What is the technique?
Thermochromics inks or dyes are temperature sensitive compounds, developed in the 1970s, that temporarily change colour with exposure to heat. They come in two forms, liquid crystals and leuco dyes. The colours of thermochromics inks will disappear when heat is applied on the surface.
What are the relevant materials needed for the technique?
- Thermochromics inks
- Fabrics to be printed on
- Silk screen & squeegee
- Screen printing medium
- mask
- Acrylic paint (optional)
How to achieve technique?
It is pretty straightforward with thermochromics inks. It is an ink that can be applied on different surfaces; when printing it on fabrics, it needs to be mixed with a fabric medium to preserve the colour and the softness of fabric; acrylic paint can be added to achieve new colours.
What are the uses and applications of the technique?
Thermochromics ink could be applied to a wide range of products, such as mugs, clothes, packaging and etc. One of the popular examples is the mood ring, invented by Joshua Reynolds.
Experiment
Personal Reflection
I feel that thermochromics inks do add variation into the design. By adding acrylic colour into the thermochromics inks, you could get a new colour to display at normal temperature. The heat would only make the thermochromics inks disappear and reveal the added acrylic. It has potential to be developed into more interesting design if we play with combination of different patterns and colours.