A Guide to Exhibition Design

The principles, the process and the people behind an exhibition that works, from brief to opening day.

This guide walks through exhibition design from the first brief to the day after opening. It covers what goes in the brief, how visitors really behave, the principles that hold and who leads each stage. Use the brief table and the stage chart to plan your next museum show or trade fair stand.

Exhibition design is the design of a sequence. It shapes the meetings between visitors and content in a space. It works when the brief, the visitor and the build are designed together.

Most failures trace back to a skipped step or a person left out. So this guide sets out each step, what it needs and who owns it. It applies to museums and trade fairs alike.

What exhibition design is

People have always set things out for others to see, from a shelf at home to a sacred building. Ibrahim Al Balushi's short introduction to exhibition design (2020) opens with that instinct. It inspired this guide. The essay sums up the first two chapters of Philip Hughes's book Exhibition Design (2nd edition, Laurence King, 2015).

The work is to arrange content so visitors meet it in an order that makes an argument. It covers museum galleries and trade fair stands. Al Balushi notes that the gap between public and commercial exhibition work keeps shrinking.

The exhibition brief

In Al Balushi's summary of Hughes, the chapter on the brief opens with one line. "The mark of a successful brief is a successful creative project," it reads.

The summary draws seven parts of a brief from the book. They are objectives, key messages and outcomes, and a master plan of visitor routes. Then come marketing and related events, content and assets, and costing. The last part covers other details, from sustainability and legal needs to site facts and access needs.

Most briefs still miss three things. They lack one goal that can be measured, a named person who decides and dates for each approval. A brief is ready when a designer can argue with it. For stands, see how to brief an exhibition stand designer.

• Objective: One measurable objective
• Messages: Three key messages and what visitors should leave knowing
• Audience: Who comes, why and for how long
• Route: The master plan of routes and the order of content
• Marketing: Launches, events and press tied to the exhibition
• Content: Objects, products, media and text, each with an owner
• Budget: A figure or range, and what it includes
• Site and rules: Plan, dimensions, loads, power, access, legal limits
• Sustainability: Reuse and disposal targets
• Decision-maker: One name
• Approval dates: Concept, design, drawings, opening

Designing for the visitor

Start with why people come. Al Balushi's summary sorts visitors by interest into four types. They are the expert, the frequent traveler, the scout and the orienteer.

John Falk's Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience (2009) sorts them by motive instead. His five groups are explorers, facilitators, experience seekers, professionals and hobbyists, and rechargers. Each group wants a different route and pace.

Then plan for limited attention. Beverly Serrell tracked and timed visitors at 110 educational exhibitions. On average, 26% of visitors stopped at more than half the elements. She set 51% as the mark of an exhibition used with rare thoroughness.

Stephen Bitgood's attention-value model shows how attention moves. It is first captured, then focused, then engaged. What drives it is the value visitors expect for their effort.

One common idea needs correcting. Some say each person learns best by seeing, hearing or doing.

Pashler and colleagues (2008) found no good evidence that matching content to such learning styles helps. Design for several senses because content and visitors vary, not to match a style. Trade fair visitors face the same limits, as what makes people stop at a booth shows.

Principles of exhibition design that hold

Narrative and route come first. The order is the argument, so plan it before the furniture. Then layer the content. Give a headline for the passer-by, a label for the curious and depth for the committed.

Keep sightlines and landmarks clear. Visitors should see where they are going, as Herbert Bayer showed when he designed for the visitor's field of vision. Pace the route with rest. Mix dense and open moments, and give people places to sit.

Light the content, not the room, and keep labels easy to read. Plan for access from the start. Heights, widths, contrast and seating are designed in, not added at the end.

The setting also carries the brand. Al Balushi compares two car stands with the same kind of product.

The Subaru stand at the 2019 New York International Auto Show felt adventurous. The Audi stand at IAA 2015 felt futuristic. Color, light and setting made the difference.

The Eameses showed how far space can carry an idea. Their show Mathematica explained mathematics with space.

