I'm all for FREE tools that help exhibit designers, so let me commend babyCAD to your attention.
BabyCAD is an online tool that lets you intuitively create exhibit installations. It's clear that right now babyCAD is geared more toward trade show and pop up exhibits, but that being said, I really liked how quickly and intuitively I could knock together a respectable rendering with multiple exhibit elements.
The babyCAD program allows you to choose from a set of items arranged by categories that you can adjust to fit particular exhibit and display situations. Two additional features that I like are the ability to add "skins" (like logos or artwork) to selected elements, as well as the ability to save your creations (that you want to share with clients) as either a PDF or a custom Web link. The Web link is a URL that allows clients to control all the 3D-viewing aspects of your exhibit rendering in babyCAD without editing capabilities.
If you need to design kiosk-based or portable installations in your institution, babyCAD is well worth a look.
So what are you waiting for? Go to the babyCAD website and give it a whirl!
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