Sound design

Make each cue communicate an event, material, or state while fitting the project's identity. Distinct events need distinguishable sounds; louder is not automatically clearer.

Read the cue's job

Read the current audio brief, event map, art direction, existing cues, and target platform. Identify the event, listener perspective, expected response, and neighboring sounds that could be confused with it. Preserve selected cues and unrelated behavior.

Infer material and personality from the project's actual direction rather than adding generic cinematic impacts. A soft toy, paper card, metal gate, and silk thread should not share an arbitrary impact preset.

Write a usable cue brief

For each cue, specify the relevant fields: