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Exhibition designer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Jennifer Jorgensen Ph.D.,

Chris Chapin

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical exhibition designer skills. We ranked the top skills for exhibition designers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 11.6% of exhibition designer resumes contained cad as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an exhibition designer needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 exhibition designer skills for your resume and career

1. CAD

Here's how exhibition designers use cad:

Initial concept hand sketches, CAD layout, 3D rendering and finished color renderings submitted for client approval.
Designed trade show exhibit structures in a multitude of configurations using VectorWorks 3D CAD software.

2. Design Concepts

Here's how exhibition designers use design concepts:

Communicated and presented design concepts to clients and vendors and created presentation materials that effectively communicated vision and goals.
Presented design concepts to private donors and senior executives

3. Concept Development

Concept development refers to the process of developing activities or ideas about a product or procedure in order to solve design issues or operational challenges. This is typically seen early in a design or engineering process in order to smooth out any details regarding the product's form and that all needs will be met by the current design.

Here's how exhibition designers use concept development:

Work at Company Furniture Lines Concept Development.

4. Design Development

Design development is used to refer to a number of positions and skills in a number of different industries. In the architectural world, Design Development is used to refer to an architectural plan that is already halfway or more done but needs further development, alteration, and testing. In the automotive industry, it refers to the skills necessary to create and develop new car, engine, and other designs, as well as to ensure that all designs are safe and effective.

Here's how exhibition designers use design development:

Provided superior services to clients from design development to construction documentation.
Collaborate on commercial interiors projects, conceptual and schematic design, design development and management of budgets and schedules.

5. Trade Shows

Here's how exhibition designers use trade shows:

Designed, produced and installed custom structural exhibits for commercial sales centers, trade shows and museums.
Designed custom exhibits and displays for trade shows and events.

6. Sketch

Here's how exhibition designers use sketch:

Initiated and oversaw development from initial concept sketch to final production, working closely with Chinese engineering and manufacturing vendors.
Developed handbags from initial sketch through final product including material sourcing, development of prototypes, sampling and technical specifications.

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7. Prototyping

Here's how exhibition designers use prototyping:

Assisted in the prototyping stage of various exhibits, while improving their design for better testing.
Developed customized user interaction models using object-oriented prototyping.

8. Technical Drawings

Here's how exhibition designers use technical drawings:

Conducted site surveys and maintained field measurements within technical drawings used by contractors during the building phase.
Create detailed technical drawings to realize concepts.

9. Shop Drawings

Here's how exhibition designers use shop drawings:

Reviewed shop drawings for accuracy, verify field measurements and conditions and assisted with subcontractor trade coordination.
Designed custom vanities and storage applications, reviewed and approved fabricator shop drawings.

10. Museum Exhibits

Here's how exhibition designers use museum exhibits:

Designed models and graphic renderings for museum exhibits and scientific publications of the vertebrate paleontology department.
Research, design and build museum exhibits.

11. Vectorworks

Here's how exhibition designers use vectorworks:

Designed final components and generated construction drawings using Illustrator and Vectorworks.
Produced space plans, concept renderings, specifications and design documents using AutoCAD, Vectorworks, Adobe Creative.

12. Signage

Here's how exhibition designers use signage:

Designed, produced, installed interpretive signage on a 1/3-mile long walkway along Red Mountain road cut.
Trained and supervised student and part-time workers to fabricate exhibition mounts, labels, and signage.

13. Design Process

The process by which a product is formed is referred to as the design process. It requires the conceptualization of what the product may look like in terms of aesthetics, what it will be made of and most importantly, what it will do. A design process puts this process in order so that the creation of the product is seamless and has the least amount of errors and slack while it is being made.

Here's how exhibition designers use design process:

Improved accuracy of design process by assuring that all drawings are completely drawn to scale using AutoCAD.
Manage the design process and collaborative development of projects related to the Exhibits Department.

14. Interactive Exhibits

Here's how exhibition designers use interactive exhibits:

Produced detailed drawings and specifications of floor plans, elevations, unique fixtures, architectural elements, and mechanical interactive exhibits.
Developed, designed, fabricated and installed temporary, permanent and interactive exhibits for the Kansas Museum of History.

15. Adobe Photoshop

Here's how exhibition designers use adobe photoshop:

Designed illustrations using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to explain medical and pharmaceutical concepts.
Designed personalized custom phone cases utilizing Adobe Photoshop and 3D sublimation hardware.

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What skills help Exhibition Designers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on exhibition designer resumes?

Dr. Jennifer Jorgensen Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The retail industry is robust and requires many skills. Content and industry-related knowledge are essential, including comfort with computer applications like Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Excel. Beyond knowledge of the industry, job candidates need excellent communication skills in written and oral forms. It's also highly recommended that job candidates have work experience in their area of interest, which could include an internship, job shadow, or part-time position.

What exhibition designer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Chris Chapin

Professor and Chair, Kansas City Art Institute

I would recommend they take this time to learn and practice new digital tools of the Product Design field. The expectation, once they enter the profession, is that they will already be up to speed on the tools. I advise students to research their target employers and become familiar with the ways in which they work. This pandemic period is a great opportunity for students and graduates to round out their skills, knowledge, and professional perspective via online-course offerings. There is also no guarantee that a job will be waiting for them. In which case, it is best if they are prepared to create their own career starts with a spirit of persistence and entrepreneurship.

What type of skills will young exhibition designers need?

Bennie F. Johnson

Executive Director, AIGA, the professional association for design

Our Design Futures research from 2018 covered this topic in some detail. Some highlights of needed skills include an understanding of business models, complex systems, and data. One of the seven Design Futures trends is "Bridging Physical and Digital Experiences," which has become even more important in a COVID world. Of course, mastering craft and specific tools remain important, especially for entry-level work, but so is a general ability to "learn how to learn," as the rate of technical change (and obsolescence) is only getting faster.

In May of 2020, AIGA conducted an industry pulse check survey around the impact of COVID-19 on the design community and found, not surprisingly, that adaptability skills continue to be the most critical for design professionals, and collaboration made the list of top five skills for the first time.

What hard/technical skills are most important for exhibition designers?

Vibhavari Jani

Associate Professor, Kansas State University

Ability to master various software: Revit, Rhyno, Sketchup, 3D rendering software (Enscape and Lunion), BIM.

Do you want to know more?

List of exhibition designer skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for an exhibition designer resume and required skills for an exhibition designer to have include:

CAD
Design Concepts
Concept Development
Design Development
Trade Shows
Sketch
Prototyping
Technical Drawings
Shop Drawings
Museum Exhibits
Vectorworks
Signage
Design Process

Interactive Exhibits
Adobe Photoshop
Construction Drawings
Solidworks
Photography
Design Intent
Exhibit Space
Environmental Design
Exhibit Components
Natural History
Aquarium
Space Planning
Fine Arts

CNC
Text Panels
Design Presentations
Scale Models
Promotional Materials
Client Relations
Art Direction
NYC
Client Presentations
PowerPoint
Layout Design
Assembly Drawings

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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Exhibition Designer Skills

Updated January 8, 2025

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