Exhibit Designer - Kraemer Design + Production

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 

• Resume 

• 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.