Hickmann was born in the German city of Hamm and studied photography and communication design combined with philosophy at the University of Applied Sciences Düsseldorf, and aesthetics and media theory in Wuppertal.

[2] Previously, he had taught at the Universities of Essen and Dortmund, and gave lectures and seminars in, among other places, London, Ljubliana, Istanbul, Beijing and Shanghai.

The group received wide media attention for their effort to prevent the adoption of an embarrassing logo for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

The exhibition, European Championship of Graphic Design was opened by Queen Beatrix in June 2008.

[6][7] From 2012 to 2014 he was a member of the expert jury of the "Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany".