An official State of Ohio site. Here’s how you know
Live Chat
Contact

Welcome,
New User

Set and Exhibit Designers

Design special exhibits and sets for film, video, television, and theater productions. May study scripts, confer with directors, and conduct research to determine appropriate architectural styles.

View All

    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Prepare preliminary renderings of proposed exhibits, including detailed construction, layout, and material specifications, and diagrams relating to aspects such as special effects or lighting.
    • Confer with clients and staff to gather information about exhibit space, proposed themes and content, timelines, budgets, materials, or promotion requirements.
    • Select set props, such as furniture, pictures, lamps, and rugs.
    • Design and build scale models of set designs, or miniature sets used in filming backgrounds or special effects.
    • Inspect installed exhibits for conformance to specifications and satisfactory operation of special-effects components.
    • Provide supportive materials for exhibits and displays, such as press kits, advertising, publicity notices, posters, brochures, catalogues, and invitations.
    • Confer with conservators to determine how to handle an exhibit's environmental aspects, such as lighting, temperature, and humidity, so that objects will be protected and exhibits will be enhanced.
    • Design and produce displays and materials that can be used to decorate windows, interior displays, or event locations, such as streets and fairgrounds.
    • Select and purchase lumber and hardware necessary for set construction.
    • Select and purchase lumber and hardware necessary for set construction.
    • Arrange for outside contractors to construct exhibit structures.
    • Direct and coordinate construction, erection, or decoration activities to ensure that sets or exhibits meet design, budget, and schedule requirements.
    • Prepare preliminary renderings of proposed exhibits, including detailed construction, layout, and material specifications, and diagrams relating to aspects such as special effects or lighting.
    • Read scripts to determine location, set, and design requirements.
    • Submit plans for approval, and adapt plans to serve intended purposes, or to conform to budget or fabrication restrictions.
    • Attend rehearsals and production meetings to obtain and share information related to sets.
    • Research architectural and stylistic elements appropriate to the time period to be depicted, consulting experts for information, as necessary.
    • Observe sets during rehearsals in order to ensure that set elements do not interfere with performance aspects such as cast movement and camera angles.
    • Collaborate with those in charge of lighting and sound so that those production aspects can be coordinated with set designs or exhibit layouts.
    • Examine objects to be included in exhibits to plan where and how to display them.
    • Assign staff to complete design ideas and prepare sketches, illustrations, and detailed drawings of sets, or graphics and animation.
    • Estimate set- or exhibit-related costs, including materials, construction, and rental of props or locations.
    • Design and produce displays and materials that can be used to decorate windows, interior displays, or event locations, such as streets and fairgrounds.
    • Acquire, or arrange for acquisition of, specimens or graphics required to complete exhibits.
    • Coordinate the removal of sets, props, and exhibits after productions or events are complete.
    • Develop set designs, based on evaluation of scripts, budgets, research information, and available locations.
    • Prepare rough drafts and scale working drawings of sets, including floor plans, scenery, and properties to be constructed.
    • Design and build scale models of set designs, or miniature sets used in filming backgrounds or special effects.
    • Coordinate the transportation of sets that are built off-site, and coordinate their setup at the site of use.
    • Plan for location-specific issues, such as space limitations, traffic flow patterns, and safety concerns.

    Skills

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    6
    Workplace Documents
    5
    Graphic Literacy
    5

    Abilities

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    Knowledge

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    Career Video

    Additional videos and more information available on CareerOneStop

    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 52630/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 25.3/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 530
    • Yearly Projected Openings 50

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Artistic: People interested in this work like activities that include creating, designing, and making your own rules.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Attention to Detail
    • Dependability
    • Cooperation
    • Adaptability/Flexibility
    • Initiative
    • Innovation

    Tools

    • Air compressors
    • Alternating current AC arc welder
    • Art airbrushes
    • Audio mixing consoles
    • Claw hammer
    • Digital cameras
    • Liquid crystal display projector
    • Notebook computers
    • Nylon fabric sling
    • Paint brushes
    • Paint rollers
    • Personal computers
    • Platform step ladder
    • Pneumatic nail drivers
    • Power saws
    • Power staple guns
    • Saws
    • Scissors
    • Sewing machines
    • Tablet computers

    Technology

    • Computer aided design CAD software
    • Data base management system software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Desktop publishing software
    • Development environment software
    • Document management software
    • Electronic mail software
    • File versioning software
    • Graphics or photo imaging software
    • Object or component oriented development software
    • Office suite software
    • Operating system software
    • Presentation software
    • Program testing software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Video creation and editing software
    • Web platform development software
    • Word processing software

    Tags

    • Apprenticeships are available for this occupation. These programs can help you get hands-on experience and build your skills.

    Budget Calculator

    Answer a few questions to determine your target salary. Use this target salary to help choose the right occupation for you.

    Lifestyle Calculator

    Answer a few questions to determine your target salary. Use this target salary to help choose the right occupation for you.

    Workforce Supply Tool

    Workforce Supply Tool

    The Workforce Supply Tool provides statistics for the occupations in highest demand throughout Ohio.

    You can view statewide statistics as well as more region specific information.

    Visit Site
    Powered By: