Guide · Exhibition designers

Instagram for exhibition designers: keep a project alive long after the get-out

An exhibition lasts a few months, a set a few nights, an event sometimes a single evening. Once it is taken down, the project only exists in your images. For an exhibition or set designer, Instagram extends that life: curators, agencies, museums and brands use it to spot the teams they want to work with. Here is what works for exhibition and event design, and how to keep it going between two installs.

What an exhibition designer can post

The finished project, as a carousel: the overall view first, then the visitor route in order, then the details. Up to 10 images to tell the space.
The detail: a plinth, a showcase, a wall graphic, a lighting effect. A single image, a few weeks later, brings the project back.
The before: model, sketches, 3D renders. Shown next to photos of the venue, they explain your job better than a long text.
The install: a few images of the build, taken with the organisers' agreement. They show the scale of the work.
The Reel: a route that strings the views together like a visit. It is the format that reaches the most people who do not follow you yet.

The right format for a space

In the feed, Instagram shows images in 4:5 portrait (1080 × 1350 pixels); the profile grid only shows their centre, in 3:4. A wide view of a room loses its sides: crop on the axis of the route or on the centrepiece, and keep panoramic views for the carousel, where you can split them into two images. Vertical views of an installation, a ceiling or an object in a showcase come through intact.

What the caption should say

In exhibition design, the caption is mainly there to credit. It fits in a few lines: the title of the exhibition or event, the venue and dates, your role, then the team. For example:

“Waterlines”, temporary exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts — spring 2026.

Exhibition design and graphics: Atelier Noria. Curator: Claire Vidal. Lighting: Studio Halo.
Photo: Emma Roussel

#exhibitiondesign #scenography #museumdesign #exhibition

Say whether the exhibition is still on: it is a concrete reason to go and see it, and to share your post.

Credits, rights and embargoes

An exhibition design project belongs to several people: the venue, the curator, the organiser, sometimes a brand. Before posting, check that the photos can be published and respect the embargo date of a private event. Then invite the venue and partners as collaborators: the post also appears on their profile, in front of an audience already curious about the exhibition.

How often to post

Two to three posts a week are enough. One project naturally gives three or four posts spread over a month: the carousel, a detail, before and after, then a Reel of the route. With ten projects on your website, you already have nearly three months of posts, including the quiet periods between installs.

Mistakes that cost followers

Posting the whole project on opening night, then nothing until the next one.
Forgetting to credit the venue, the curator or the photographer: they are the ones who share the most.
Letting Instagram crop a room view and cut off the main piece.
Captions with no venue or dates: nobody knows where or when the project existed.

Let your website post for you

If your projects are presented on your WordPress site, the images, title, venue and credits are already there. Foliocast uses them to prepare carousels, captions and Reels, crops the images to the right format and posts at the best times, even with your computer off. You approve the schedule once. The tutorial shows the setup in 10 minutes.

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