Sound Arts: Design

Sound arts and design is concerned with the creative and technical production of sound as an artistic medium and as a designed element in human experience. Sound design shapes how films, games, theatre performances, installations, products and public spaces are experienced, operating below the threshold of conscious attention much of the time but influencing mood, meaning and perception in ways that are as powerful as anything visual. As an artistic practice, sound arts explores sonic composition, field recording, electroacoustic music, audio installation and the space where music, noise and speech become material for creative work.

The two dimensions, design and art, coexist productively in this discipline.

At University of the Arts London, this three-year full-time programme includes a sandwich year and a work placement, connecting your academic and creative development to professional industry contexts. You will develop both artistic and technical skills, working with audio production software, hardware, acoustics, psychoacoustics and the techniques of sound design for different media and contexts. UAL's location at the heart of London's creative industries gives you access to a remarkable network of practitioners, studios, galleries and production companies throughout your studies, and the placement year takes you into that professional environment for a sustained period.

Graduates of sound arts and design programmes go on to careers in film and television post-production, game audio, music production, sound installation, theatre sound design, product sound design, immersive audio, advertising and radio. The creative and technical combination also opens paths in music technology, broadcast engineering and audio software development. Further study in sound arts, music technology, film production or composition is available for those who want to deepen a specialism or pursue academic or research careers.