Play the System
Information Close

/

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.

DE
EN

Press F to search

Play the System Projects /

p217 Knitting HTML

DE
EN

Crochet scripts and programming languages are instructions that are read and implemented by people or machines. Each of these systems has its own rules and logic that determine the appearance of the result (crochet piece or website). What results arise when these instructions are mixed? To do this, Saskia Hess looked for analogies in these languages and developed her own translation rules. The basis was crochet instructions for some letters, which were transferred to HTML and CSS. Each <div> represents a stitch that is crocheted/nested within the other. Information such as needle size or stitch type is translated into CSS and can be displayed or hidden by users. For example, the color number of the wool becomes the HEX code for the border color. Depending on the settings, different patterns are created in this way.