TCM Backlot, the official fan club for devotees of Turner Classic Movies, launched at the TCM Classic Film Festival in April 2016. My connection with the club actually started a few months earlier when, in February 2016, I visited the TCM headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia for a tour. My host was none other than Yacov Freedman, the newly appointed manager of TCM Backlot. Shortly after my trip, Yacov asked me to be a beta tester for the new fan club's website. He also asked me to be the first "Member Spotlight" featured on the site. Needless to say, I was thrilled by both opportunities!
As the year progressed and my friends also joined TCM Backlot, I was able to share in a full range of club benefits with my fellow TCM fans. I was fortunate enough to win an assortment of TCM-branded merchandise, receive some fantastic discounts, and even take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Virginia. I also contributed this article to the TCM Backlot website about my trip to the Donna Reed Museum in Denison, Iowa.
To commemorate all the fun I had during my first year with TCM Backlot, I designed an original social media campaign highlighting some of the wonderful club benefits my friends and I experienced over 2016. I truly consider my TCM Backlot membership a gift that keeps on giving, so it only seemed appropriate to use a gift package as the core visual element in my design series. To tie my graphics back to the club's branding, I incorporated a mix of colors from the TCM Backlot logo palette into the gift's wrapping paper and ribbon. In the open portion of the package, I placed animated GIFs and image slideshows that I created to showcase assorted club benefits like special membership events and exclusive online videos.
In case you missed any of my designs on Twitter when I originally posted them last December, you can see my entire TCM Backlot series in the gallery below. To view my other film-inspired designs, you can look on my Twitter page, read through some of the project recaps on my blog, or explore the "Work" section of my website.
As you can see in my design series above, TCM Backlot is a fan club brimming with fantastic perks and opportunities to connect with the TCM community in a unique way. If you are looking for the perfect present for the classic film fan in your life, consider giving the gift of TCM Backlot membership. You can even take advantage of this special holiday offer from TCM.
To TCM, the #TCMParty community, and Yacov Freedman, I would like to say a huge "thank you" for all of the likes and retweets of my TCM Backlot series. As I explore my passion for film through my work as an artist and designer, I am so grateful for your support! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.