As a world-renowned designer and artist, Dr. Kan has earned numerous awards. Starting his career as a designer from 1967, Kan was the first designer elected as one of the "Hong Kong Ten Outstanding Young Persons" in 1979; the only designer to receive the Urban Council Design Grand Award in 1984; and was the first Chinese to be included in “Who's Who in Graphic Design” of Switzerland in 1995. He was conferred Honour of Bronze Bauhinia Star in 1999.

Kan’s art and design works have earned him numerous awards and international publicity through exposures in local and overseas exhibitions, which included “From Life to Mind: Kan Tai-keung’s Design & Art” at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in 2002, over 200,000 visitors had been to the exhibition; “Of Ink and Chairs – Kan Tai-keung + Freeman Lau, Art and Design Exhibition” exhibited at both DDD Gallery, Osaka and Shizuoka University of Art and Culture in 2003; Cooperating with Royal Copenhagen, Kan designed a porcelain dinner set named “Flora Banquet” for celebrating the reunification of Hong Kong to China. The porcelain is exhibited in Hong Kong and Beijing in 2007, following in Toronto, Milan, London and New York in 2008.  The 2009 Hong Kong East Asian Games torch was also designed by Mr Kan.

Kan also actively involves in educating and promoting art and design profession. He is now the Dean of the Cheung Kong School of Art and Design, Shantou University, Guest Professor of Central Institute of Fine Arts in Beijing and Guest Professor of Tsing Hua University of Fine Arts in Beijing. He is also a Fellow Member of Hong Kong Designers Association; Member of Alliance Graphique Internationale; Advisor of the Leisure & Cultural Services Department and Honorary Advisor of Hong Kong Museum of Art.  In 2005, Kan was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Design in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.