Exhibition designers are creative professionals who plan the layout and put together the furniture and other elements that make up a public display or exhibition. Visual displays for conventions or trade shows are created by exhibition designers. Exhibition design is also used in the lobbies of office buildings, art galleries, and museums to create displays.
The exhibition designer, like any other creative profession, must be able to create a visually appealing display that will attract attention. The exhibitions are created by employing the use of color, texture, placement, and scale to create a setting that helps to attract and hold attention long enough for the exhibition’s purpose to be accomplished. The exhibition designer will employ a wide range of materials in order to achieve the desired result.
Because exhibitions are used in a variety of settings, a skilled exhibition designer will consider both the exhibition’s physical setting and its intended purpose. If the designer is asked to create a display for a trade show that will draw attention to a specific product, for example, he or she will come up with inventive ways to incorporate elements that are related to the product. This could include incorporating the packaging’s color scheme into the display, as well as visual images related to the product’s uses. Anyone attending the trade show may be enticed by the display’s layout to enter the exhibition area and interact with the display’s components in some way.
The typical exhibition designer is involved in all stages of the production. The designer will work with clients to determine the colors and materials that will be used in the final design, starting with the creation of a basic design plan. It’s not uncommon for the designer to assess and order materials and components for the final design, as well as supervise the assembly and setup of the components. In some cases, the exhibition designer is also involved in deciding where the display will be placed on the conference floor.
An exhibition designer may be part of a larger group of professionals who create designs for clients on a project-by-project basis. Designers can also work as independent contractors, collaborating directly with clients to create displays for specific events. Some exhibition designers work as permanent employees of companies, creating new displays for use in corporate offices and at trade shows and conventions where the company interacts with current and potential clients.