Anyone who has seen a loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia knows how harrowing it can be to watch their memories fade.
But it’s hard to accurately understand the lived experiences of those facing memory loss from their point of view, relying only on our love for them to paint a picture of their fractured reality.
So, Rachel Arthur, founder of nonprofit Scottish publisher Boom Saloon, embarked on a journey to make memory loss feel more real.
Alongside her “adopted gran,” Maggie Watson, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Vascular Dementia in 2021, Arthur created “4,4,4&2,” a first-of-its-kind cookbook printed with disappearing ink.
The book is named after a shorthand Watson created to remember a sponge cake recipe: Four ounces of butter, four ounces of sugar, four ounces of flour, and two eggs. Resembling a cookbook, “4,4,4&2” contains handwritten recipes, scribbled notes, and a lifetime of clippings and childhood photos, bound by two rings and a folder of artifacts.
What makes it different from a keepsake scrapbook is that all of the contents are printed in a disappearing ink that fades from exposure to the light and air.
The book is printed in monochrome purple on uncoated paper. The disappearing ink was developed in-house by Boom Saloon, in a process Arthur said involved multiple broken printers.
“The disappearing ink is more than a design choice — it’s a visceral, visual representation of how dementia affects memory and identity over time,” Arthur said in a statement. “Each book is a living, evolving piece that challenges how we understand and empathize with the dementia journey.”
Dementia is a form of cognitive decline, most often caused by Alzheimer’s disease, but it can be brought on by many medical conditions and is typically associated with aging. The condition affects memory, thinking, language, mood, behavior, and motor control, which made it difficult for Watson to fully participate in the creation of the book.
“Developing the work together was highly personal,” Arthur told Dezeen. “Her inability to create the scrap cookbook we’d always planned to was one of the first signs that something was wrong.”
“It was through the learnings we uncovered during our research that we became tooled with the knowledge to push for a diagnosis for Maggie, after multiple doctors and medical experts passed her off as nothing more than a forgetful old woman.”
Arthur hopes that “4,4,4&2,” can “reshape public perceptions of the condition.” Along with a pre-order run of the book, launch events in the United Kingdom will aim to “engage communities, policymakers and care providers in conversations around dementia care and the importance of preserving lived experience.”
“Dementia is the leading cause of death in the UK, yet public understanding remains woefully limited,” Arthur said. “Our work aims to bridge that gap, using art, storytelling and innovative design to elevate the voices of those living with dementia and foster a more compassionate, informed society.”
In addition to the chronicling of Watson’s experiences, the publication is also a culmination of years of research and development, alongside others with dementia. The idea is to create a format in which their experiences with the disease are relayed as similarly as they really unfold.
“As public perception remains clouded by fear, stigma, and sensationalized headlines, those diagnosed — and those who care for them — are often left feeling voiceless and without agency to affect change,” a statement from Boom Saloon shared.
The book is designed to be about the same size as the average human brain (though rectangular), and with no marks distinguishing one copy from another.
To delay the fading process, each copy of the book remains sealed until its owner unwraps it.
“This slows down the change but does not stop it fully. Many of our advance copies remain unopened in hopes they will not disappear,” Arthur explained to Dezeen.
“Sadly, much like dementia itself, the process cannot be entirely halted. Instead, ‘4,4,4&2’ commands us to better understand it and, vitally, the role we can play to support the dementia journey.”
The disappearing ink also deteriorates differently in every printing of the book, depending on the various levels of exposure and use it receives, mirroring the unique and individual experience of every single person with dementia.
“The publication mimics the complex and highly personal degeneration of the brain, which can take place during the dementia journey,” Arthur told Dezeen. “Each copy warps, fades and jumbles in a wholly unique manner, reflecting the individualized degeneration of the brain throughout the dementia journey.”
Readers are also encouraged to photograph the pages, write over them, or share them to preserve what is inside, similar to the role of caregivers and loved ones.
“A copy which is closed and nestled between other books on a shelf will fade wholly differently to one which is left splayed open, mirroring the effects that human interaction and care can have on a person with dementia themselves,” Arthur told Design Week.
“Some of the pages within the book can fade in less than a day; others could last for many months. You will not be able to tell by looking what to expect, just as there are no visual markers for what lies ahead in any person’s own dementia journey.”
Ultimately, Arthur and her co-creators hope the publication acts as more of a “call to action” than a traditional book, urging readers to see beyond what they know about dementia and connect with the people behind the condition.
“This publication is as much an act of design as it is of care,” Arthur told Design Week.
“It forces us to reframe our understanding of books as static objects, and instead positions them as temporal, evolving vessels for experience and increasing empathy and understanding of others.”
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Header image courtesy of Boom Saloon
