Thermochromorph: Dynamic Relief Printing with Thermochromic Inks
Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques Asia (SIGGRAPH) 2024
(conditionally accepted)
I worked with the MIT CSAIL Human Computer Interaction lab run by Stefanie Mueller under the supervision of Ticha Sethapakdi as an undergraduate researcher on a project designing dynamic artistic prints. My work uses Ticha's design software Thermochromorph to generate printing block patterns for relief printing with thermochromic ink. This printing method allows two entirely different images to be printed on top of each other, with only one showing based on the temperature.
technology and the evolution of a medium
I wanted to investigate ways that printing with thermochromic ink could add a new dimension to block printing as a medium. I decided to look at the history of printing and how technology has impacted what people use it to express.
I found it interesting how, with new abilities to produce prints at greater scales or quantities, its primary purpose has shifted multiple times. While once used for limited prints of fine art, as seen in Hokusai's original prints, as the medium became easier to automate, people were able to produce more consumer kinds of goods like wallpaper. Then, with ever increasing efficiency, it became viable to print images that could be used for wide-spread communication like in newspapers or comic books.
I wanted to traverse this history of printmaking with thermochromic prints that suggest yet another direction for the medium to move. With Hokusai's print I depicted the mountain before the sun rose, only seeing the fleeting sunrise when its heated. For the Morris wallpaper I drew the flowers closed, only blooming when the walls have warmed from the daytime sun. Lastly, I included two frames from a Batman comic, showing a dynamic action that literally occurs when things get heated.
creating images using thermochromorph
I also proposed the addition of black outlines to the thermochromorph prints. The software generates cyan, magenta, yellow, and black dot patterns for CMYK printing with laser cut blocks. While I was looking at the history of printing, I noticed that sometimes black outlines were printed on top of these CMYK dots to create a more distinct shape.
I created these outlines using Adobe Illustrator to give a more sharp feel to certain important outlines in each of my prints. The end result worked nicely to define the shapes in the rainbow of colors produced by thermochromorph.
creating the prints in layers
yellow
+ magenta
+ cyan
+ black outline
I produced each of the prints myself with the blocks generated by thermochromorph. Each print required eight blocks, four for the "hot" and four for the "cold" images. I used thermochromic ink made from pigments that Ticha had found mixed with block printing ink medium.
These prints served as examples of potential applications of Thermochromorph in Ticha's final paper.