Daniela Haufe was trained as a manual typesetter and worked as a typographer at a state publishing house in East Germany. In 1988 she started studying graphic design in Berlin, and was strongly engaged in the civil movement for more democracy. After the Wall came down she cancelled her studies and joined the group Grappa. In 1992 she and Detlef Fiedler left the group to found Cyan. Together with one to four other designers they create graphic design and corporate identity programmes exclusively for cultural clients such as the Bauhaus Dessau, the State Opera Berlin, the House of World Cultures and various galleries. From 1991 to 1995 she was co-editor of the critical design magazine form+zweck (form+purpose). As a member of the dance company Toula Limnaios she created several films and videos that were projected on stage. From 1996 to 2006 she taught as a professor of graphic design, together with Detlef Fiedler, at the Academy of Visual Arts, Leipzig.