The Eye

This Blood Drive Campaign Drops the A’s, B’s, and O’s From Global Brands and Landmarks

Missing Type Campaign_USA Route 66
R ute 66.

Missing Type

Last year the U.K.’s NHS Blood and Transplant launched the Missing Type campaign in England and North Wales to help sign up new blood donors and reverse a steep decline in donations by removing the A’s, B’s, and O’s from corporate logos and familiar landmarks.

Bondi Beach
“Bondi Beach” lifeguards from the North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club in Australia.

Missing Type

Reds Flypasy over Albania
The Royal Air Force.

Missing Type

Abbey Road - NHS Blood and Transplant
London’s Abbey Road.

Missing Type

A survey by the NHS Blood and Transplant reported a 30 percent drop in donors worldwide in the past decade. On Aug. 16 the campaign went global, with blood services in 21 countries around the world participating.

Missing Type Campaign - BAFTA
BAFTA in London’s Piccadilly.

Missing Type

A NHS Blood and Transport Missing Type blood van.

 

Ian Enness

Table Mountain
Table Mountain in South Africa.

Missing Type

Crucial vowels representing the main blood groups have gone dark in thousands of brand logos, storefronts, and online, with name-brand corporations such as Google and Microsoft helping demonstrate the need for donations of all types of blood. It’s a clever, subtle, cost-effective effort that is a reminder that sometimes the most powerful design gesture is one that tweaks expectations by stripping something away, rather than creating more visual noise in a cacophonous world.