# Project Description GROWinK Peerasin Punxh Hutaphaet Summary Final work Awards Winner | Maison/0 Green Trail Winner | MullenLowe NOVA Awards 2025 Punch is a Material Explorer and Visual Ecologist who merges science, design, and art to reveal the hidden potentials of natural and regenerative materials. With a diverse background that spans science, politics, and sustainable design, Punch investigates how materials can exist in symbiosis with ecosystems rather than harm them. Their work challenges traditional human-centered perspectives, creating visual stories that celebrate biodiversity and promote ecological balance. By integrating biological processes into innovative design practices, Punch fosters regenerative solutions that nurture both the environment and human experience. Committed to bridging disciplines, Punch’s practice cultivates a deeper connection between materiality and nature, inspiring sustainable futures rooted in ecological harmony. Punch is a Material Explorer and Visual Ecologist Show more College Central Saint Martins Course MA Material Futures Graduation year 2025 GROWinK merges CMYK inkjet technology with fungi and bacteria, turning prints into self-decomposing, regenerative mediums. From posters to textiles, these prints evolve and return to the earth. Unlike petroleum-based inks, GROWinK’s natural pigments—derived from fungal growth cycles—eliminate harmful chemicals and harmonize with the natural world. Every year, billions of square meters of printed materials, often made with petroleum-based inks, end up in landfills, contributing to environmental damage and biodiversity loss. These inks, loaded with toxic chemicals, are non-biodegradable and exacerbate the climate crisis. But what if prints could become agents of regeneration rather than pollution? Within the ink are dormant bacterial spores that activate in humid or landfill-like environments. Once awakened, these spores break down synthetic polymers and return them to the soil as nutrients, mimicking natural cycles, supporting biodiversity through mycoremediation, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As a designer, this project expands my role from creating static visuals to fostering a regenerative ecosystem. GROWinK encourages visual communities to swap chemical dyes for living ink, promoting social and environmental regeneration. It challenges the notion that print must be permanent and wasteful, instead turning communication into a regenerative cycle that nourishes the earth. GROWinK is more than ink—it’s a biological interface for sustainability. more detail : www.growink.co.uk Final work View Gallery View Gallery SYMBIOSIS OF FUNGI AND BACTERIA Fungi and bacteria are two of Earth’s oldest life forms, working together in deep, invisible partnerships that keep nature in balance. Fungi—like mushrooms, molds, and yeasts—act as nature’s recyclers, breaking down dead matter and forming underground networks that nourish plant life. Bacteria, tiny single-celled organisms found everywhere from soil to our own bodies, play key roles in transforming air, waste, and organic matter into usable nutrients. In symbiosis, fungi offer structure and shelter through their thread-like networks, while bacteria break down complex materials into simpler forms fungi can absorb. Together, they form a living system that bridges life and death—breaking down what once lived to feed what comes next. This quiet collaboration is not just about decay or growth, but about sustaining the continuous, regenerative cycle of life on Earth. FUNGI EMBODY COLOR MYCO is an innovative fungi-based ink system developed within the GROWinK project. Inspired by the natural stages of fungal growth—from spores to mycelium to fruiting bodies—MYCO creates vibrant, natural colors that replicate the traditional CMYK model without relying on petroleum-based chemicals. This breakthrough transforms printing into a sustainable, regenerative process, perfectly aligned with GROWinK’s vision of eco-friendly, living ink. BACTERIA EMBODY DECAY Bacillus subtilis is a type of bacteria that looks like a small rod and stains positive in a special test called Gram stain. It is commonly found in soil and inside the stomachs of humans and animals. Sometimes, it’s called hay bacillus or grass bacillus. This bacteria can make strong, protective spores that help it survive tough conditions like heat or dryness. It moves using tiny tails called flagella and produces an enzyme called catalase. Scientists often study Bacillus subtilis because it can make useful enzymes and change into different forms, especially spores. LIVING PRINTS THAT RETURN TO NATURE Growink begins as a familiar object — a printed poster, a leaflet, a label — but embedded within it is something radically different: life. Each print carries living organisms, held in suspension within fungal ink. They remain dormant, waiting silently beneath the surface. This print has purpose beyond the moment it communicates — it is designed to vanish, to decay, and to give back. When the print is no longer needed and finds its way to soil, the transformation begins. Natural environmental conditions — moisture from rain, warmth from sunlight, the right level of pH and exposure to microbes — act as triggers. These conditions wake the dormant bacteria embedded in the ink. Once active, they begin to release enzymes that break down synthetic polymers — cutting complex plastic molecules into simpler, biodegradable forms. What was once a communication tool becomes a host for decomposition, feeding the earth instead of harming it. This is not just a material — it’s a living cycle. From the soil, to message, and back again. Growink challenges the idea that print must be permanent to be powerful. It reimagines communication as something ephemeral, purposeful, and regenerative. In a world overwhelmed by waste, this system offers a quiet alternative: a print that disappears on time. A message that completes its life with dignity, by nourishing the place it came from. Research and process View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery Share this project GROWinK merges CMYK inkjet technology with fungi and bacteria, turning prints into self-decomposing, regenerative mediums. From posters to textiles, these prints evolve and return to the earth. Unlike petroleum-based inks, GROWinK’s natural pigments—derived from fungal growth ... 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