A system within systems. Hacking as design strategy

Abstract

This Master's thesis explores the potential of hacking – not as a technical act, but as a critical and playful mindset – for rethinking graphic design practice. Sparked by a personal frustration with the narrow roles and expectations designers are often offered, it proposes an alternative approach that embraces curiosity, experimentation, doubt and resistance. Through a series of self-initiated design experiments, the work investigates how hacking might be used to interrogate and reconfigure the technical, aesthetic, institutional and personal systems that shape our work. Drawing on early hacker culture, hacking is redefined here as a way of engaging with systems: understanding how they function, identifying defaults, and bending or misusing them creatively. From tools and templates to workflows, authorship and identity – everything can be seen as a system, and therefore as something that can be hacked. Each chapter follows a loop of theory and hands-on experimentation, moving from external structures (grids, software, protocols) to internal ones (habits, ego, authorship). Rather than offering polished outcomes, the experiments act as probes – tools for making visible the often unseen assumptions embedded in design culture. Ultimately, this thesis argues for a designer who doesn’t just work within systems, but questions, reshapes and reclaims them – turning default limitations into spaces for agency and change.