Japanese designer and art director Yuta Takahashi designed this special edition of the book “Trinität” by Michael Debus using an abstract and monochromatic visual language that reflects the book’s intention and main theme. A mathematician, physicist, philosopher and ordained priest, Debus travelled from his native Germany to Japan in 2013 and 2014 with the mission to present the Japanese people his ideas and worldview, namely a kind of metaphysical ontology that rests on the relationship and interdependence of sensuality and conceptual abstraction. 

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

The resulting two volumes of Trinität document Debus’ efforts while also reflecting on his journeys and why his attempts to convince the Japanese about his doctrine failed. For the book’s design, Takahashi adopted the concepts of duality and abstraction, as seen in the exclusive use of black and white and the minimalist symbols donning the covers of each volume. In Japan, when a book is published in two volumes, these are called Joh (upper part) and Ge (lower part); the idea of upper and lower is also part of Takahashi’s design, since the cover of each book is divided into an upper and lower half so when the two volumes are stacked they create one complementing unity.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

Photo courtesy Yuta Takanashi.

A Sense of Abstraction: Minimalist Book Design by Yuta Takahashi

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