|
By Angela Ashley Launched officially in the 2004-05 academic year, the Savannah College of Art and Design exhibition design minor attracted a top industry executive to speak to students and help promote the minor. Leading exhibition designer Norm Friedrich visited SCAD May 19 to speak to students in the exhibition design minor and other members of the SCAD community. Friedrich is president and CEO of OCTANORM USA Inc., an Atlanta-based firm that manufactures an extruded aluminum construction system used in the design and fabrication of customer exhibits and displays. “The exhibit industry is very unique,” said Friedrich. “It deals with highly creative 3-D marketing environments that are designed in parameters placing an interesting challenge on the designer’s creativity.” Exhibition designs are not used just for trade shows and expositions; they are visible virtually everywhere. From small-scale point-of-purchase product displays in the supermarket to theme parks such as Disney World and Universal Studios, exhibition designs are an important marketing tool to communicate a message through an interactive environment. “Museums are another popular venue for exhibition designs,” said professor Richard Prisco. Friedrich said the minor provides an excellent opportunity for SCAD students to prepare for careers in a lucrative field. According to him, most exhibition designers enter the market without having any formal training, and the need to grow this skill has always existed. “The exhibition industry is an $80 billion industry in the United States, and having an exhibition design minor on your résumé will open doors to a variety of opportunities,” he said. The exhibition design minor at SCAD, offered through the School of Design, is the only one of its kind. “SCAD is the first [college] to offer exhibition design as a minor,” said Prisco. In addition, the minor curriculum “complements [the] interior design, graphic design, industrial design, architecture and furniture design programs, giving students enhanced career options,” Prisco said. Exhibitions are created in a fast-paced work environment that offers travel and diversity. “This is an exciting career choice for many people,” he said. “Exhibition designers really get to utilize a broad array of skills. I can’t think of an area of art and design that cannot be utilized in exhibition designs.” Ashley is director of communications at SCAD. |
 |
||||
