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is a platform for parametric design in graphic design. It documents the work of students and teachers at the Department of Design at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW), who are investigating the significance of the system as a conceptual model and design method under the title “Parametric Design in Graphic Design.”

Design is less about intuitive, even ingenious “strokes of genius” and more about a holistic and rule-based (systemic and systematic) process of gaining knowledge and shaping form. It is becoming increasingly important to be able to design dynamic systems that both guide and inspire the design process.

Parametric design refers to this design in and of systems—with rules, their modes of operation, and systematic manipulability. The research project, led by Prof. Heike Grebin, is an integral part of teaching and aims to raise awareness of design as a performative process.

Play the System brings together selected study projects in which the system plays an important role as a design method – whether analog or digital. The works are created in a fruitful symbiosis of theory, design, and technology. Socially relevant issues and positions from philosophy, art, and avant-garde design from around 1900 to the present day are repeatedly discussed.

Play the System is an invitation to become aware of the systemic competence of graphic design and to gain the maturity to use the tools of digital design critically.

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c5 Authority for Design

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The Authority for Design (Behörde für Design) was founded in the 2006/07 winter semester by a group of communication design students led by Prof. Heike Grebin with the aim of breathing new life into the Department of Design at HAW Hamburg. The ten course catalogs from 2007 to 2012 exemplify the concept particularly well: each semester, a new group of students designs a fresh visual identity for the department under the umbrella of the Behörde.

The publishing tool Curriculum, developed by FMGarage, supports the entire process from data entry to typographic detail through a fully parametric system. It allows course information to be entered in a structured way, automatically links the data to layout specifications, and exports the results as InDesign-compatible formatted text.

Because the formatting definitions can be modified independently of the database, new design concepts can be developed each semester with minimal effort and maximum creative freedom. In this way, data management and design development are seamlessly integrated, making Curriculum a powerful example of how parametric principles can unite structure and creativity in publishing.