Play the System
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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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Play the System Projects /

p348 Summer of Soul

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In 1969, a major festival celebrating Black culture took place in Harlem—and then almost completely disappeared from public memory. There was a lack of media interest, and the film footage was largely ignored. While Woodstock was celebrated, the Harlem Cultural Festival fell into oblivion. It wasn't until 2021 that the film Summer of Soul brought the story back to life. The website picks up on this. Three times the question—Are you ready?

Ready for what? Ready to look, to feel, to act? Windows open, images, texts, and voices become visible.

The black-and-white design gradually transforms into a colorful spectrum—inspired by the festival's stage designs. This color change symbolizes not only the liveliness and diversity of the event, but also the transition from invisibility to recognition.