Thermochromic ink is an interesting medium and I wanted to use it to reveal a hidden message to educate an often ignored issue. I remember a year ago when I talked to my parents about mental disorders, they were obviously not very comfortable. It’s not a subject that we discuss often at home but I never understood why. I would normally talked about something else but that time I lingered on the topic longer, only to find out that my parents didn’t understand what mental disorder really is. Misunderstanding, in their case, led to fear and avoidance.

For this week I created a poster that normally only has a face with two eyes (no mouth) and the words “is real.” When the thermochromic ink is activated, the hidden message revealed: “Depression is real” and the face now has a sad expression. However, when I tested the poster with 9V battery, it doesn’t work, even though it works when I blew into it.