/

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.

Press F to search
Play the System / Projects /

p301 Refugia

While many people live in an ultra-modern, innovative society, others live in the deepest Middle Ages. While some enjoy freedom and take it for granted, for others, it is unattainable and utopian. While some can demonstrate en masse even during a pandemic, for others, one wrong word is enough for a death sentence. We are talking about North Korea, a country that could hardly be more socially divided. Just look at satellite images at night, and you can see the extreme state this country is in. The thoughts and opinions of the population are being moulded into xenophobia through censorship and propaganda. Outsiders are blamed for the social and financial situation. Escape routes seem impossible. Although there are North Koreans seeking asylum every year, most of them fail. Escape is dangerous. Even if the escape is successful, friends and family are penalized in its place. If they do not succeed, they may be punished with death. As an outsider, how do you manage to get information within this isolation? How do you manage to break out of this bubble as part of it? A new organization within North Korea serves as a refuge for people who can no longer bear the suffering and want to regain their human rights. Refugia is both a refuge and an island of rebellion and democratic values in the fight against censorship, surveillance, and dictatorship. All that is missing now is to spread this knowledge among the citizens and to call for action.