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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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p222 Loops, Stitches & Parallels

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Author

Saskia Hess

Year

2025

Course

Abschlussarbeiten

Supervision

Design Disciplines

[Creative Coding]

Mediums

[Website]

Technologies

[HTML] [CSS] [Javascript]

Subjects

[Coding] [Algorithms] [Data Visualization]

Loops appear in different contexts—both in programming and in knitting. In computer science, loops are constructs that allow specific instructions to be executed repeatedly until a defined condition is met. In knitting, stitches are created by pulling a strand of yarn through a loop. This process is repeated until the knitted piece reaches the desired size. In both cases, the aim is to describe recurring processes through clear instructions.

This project explores the structural and linguistic similarities between knitting patterns and programming languages. For a long time, knitting techniques were primarily transmitted orally before the invention of printing led to the increasing establishment of written instructions. In order to make work processes understandable and reproducible, various forms of notation developed. With the industrialization of textile production, methods emerged that allowed such instructions to be read by machines. The formal encoding of manual processes later became an important foundation for early computer technologies and programming languages.

A comparison of knitting patterns and programming languages reveals striking parallels in their linguistic structure. Both follow clearly defined rules—a fixed vocabulary and an unambiguous syntax—in order to ensure an error-free result. The analysis of these similarities led to the development of the experimental programming language “Loops,” which uses knitting patterns as a starting point for different forms of repetition.

On this website, the language can be explored by programming knitting patterns composed of knit and purl stitches. These are visualized both as text-based sequences of stitches and as graphical knitting charts. The grid-based representations not only make the production process visible, but also convey an impression of the final appearance of the knitted piece. Through color-based translations of the patterns and dynamic adaptation to different screen sizes, the website itself becomes part of the design process—demonstrating how closely handcraft, language, and code can be interconnected.