CSD pressurised to set up exhibition division

THE CHARTERED SOCIETY OF DESIGNERS is calling on exhibition designers to contribute ideas to a new exhibition division, after leading industry players lobbied for better representation of the discipline.

The society has appointed exhibition designer Neal Potter, the founder of Neal Potter Design Associates, to head the division, named CSD Exhibitions.

Details of the new venture are sketchy. No date has been set for its launch, but Potter says it will be as soon as possible.

“I will first consult our membership to see what they want, before drawing up any policies,” he says. “And there is a whole school of exhibition designers out there who have not joined the CSD earlier because they felt they weren’t represented.”

Potter says he will look to attract new CSD members through a number of measures.

“Most importantly we need to set up basic guidelines regarding exhibition designers. We’ve never had a chartered body before and we need to create professional standards,” adds Potter.

Potter was one of a number of exhibition designers who complained last year that the absence of a central representative body, together with a lack of Government commitment and understanding of the discipline, meant the exhibition sector was falling well short of its potential (DW 2 October 1998).

Giles Velarde Associates, Land Design Studio and Blue Square Design lent support to Potter.

At the time, Potter criticised the Museum and Exhibition Group, which he used to chair, as “rooted in the in-house museum culture”. He lambasted the CSD for listing the discipline in its interior design division.

Neal Potter Design Associates has won a 6m contract to develop a gallery at The Singapore Discovery Centre. This will examine Singapore society in the modern age.