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 Workshops /

w40 Repetition. Rhythm. Pattern

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Repetition, pattern, rhythm — sounds like music, right? But they also play an essential role in graphic design: we repeat visual elements, arrange them into patterns, and create rhythm through variation. But how does that actually work?
To better understand visual structures, we connect them with music and invite musician and songwriter Roland Satterwhite to join us. With his viola, he explains musical structures such as harmony and rhythm and talks about different methods of composition. His assignment: “Bring a song whose rhythm you like — one that means something to you. Just bring a song you love.”
Together with him and graphic designer (and bass player) Andreas Trogisch, we analyze the structure of our chosen songs, sketch their rhythmic patterns, and translate them the next day into colorful graphic compositions.