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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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p146 For Ambiguity

The topic is the ambiguity of things and their acceptance. In other words, tolerance of ambiguity. It is about the ability to tolerate and initially accept a contradictory situation or one that cannot be clearly categorized. On the other hand, there is unambiguity: clear facts and situations that we can name and categorize, which is very convenient for us. This is why we often tend not to tolerate situations in which there is ambiguity. When it comes to structural discrimination, we encounter ambiguity very often. Let's take the topic of mansplaining, because from a feminist point of view, a recurring phenomenon in our culture of debate is clearly evident here. The boundaries of mansplaining are fluid and difficult to define. It's about looking at the situation sensitively and recognizing signals. If an explanation takes place at eye level and is desired, it is not mansplaining. But eye level is not a defined quantity, and the same explanation can be perceived as discriminatory in other circumstances. There is no clear right and wrong, as judgment varies depending on the circumstances. It is about recognizing and enduring this ambiguity. It seems to be very important to recognize and accept ambiguity as part of the complexity of our social interactions. Ambiguity does not relativize; it just requires a more complex approach.