Designs for a Benedetto guitar. Photos by Mike Rast Jr.

The Museum of Design Atlanta is recognizing the importance of artistic design in the creation of Georgia products that are being sold around the world with a June 5-Oct. 18 exhibit at the Marquis Two Tower in downtown Atlanta.

Companies submitted their products to Carie Davis, the “Made in Georgia” exhibit curator and design manager for Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co.  She then compiled the items and put the display together.

Ms. Davis told GlobalAtlanta the exhibit is meant to display the design sense of local businesses and get viewers to think about how everyday products are developed.

“So many things are made here that are mass-produced and meant for global consumption,” Ms. Davis said.  “It really shows the global reach of Georgia.”

Sustainable production was a recurring theme in the products presented.  Plastic was out and paper in for any products boasting environmentally friendly construction, including Chinese food containers made of recycled paper by Fold-Pak, a subsidiary of Norcross-based packaging company Rock-Tenn Co., with a manufacturing facility in Columbus.

Coca-Cola’s addition to the exhibit included its new aluminum bottles, a substitute for plastic containers, and a recycling bin made of a paper-plastic hybrid.

Los Angeles-based plastics manufacturer Rehrig Pacific Co., which has one of its worldwide offices in Lawrenceville, displayed a garbage container and a technical drawing showing the complex design and construction of this everyday item.

Other items on display included guitars and fret-boards featuring Georgia peaches handmade by Savannah-based Benedetto Guitars Inc.

Handbags made without animal products by Atlanta-based Malcolm Frontier, hairbrushes from Sandy Springs-based Newell Rubbermaid and carpets from Dalton-based Shaw Industries Inc. were also included in the exhibit.

Coca-Cola's new recycling bin.

The museum’s second floor contains a “Made in School” section, featuring creations from students at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Savannah College of Art and Design inspired by Georgia products.

Some of the students’ designs, including salt and pepper shakers, furniture and an alternative Georgia Tech police vehicle billed as “authoritative and approachable community policing,” looked ready to hit stores.

Other inventions were more futuristic, like rocket boots, shoes with flight capability, designed by Jackson Fowler, a sophomore at Georgia Tech’s Schaar Studio.

All of these design possibilities featured a model and a sample of how the product might be marketed if built.

The “Made in Georgia” exhibit builds on the museum’s past partnerships with Atlanta-based companies including Cartoon Network, a division of Turner Broadcasting System Inc.

Last year’s “Design at Play” exhibit featured the network’s print and online advertisements, billboards, toy models and online games designed by local engineers and artists as examples of a holistic approach to marketing and branding.