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Creative job · Craft & making
Exhibition designer
Exhibition designers choreograph how people move through ideas. Light, rhythm, pause — they design the walk, and the walk is the story.
What do they actually do?
An exhibition designer designs the journey through a story. On a typical week they might:
Translate curatorial ideas into space
Model rooms and visitor flows
Design lighting and graphics
Coordinate builders and AV teams
Fine-tune on site until opening night
In one sentence: they design the journey through a story.
The part nobody tells you
A great exhibition is paced like a film. You don't notice the design — you notice that you stayed two hours and forgot your phone existed.
You'll probably love it if…
You design for how people move
You love museums and fairs
You balance beauty and wayfinding
You enjoy site work
You think in sequences
You may struggle if…
You avoid technical constraints
You dislike teamwork
You need permanent works
You skip prototyping
The skills that actually matter
Hard skills
Scenography & spatial design
Lighting & AV
Visitor experience
Soft skills
Narrative sense
Coordination
Calm
Career path
Design assistant
↓
Junior exhibition designer
↓
Exhibition designer
↓
Senior designer
↓
Studio director
Or…
Set designer
Retail designer
Museographer
Salary snapshot
FranceJunior
€26K–33K
Mid-level
€35K–50K
Senior
€52K–78K
Freelance
€300–750 /day
People doing it brilliantly
Chloé Marin
Paris
Stefan Richter
Berlin
Ava Moreau
Brussels
Projects you could work on
Museums
Fairs & expos
Brand experiences
Retail spaces
Pavilions
Festivals