Podcast Set Design | Podcast & Video Studio Hire Leeds

A good podcast set does two jobs at once: it gives your show a visual identity people recognise from a thumbnail, and it gives you clean speech and lighting you can trust every time you press record. Before you buy a single prop, settle two decisions — the layout and your main lighting — because everything else hangs on those. That's the heart of podcast set design, and it's worth getting right: with podcast advertising revenue reaching £90 million in 2024, the set is part of the product now, not an afterthought.

We build and light sets for creators at our studio in Leeds most weeks, so this guide covers what we'd tell you over a brew: which themes work on camera, how to plan the room, what the lighting and sound actually need, and the safety checks that are easy to forget until something trips a breaker.

Pick a theme before you buy anything

A theme tells you what to buy and, just as usefully, what to leave out. Industry commentary points to a clear shift towards video-first podcasting, so how your set reads on screen matters more than it used to.

The themes that adapt well to a spare room or a hired studio: minimalist (clean lines, neutral palette, one focal piece — calm, professional, never fights the hosts for attention); cosy and warm (soft light, textured fabrics, a bookcase — the soft furnishings also take the edge off echo, which helps the sound); industrial (metal accents and darker walls, with shiny surfaces kept out of the camera's line of sight); a single controlled pop of neon or colour on the background; or bright and neutral, which suits interview shows where clarity is the point.

Match the theme to what your audience expects. A true-crime show can go dark and moody. A small-business advice show usually looks more credible in bright, tidy surroundings. Neither is automatically better — it depends on what the show needs the set to say.

Plan the layout around people, not furniture

Plan the room around two things: how close your hosts sit, and where the camera can see them both comfortably. Sketch it on paper, then test it with chairs and a bit of tape before you move anything heavy.

Hosts should sit close enough to hold eye contact naturally, with enough room for each person to speak into their own microphone without leaning across the table — our guide to a two person podcast setup covers mic placement and seating in detail. A single wide camera is the simplest option and keeps the whole set in shot; two cameras give you cutaways between hosts, but they need clear sightlines so neither camera catches the other.

In a small room, go vertical with the backdrop, seat hosts diagonally rather than face to face, and use foldaway furniture so you're not tripping over the set on non-recording days. A room that feels roomy to you can look cramped on camera, so always check the frame before settling.

Comfort belongs in the layout too. A host perched on a creaking stool sounds tense, and the microphone picks up every shift in weight. Quiet, supportive chairs without squeaky castors, a table height where forearms rest level, mic arms nobody has to crane towards, water within reach but away from the kit — none of it shows up on a shopping list for "set design", and all of it shows up in the recording.

Get the lighting right before the decor

The lighting that works for a podcast follows three rules: a key light on the face, a softer fill to balance it, and a back light to separate you from the wall. Keep every fixture at the same colour temperature, or skin tones drift between one side of the face and the other.

LED fixtures suit small studios because they run cooler and give you more control — BBC Academy guidance puts the energy saving at roughly 30%–50% against tungsten. On a budget, one or two soft LED panels diffused through a softbox and placed slightly above eye level will do the job. Mid-level means panels with softboxes and dimmers, so you can balance key and fill without moving the lights. A pro setup adds modifiers, grids and separate background lights for depth.

One habit worth stealing: raise the key light a little and angle it slightly off to one side. It keeps glare off glasses and glossy surfaces — then check the monitor for reflections before you record, not after. For specific positions and kit, our podcast lighting setup guide goes deeper.

Clear audio is two separate jobs

Clear speech comes from treating the room and from good mic technique — and technique fixes more problems than any panel on the wall, so start there. Keep the microphone close to the mouth and slightly off-axis, so breath and plosives miss the capsule.

Then deal with the room. Soft furnishings, curtains and absorbers on the walls opposite the speakers cut the hard echo of a bare room, and corner bass traps tame the boomy low end small rooms build up. Keep audio cables away from power leads and dimmer packs, and plug audio kit into a clean, properly earthed supply. Before the guest arrives, record a short test, listen on headphones and watch your levels — five minutes of checking saves an evening of repair work in the edit.

Backdrops, props and branding that read on camera

Your backdrop should support the hosts, not compete with them. Light it separately from the people in front of it — a lit background creates depth and stops hosts looking pasted onto a wall. A few curated objects on a shelf look intentional; a crowded one looks messy on screen. Glass frames and glossy surfaces catch lights, so angle them away or choose matt finishes. A simple rule we use on shoots: if you can't explain why an object is in shot, move it out.

Branding works best when it's repeated quietly rather than shouted. Pick two or three colours from your logo and echo them in a wall panel, a lighting accent, a cushion. A physical logo on the back wall works when the lettering is large, simple, well lit and slightly off-centre, so it sits beside the hosts rather than behind their heads — and check it stays legible on a phone screen, because that's where most people will see it. Keep the set consistent from episode to episode; small seasonal changes add variety without breaking the sense of place, and the set, cover art and thumbnails should read as one product.

