Kraemer Design + Production (KD+P) is seeking an mid-career Exhibit Designer to help create imaginative, educational, and highly engaging visitor experiences for children’s museums, science centers, nature centers, visitor centers, and family-focused attractions. KD+P specializes in interactive experiential exhibit design and production, supporting projects from concept design through installation, including interpretive environments, graphics, lighting, media, cabinetry, special effects, and hands-on interactive components.
The Exhibit Designer will translate client content, educational goals, and audience needs into memorable, durable, and buildable exhibit experiences. This role is ideal for a creative designer who enjoys storytelling through space, play, physical interaction, visual communication, and collaborative problem solving.
Key Responsibilities
- Serve as a primary point of contact for clients
- Develop exhibit concepts that transform client content into engaging, family-centered experiences with clear visitor takeaways.
- Create sketches, mood boards, spatial studies, 2D layouts, 3D models, renderings, and presentation materials that communicate design intent.
- Design hands-on interactives that are intuitive, durable, safe, inclusive, and appropriate for children, caregivers, school groups, and multigenerational audiences.
- Collaborate with project managers, content developers, graphic designers, media designers, architects, fabricators, engineers, and client stakeholders throughout the design process.
- Support master planning, concept design, schematic design, detail design, and production documentation phases.
- Integrate interpretive goals, learning objectives, visitor flow, accessibility, ergonomics, materials, finishes, lighting, graphics, audio, media, and fabrication considerations into cohesive exhibit environments.
- Prepare design documentation, including plans, elevations, sections, details, material references, interactive descriptions, and fabrication notes.
- Participate in client presentations, design reviews, charrettes, internal critiques, and coordination meetings.
- Prototype, test, and refine interactive ideas as needed to improve usability, visitor engagement, durability, and educational impact.
- Coordinate with fabrication partners to ensure design intent is maintained while adapting to budget, schedule, material, and constructability requirements.
- Review shop drawings, samples, mockups, and installed conditions for consistency with the approved design.
- Stay current on museum, attraction, play, learning, accessibility, and interactive design trends.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in exhibit design, industrial design, environmental design, architecture, interior design, themed entertainment design, museum studies, graphic design, or a related field; equivalent professional experience will also be considered.
- Professional portfolio demonstrating strong conceptual thinking, visual storytelling, spatial design, and hands-on or experiential design work.
- Experience developing visitor-centered environments, exhibits, interactives, themed spaces, educational environments, play environments, or public-facing attractions.
- Strong sketching, visualization, layout, and presentation skills.
- Working knowledge of 2D and 3D design tools such as Adobe Creative Suite, SketchUp, Rhino, Revit, AutoCAD, Vectorworks, SolidWorks, or similar software.
- Ability to design within real-world constraints, including budgets, schedules, fabrication methods, maintenance needs, accessibility, safety, and durability.
- Strong communication skills with the ability to explain design ideas clearly to internal teams, clients, and fabrication partners.
- Detail-oriented approach with the ability to move between big-picture concept development and practical production documentation.
- Ability to manage multiple assignments, meet deadlines, respond to feedback, and contribute in a collaborative studio environment.
Preferred Experience
- Experience designing exhibits for children’s museums, science centers, nature centers, visitor centers, aquariums, zoos, libraries, cultural institutions, or family entertainment venues.
- Understanding of child development, family learning, informal education, universal design, ADA accessibility, and visitor behavior.
- Experience with mechanical, low-tech, digital, media-based, sensory, role-play, water, air, light, sound, motion, or cause-and-effect interactives.
- Knowledge of materials, finishes, cabinetry, casework, graphics, lighting, audiovisual systems, and exhibit fabrication techniques.
- Experience participating in design charrettes, stakeholder workshops, client presentations, and interdisciplinary project meetings.
- Experience coordinating with architects, contractors, engineers, fabricators, installers, educators, evaluators, and content experts.
What Success Looks Like
- You create exhibit ideas that are imaginative, hands-on, visitor-centered, educationally meaningful, and practical to build.
- You can turn complex content into simple, engaging, hands-on experiences that invite participation and discovery.
- You balance creativity with the realities of fabrication, installation, maintenance, safety, and client goals.
- You communicate visually and verbally with clarity, confidence, and flexibility.
- You contribute positively to a collaborative team culture and help projects move forward with thoughtful design solutions.
Work Style and Expectations
The Exhibit Designer should be comfortable working in a fast-moving, project-based studio where ideas are developed collaboratively and refined through feedback. This position requires curiosity, resourcefulness, humility, strong follow-through, and a willingness to solve design challenges at multiple scales—from the overall visitor journey to the touchpoint details of an individual interactive.
Application Materials
- Portfolio or work samples showing concept development, spatial design, interactive design, rendering, documentation, and completed project experience where available
- Brief note describing why you are interested in designing interactive family-focused experiences with KD+P
Equal Opportunity Statement
KD+P is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds and encourage candidates who bring different perspectives, experiences, and creative approaches to exhibit design.
Equal Opportunity Employer
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights (https://www.eeoc.gov/poster) notice from the Department of Labor.
