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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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c7 Call Me

As graphic designers, we are constantly dealing with topics that inspire and motivate us. We seek to engage with like-minded individuals, expand our professional network, establish our own platforms and promote creative dialogue. In order to achieve this, we need to design spaces — both literally and figuratively — and attract the attention of a broad public.

Call Me is an exhibition format in which graduates of the Communication Design programme present their bachelor's and master's theses. For eight years now, it has been curated, designed and organized by a small, changing team of dedicated students. Each year, the team embraces the exciting challenge of reflecting on the transition from academia to professional practice. In doing so, they find their own unique answers to questions such as: How can spatial effects be staged in a targeted manner? How can an exhibition concept be developed that reveals the diversity of themes, perspectives and forms of expression? And how can design itself become a connecting narrative element?

Call Me thus becomes a stage not only for final design projects, but also for the collaborative work, curatorial thinking and further development of contemporary design practice.