I’m Bodil, a book and identity designer from Trondheim, Norway, holding a PhD in Typography & Graphic Communication from the University of Reading. My research interest concentrates on the verbal and visual presentation of health messages on food labels dating from 1850 to 1970. Please read my blog and have a look at my work. Feel free to get in touch if you think there is something I can do for you. Get in touch ›
– a blog about my work, research, ideas, typography and passion for books.
Postgraduate research communication success. Congratulations to postgraduate researcher Bodil Mostad Olsen who has won the University’s prize for research communication in a poster competition, held as part of the University’s annual Doctoral Research Conference. Bodil’s communication of her research topic – the history of health communication on food labels – was judged top among a very competitive field of posters representing research across a wide range of arts, science and social science disciplines. Her poster illustrates her collections-based research. It shows the changing influences of scientific understanding of food hygiene and nutrition, food packaging technology, and societal change on the presentation of food to consumers from 1850–1970. This area of typographic and graphic communication practice, although influential in people’s everyday decision-making, has not been considered previously from this wide, contextual perspective.
PHD RESEARCH | I am identifying the visual organisation of typical graphic characteristics in food labels and presenting the observations as infographics. It considers the typographical hierarchy and the presentation and style of images, including how usage has changed over time.
PHD RESEARCH | Nice to be in the Department at this time of the year. Just finished my second research paper Working towards a definition of “Health message”, which is presented as part of a research seminar in the Department.
PHD | Very happy and very grateful, receiving 100 000,- NOK regarding my PhD and research of food labels from 1850 with a particular focus on health messages.
PHD | Workshop and talks regarding the ephemera of food packaging at the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, University of Reading 28 November 2018. Michael Twyman, Alison Black, Guy Baxter, Julie-Anne Lambert and myself. Great inspiration and fascinating exhibition showing food-related ephemera and books.
PHD RESEARCH | Talking about my food label project so far, how I am working in order to get a better understanding of verbal and pictorial narratives that are relevant to health. Here giving an explanation of nutrition claims, health claims and terms.
Research seminar at the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, University of Reading, 17 May 2018.
PHD RESEARCH | Working on my seminar paper; A study of front-of-package food labels, with particular reference to use of the term ‘pure’, a part of the research seminar at the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication, University of Reading, 17 May 2018.
Today there are contested opinions about the impact of nutrition and health claims on front-of-package food labels on consumer behaviour. To understand the integration and the reasons for these claims, an understanding of the historical context is necessary. As part of my research project, which involves a diachronic study of food labels in Britain from 1850–1970, this seminar paper will draw attention to the term ‘Pure’ and analyse how the word is presented on labels taking account of the context in which they were produced.