Framing, and making two cameras behave

Framing is what makes a video podcast feel intimate rather than distant. Keep a little headroom above each host and let the eyes sit naturally in the frame. Hosts look at the lens when addressing the audience and at each other in conversation — plan your angles around that. A longer lens flatters faces and compresses the background; a wide lens exaggerates distance and suits tight rooms. Pick the one that fits your room, then keep it consistent.

With two cameras, set one wide for the whole table and one tighter on each speaker, so cuts feel continuous. Match frame rates, resolution and white balance across cameras, or the cuts will jump in colour.

Make the audio and video kit work as one system

Decide in advance where each signal goes, and keep that routing the same for every shoot. Record audio on dedicated microphones rather than the camera's built-in mic, and use the camera audio only as a sync reference — a clap or visible cue at the top of each take makes lining up tracks painless.

The BBC's advice on audio technology applies neatly here: don't buy expensive kit for its own sake, use what you have consistently, and keep the microphone close to whoever is speaking. Label cables and inputs, keep a written signal chain on the wall, and test every channel before guests arrive. Our guide to video podcast production walks through the full workflow from set to publishing.

Power, cables and the safety checks that keep you compliant

A tidy set is a safer and quieter one. Run power along one side of the room and audio along the other, crossing at right angles where you must, to limit hum. Use one quality surge-protected distribution point, cable covers over anything that crosses a walkway, and Velcro straps to bundle the rest behind furniture. Label each lead at both ends, and coil everything properly at the end of a session — untidy cables are the usual cause of crackles and faults next time.

The formal bits matter too. In England and Wales, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires a responsible person to complete a risk assessment and evacuation plan for places of assembly, with exits and escape routes kept clear. HSE guidance for entertainers recommends RCD protection on power supplies, regular RCD testing and properly earthed, maintained equipment. And leave space for mobility aids — accessibility is part of a compliant set, not an optional extra.

Recording and live streaming ask different things of the room

A recording can be fixed in the edit; a live stream can't. For live work, lock your lighting and camera settings — auto exposure and auto white balance can shift mid-stream — use a wired internet connection where possible, keep audio levels conservative because there's no fixing clipping afterwards, and have someone watching the output while the hosts focus on the conversation.

Recording-only gives you more freedom to experiment, but it still pays to record the live-ready version as a safety copy, since it costs nothing extra. Either way, Home Office accessibility guidance recommends well-framed speakers and synchronised captions for video content, so plan space on screen for captions or an interpreter if your audience needs them. If you switch between formats, build the set so one change — a camera preset, say — is all it takes.

The pre-record checklist we actually use

Before every session, in this order: check power distribution, cable routes and RCDs, and make sure nothing crosses a walkway. Set white balance, check exposure and confirm the framing on each camera. Record a test, listen for hum, set your gain. Then run a short rehearsal with the full crew or guests, so nothing surprises you on take one. It takes fifteen minutes and it has saved more sessions than any piece of kit we own.

When hiring a studio beats building your own

We'd be the first to say a home set can work well — plenty of good shows come out of spare rooms. The honest trade-off is time against control: a fully custom set of your own takes weeks to get right, while booking a ready-made room gets you recording this week, with the lighting, acoustics and power already sorted.

If that's the better fit for you, our studio hire options in Leeds start from £125 for dry hire, with half-day and full-day slots and an optional photographer or runner to support the shoot. You arrive, settle in, and get on with it — no weather, no neighbours, no hunting for the one socket that doesn't hum.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I design a podcast studio?

Settle the layout and your main lighting first, then add acoustic treatment, a backdrop and branding. Sort power and safety before you decorate, and check the framing on camera before you call it finished.

Can I use Canva to create a podcast?

Canva is useful for cover art, episode thumbnails and graphics for your set, but it doesn't record or edit audio. You still need a microphone, recording software and a decent room to record in.

What type of artwork should I use for my podcast?

Simple, high-contrast artwork that stays readable at small sizes. Check it against the white backgrounds most podcast players use, and keep your set colours in line with it.

Is a podcast studio profitable?

It depends on your audience and where your income comes from. The market is growing — UK podcast advertising revenue reached £90 million in 2024 — but that figure covers the whole market, not the earnings of any one show.

Can I record a podcast at Dock Street Studio in Leeds?

Yes. We're at Unit 9, 30–38 Dock Street, Leeds LS10 1JF — a short walk from Leeds train station, with onsite parking. Dry hire starts from £125, and you can book online, by email or by phone.

Sources

• Association of Online Publishers
• Gov.uk — Fire safety risk assessment, small and medium places of assembly
• Spatial audio: Where do I start? - Academy Guides
• Electrical safety for entertainers INDG274(rev2)

Book a podcast studio in Leeds

If you'd rather record in a room that's already built, lit and quiet, we can help. Book online, email mark@isophotographic.org, or call 0113 4400102.

Written by Mark Wheelwright
Commercial photographer & studio owner, Leeds | ISO Photographic Ltd
Dock Street Studio, Unit 9, 30–38 Dock Street, Leeds LS10 1JF
18+ years' experience | 900+ projects | 300+ five-star reviews | 1M+ shutter count
dockstreetstudioleeds.co.uk