Invisible Ink investigates the potential of typography to act as a vessel for emotional expression and as a means of conveying the experiences of someone living with chronic autoimmune illness. Rooted in personal narrative and informed by autoethnographic reflection as well as practice-based research, this project draws on semiotics and form, embodiment and affect theory, fragmentation and trauma theory, and disability studies. It examines how typographic form can communicate what verbal or written language alone often fails to articulate, particularly experiences that are internal, unstable, or unseen.

At the center of this thesis is the creation of an original set of letterforms shaped by the fluctuating states of chronic illness, including fatigue, flare, fragmentation, and remission. The work translates non-verbal, embodied experience into a visual language that resists clarity and permanence.

The theoretical and practical strands of this research culminate in a thesis exhibition, which invites viewers to witness what is so often hidden about autoimmune disorder, and consider how typography can assist in making this legible. Ultimately, this thesis will contribute to the field of design by challenging the boundaries between form and feeling, research and storytelling. It suggests how typography can be more than a carrier of words— it can be a witness to pain and a tool for making the invisible visible.

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