Photograph showing a billboard in a busy New York street, featuring the names Seth and Stewart joined in the middle with the letter 'S'

Blood cancer charity launches simple yet profound campaign

Gift of Life is appealing to potential donors with graphics that underline the lifelong bond between donors and patients

DDB and Unsaid Studio have collaborated on a design-led campaign for blood cancer charity Gift of Life, which is on a mission to cure blood cancer through cellular therapy.

Each iteration features two names which share a letterform at the end of one name and the start of another. The two names are joined in the middle by one single letter that acts as a graphic palindrome: S, H, and M and W.

Photograph of white billboards in Times Square, which read the names Wayne and Marina joined by the letter 'M' and 'W', and another that reads 'Be a donor', and another containing a URL
Photograph of large outdoor posters attached to a skyscraper, which feature the names Marina and Wayne, and Seth and Stewart
Photograph of a newspaper insert featuring the names Wayne and Marina joined in the middle by the letters 'M' and 'W'

By linking the names together, the campaign illustrates the bond formed between bone marrow or stem cell donors and the patients receiving potentially lifesaving donations.

The campaign is appearing in print and has also run in OOH locations, including a spot in New York’s Times Square. The stark black and white designs have also been brought to life with motion for digital executions.

Graphic showing three white posters with the names Wayne and Marina joined at the middle, Seth and Stewart joined by the letter 'S', and Hailey and Harvey joined by the letter 'H'

“One of the primary challenges was to effectively convey the delicate and serious subject matter with taste and elegance,” said Tom Alex Buch, ECD at Unsaid Studio. “The simplicity of the work meant that there was no room to hide, the animation had to be flawless.”

The work shows how blood donations don’t just create the gift of life, but a gift for life, too.

ddb.com; unsaidstudio.com