Inks that change their colour under certain
circumstances are increasingly applied in the
field of security printing, brand protection,
smart packaging, marketing and novelty print-ing. Starting with novelty items such as mood
rings in 1970s, more and more applications
are entering the market in which thermochro-mic (TC) ink become a functional part of the
product. Battery testers are an example of such
a product. Smart packages with an irreversible
thermochromic colour change could prove the
observance of the required temperature condi-tions during storage or transportation of sensi-tive goods such as heat-sensitive pharmaceuti-cals or frozen food (Seeboth and Lötzsch, 2008).
Smart materials also interest artists and design-ers inspired by possibilities for the development
of new creative design directions towards in-teraction, response and ultimate functionality
(Christie et all, 2007).Colour change technology
thus offers designers unique and challenging
design opportunities.