The Alabama Bicentennial was a once in a lifetime opportunity for all Alabamians to experience the full, wildly unexpected story of our state. When preparing for this momentous occasion, the Alabama Humanities Foundation approached Tatum Design for a visioning exercise. We were tasked with creating a concept for an educational traveling exhibit. As we often do, we explored creative possibilities beyond what anyone had previously imagined. We believed that the Alabama Bicentennial was a pivotal, defining moment in our state — a milestone worthy of a celebration that would make history.

Through this guiding vision and the partnership of the foundation, Tatum Design created Making Alabama: A Bicentennial Traveling Exhibit and the Making Alabama Brand Campaign. Our firm was incredibly honored to lead this historic initiative and monumental celebration of Alabama history and heritage. We are the exclusive designers, artists and authors of all components of the exhibit and campaign. Every creative element from the name, logo, artwork, illustrations, posters, ads, outdoor boards, merchandise and branded vehicles to the oversize murals, interactive timelines and festival experience was designed and developed by our team.

The traveling exhibit traces the full sweep of Alabama history from the Age of Exploration and American settlement to the Civil War, Civil Rights Movement and Space Age. The objective was to immerse explorers of all ages in Alabama history like never before with interactive touchpoints and larger-than-life-artwork. We organized centuries of Alabama history into eight distinctive eras, named the time periods and created custom branded collages and immersive timelines for each one. The collages were designed for flexible usage, allowing us to extend the brand visuals to a variety of educational, tourism and advertising mediums. We implemented a comprehensive brand campaign to support and promote the traveling exhibit. Our branded materials helped secure 70 locations and recruit more than 700 volunteers statewide. Welcome to the visual story and journey of a truly historic exhibit and initiative that has reached more than 250,000 people across our state. This is one of our proudest, most meaningful legacies not only as Alabamians but as creatives.