The exhibition design process, stage by stage

• Brief. Deliverable: Signed brief. Leads: Client. Signs off: Decision-maker. Typical risk: No measurable objective.
• Research and content. Deliverable: Content list, visitor research. Leads: Curator or marketing lead, interpretive planner. Signs off: Client. Typical risk: Too much content.
• Concept. Deliverable: Route, story, sketches. Leads: Exhibition designer. Signs off: Client. Typical risk: Concept outruns budget.
• Design development. Deliverable: Layout, graphics, lighting, AV. Leads: Exhibition designer. Signs off: Client. Typical risk: Scope creep.
• Technical design. Deliverable: Production drawings, specifications. Leads: Designer and technical team. Signs off: Client; organizer and venue at fairs. Typical risk: Late approvals.
• Tender and fabrication. Deliverable: Comparable quotes, the build. Leads: Project manager, fabricator. Signs off: Client. Typical risk: Quotes on different assumptions.
• Installation and testing. Deliverable: Built exhibition, AV tested. Leads: Fabricator or stand builder. Signs off: Project manager. Typical risk: Short build-up.
• Opening. Deliverable: Snags closed, staff briefed. Leads: Project manager. Signs off: Client. Typical risk: Staff who cannot explain the content.
• Evaluation. Deliverable: Evaluation report, upkeep plan. Leads: Evaluator. Signs off: Client. Typical risk: No debrief.

Trade fairs add the organizer's deadlines, stand approval drawings and fixed build-up days. Builders need complete information at tender, as what your stand builder needs from you sets out.

The people

Each stage has a lead. Most projects need some or all of these roles.

• Client, curator or marketing lead: The objective and the content; leads the brief
• Exhibition designer: Concept and design development
• Interpretive planner and writer: Content layers and text
• Graphic designer: Type, wayfinding and graphics
• Lighting designer: Light for content, visitors and conservation
• AV and interactive designer: Media, screens and hands-on exhibits
• Project manager and cost consultant: Schedule, budget and estimates at each stage
• Fabricator or stand builder: Technical input, build and installation
• Mount-maker and conservator: In museums, how objects are held and protected
• Organizer and venue: At trade fairs, rules, approvals and build-up
• Access consultant: Reviews at concept and again before opening

Opening day and after

Before opening, close the snag list. Brief staff on the content and the route. After opening, watch visitors and time their stops.

Museums evaluate in three stages. Front-end studies come before design. Formative tests run during it. Summative studies follow the opening.

Hold a debrief, and feed it into the next brief.

For further reading, these eight books cover the field.

• Philip Hughes. Book: Exhibition Design: An Introduction. Year: 2015.
• David Dernie. Book: Exhibition Design. Year: 2006.
• Polly McKenna-Cress and Janet Kamien. Book: Creating Exhibitions. Year: 2013.
• Barry Lord and Maria Piacente, eds. Book: Manual of Museum Exhibitions. Year: 2014.
• Jan Lorenc, Lee Skolnick and Craig Berger. Book: What Is Exhibition Design?. Year: 2007.
• Beverly Serrell. Book: Paying Attention: Visitors and Museum Exhibitions. Year: 1998.
• John H. Falk. Book: Identity and the Museum Visitor Experience. Year: 2009.
• Stephen Bitgood. Book: Attention and Value. Year: 2013.

Start with a brief someone has argued with

Start every project with a brief that someone has argued with.

Frequently asked questions

What does an exhibition designer do?

An exhibition designer turns a brief into a route, a layout and a set of moments where visitors meet the content. They lead the concept and design development. Then they work with graphic, lighting and AV designers and the builder through drawings, build and installation.

What should an exhibition design brief include?

Include the objectives, key messages, a master plan of routes, marketing and related events, content and assets, and costing. Add site, legal, sustainability and access details. Then add one measurable objective, a named decision-maker and approval dates, so the designer knows what success looks like and who decides.

How is museum exhibition design different from trade show design?

Both arrange content in a sequence for visitors. Museum exhibitions run for months or years, with conservation, learning and evaluation built in. Trade fair stands follow an organizer's rules, fixed build-up days and short shows. Their goal is usually leads or stronger relationships with buyers.

How do you measure whether an exhibition works?

Track and time a sample of visitors. Note where they stop, for how long and how many elements they use. Beverly Serrell's diligent-visitor measure counts the share who stop at more than half the elements. Add visitor interviews and a debrief that feeds the next brief.

At the layout and drawing stage, Monet turns a venue plan and a brief into a to-scale layout in minutes. The same model gives 3D renders, walkthrough videos and production-ready plans and elevations, so the designer, the client and the builder all work from one set of drawings.