How to Become a Certified Set Designer Online
By creating a tiny environment that nevertheless evokes a believable location, set designers are the world-builders of the theater. Set designers design the look and feel of the set, working with such diverse elements as scrims and stage walls, a wide variety of furniture styles and decors, and colors and textures to take audiences from a proper English drawing room, to a smoky nightclub, a sunny garden, or the rocky red surfaces of Mars. A set designer is limited only by imagination in creating a thousand worlds on the stage itself.
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Things You'll Need
- Computer
- Flatbed scanner
- Internet access
- Drafting table or flat surface
- T-square
- Straight-edge ruler
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Drafting tape
- Colored pencils
- Assorted textbooks
- Work samples
- Student transcripts
Instructions
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Finding a School
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Log onto your Internet provider to research schools and colleges offering degrees in stagecraft and specifically set design.
There are a variety of online educational options available to students seeking a specialized degree, from nationally accredited art universities and institutes, to major state universities, most of which offer online programs today.
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Utilize a top accredited search engine to find bona fide schools and theater degree programs online, narrowing your list down after reviewing class options as well as prices (online degree programs can be much more expensive than the brick-and-mortar versions).
Set design requires serious training, and becoming a certified set designer will usually involve the achievement of a degree with an accredited university. Luckily, there are a variety of online educational options available to students seeking a specialized degree, from nationally accredited art universities and institutes, to major state universities, most of which offer online programs today.
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Ascertain which degree program type will be right for you. Bachelor of arts (BA) degrees offer good basic degrees for set designers starting off, grounding them in a foundation they can build upon in their professional work while giving them the tools to begin their approach.
Postgraduate degrees such as a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) meanwhile allow set designers to immerse themselves in their craft on a deeper level, and to fine-tune approaches while choosing a specialty.
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Narrow your list down to your top three to five favorites, and query those schools, clearly outlining your creative and professional goals in achieving an online degree in set design.
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Apply for entry with your favorite school, making sure you include such appropriate information as school transcripts, previous training, and digital samples of previous works if requested.
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Pursue your degree by meeting your class deadlines, providing materials on time, and in showing your growing mastery of set design approach and technique.
Once you've met the necessary criteria, congratulations---you're ready to take on the world as a certified and accredited set designer!
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Tips & Warnings
While obtaining a degree in set design or stagecraft online is fairly easy to do in today's digital educational age, it's important to make sure to attain the special skills so vital to a good set designer by building a courseload that will make you as proficient as possible in your craft.
Set designers should not only be grounded in general stagecraft, but should also be versed in set design and stagecraft history, drafting, drawing, and perspective, set building and construction, and decor and design history through the ages.
Even while pursuing an online degree, continue to gain real-life theatre exposure and experience on your own. A set designer should have an understanding of how a set works in relation to its actors, as a theatre set is a place in which life takes place onstage.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit theater image by Luisafer from Fotolia.com
