Design Hive: Sound to Design
SOUND TO DESIGN
What does your world sound like?
Explore student work from the Design Hive, a paid, youth-led internship for teens at Cooper Hewitt. In 2026, students dove deep into music and sound design, drawing inspiration from the exhibition Art of Noise.
Discover how sound can inspire and shape identity, then create your own design inspired by the beats and everyday sounds that fill your environment.
design hive SOUND DESIGNS
Oscar
I made this mixed media collage using colored pencils, marker, and whiteout. The dull background of the subway background contrasts with the bright, sharp colors of the abstract shapes layered on top, representing the overlapping noises in the train car. The music I listen to on my commute is shown through the purple setting that cuts through the scene.
Helen
My design was inspired by listening to the radio every morning. I wanted to create a character who is a mix of a news broadcaster and a detective. I also thought it would be interesting to associate a food with the character. That morning, I had eaten an apple cream cheese crumble pie, so I included it in my artwork. I also used newspaper collage, and at the bottom, I wrote some of the big headlines I had heard that day.
Ginger
I created this design on Thanksgiving afternoon while my family prepared the Christmas tree and food for the celebration later that day. My house was filled with the sounds of laughter, cooking, dancing, and little kids playing. Everyone getting ready together under one roof felt like a song in itself, and that’s the feeling I tried to recreate.
Cathryn
I created this piece inspired by my experience of blocking out background noise with music. The figure diving into the ocean symbolizes how I feel when I use my headphones, especially noise-cancelling ones where it feels like I am transported into my own world. I used a spiral pattern in the background to create a feeling of hypnosis for the viewer. I hope that whoever looks at this will feel the same sense of tranquillity I did while making this piece.
Dany
I paid close attention the African drums in the subway in addition to the afrobeats music l’d listen to. The time was also in the middle of spring so I noticed birds chirping repeatedly. In order to depict these sounds into my music diary I decided to do a henna design to represent the African culture that surrounded me and the vibrant colors to symbolise the peak of spring when the birds were chirping.
Laura
I wanted to represent the colorful, chaotic feeling of the subway rushing through the station. The burst of color along the bottom conveys the screeching noise of the train on the rails. I burned into a layer to show text, representing the many conversations I hear on the train and what’s happening inside. I used the song “CHERRY BOMB” by Tyler the Creator, because it’s one of my favorite songs and reflects the loudness of the subway.
Lucas
This experimental video and audio was inspired by a story my friend told me about a concert. While the artist was performing, loud clanking and banging disrupted the show. It was part of a wrestling act, as it was a wrestling/music event. I wanted to create an audio piece with my friend Joe for this project, and I thought it would be interesting to do the opposite of the usual process. Instead of hearing a sound and making a silent artwork, I took a soundless story about music and imagined what it might have sounded like. This led me to create this audio and film piece, capturing the unusual, alien feeling of that sound and experience.
Anoushka
In my piece I capture the different noises I hear while riding the school bus in the morning.
Logo designed by Cathryn
