multiple paper stocks, varying in weight and color. A thoughtful design with many typographic details (Univers 45, 55) handled with care by Helmut Schmid. Calligraphy by Wucius Wong.

“Each year, a different designer is asked to design the desk diary of the paper company Takeo. When Mr. Kido asked me, he had the idea of combining two cultures. He suggested that the paintings of Hong Kong artist Kan Tai-Keung would make a good contrast with my style of European grid typography. As a counterpoint to the delicate paintings, I set the paintings’ titles in large, powerful brush strokes. For the cover, I used three Chinese characters of the diary’s title — pine, mountain, cloud — printed in deep blue on a cloud-like quality paper.” (Schmid, 2007, p. 142)

Introductory text by Wucius Wong. “The reputation of Kan Tai-Keung rests chiefly upon his achievements as a designer and design educator. Most of Kan’s paintings do reveal his design background. This could be observed in his composition and colour and his preference for structural organization.”

A fine, unread hardcover without any writing on the calendar. The binding is slightly tight and one of the first pages is lightly skinned. Includes the original translucent bookmark and good publishers paper wrapper. Uncommon in the United States.