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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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w11 Dis(Order) of Knowledge

What happens when we leave decisions to a program without knowing the outcome? We analyze historical and contemporary books and enter attributes such as dimensions, page number, width, and year of publication into a table. We use this database for the design. We write algorithms in basil.js that create a series of posters for each book. The criteria are incorporated into the design: the year of publication determines the colors, or the page number determines the number of shapes drawn.

We don't work directly on the result, but rather define a design framework. Once this system is established, we create not just a single product, but an infinite number of variations. We learn that information doesn't necessarily have to be presented in tables or diagrams; it can also reach us in more subtle and subconscious ways.