Rose Blake, Yee Poon and Coco Lom flush out “poo taboos” with stool chart rebrand

25 years after the Bristol Stool Chart, a diagram for assessing the seven types of stool, was first drawn up, Health and wellness retailer Holland & Barrett has given the chart an illustrated makeover. Calling on artists and illustrators Rose Blake, Yee Poon and Coco Lom, the retailer has released the Beautiful Stool Chart after research revealed that 60 per cent of UK adults are too embarrassed to talk about gut health, a release explains.

For the chart’s second version – or version number two – Rose Blake has created a playful and highly approachable illustrated work, which will be displayed in Holland & Barrett stores across the country throughout February. Yee Poon’s artwork, featuring anthropomorphic poos, will be displayed online alongside gut and health tips. Elsewhere, artist and designer Coco Lom took a more abstract approach, using colourful patterns and shapes to illustrate textural differences between the seven stool types.

“To be asked to create an artwork highlighting gut health was certainly an unusual project for me,” states Coco Lom, “but the issue is not so unusual for many people in their daily lives and I hope my Beautiful Stool Chart will encourage people to think about their gut and seek advice if they need to.”

With the illustrated project, Holland & Barrett aims to kick-start a national conversation around the importance of gut health, following research revealing that nearly three-quarters of the population (72 per cent) have experienced gut health problems, but nearly half (44 per cent) do nothing about it. Dr Subashini M, director of science, health and wellness at Holland & Barrett comments: “Whilst talking about poo is a taboo subject for many people, we’re hoping that making it beautiful will prompt people to think about their gut health, identify if they have any issues, and consider how best to manage them.”