How to prepare for Design Aptitude Test (DAT)?
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Are you applying for Design Entrance Exam this year and want to prepare for Design Aptitude Test? Then you are at the right place. Let's see in detail, what is DAT, what is included in the Design Aptitude Test and topics for DAT.
Design Aptitude Test
Design Aptitude Test is an entrance test conducted by institutes for testing creativity, visual thinking, problem-solving, analytical, and logical skills. It checks the design sense of the candidate. Design Aptitude Test (DAT) is an important part of a Design entrance exam. DAT includes questions related to drawing, sketching, and model-making, visualisation, spatial reasoning, etc. It tests areas such as Creativity & Imagination, Observation Skills, Visual & Spatial Ability, Problem Solving, General Design Awareness, etc.
Most of the questions under DAT are in the form of MCQs, MSQs, Objective Aptitude Questions and Subjective/Creative Drawing Questions. Exams like NIFT, NID, UCEED and CEED test the skills of the candidates through DAT. These tests are conducted for all the design entrance exams and for programmes, like B.Des, B.F.Tech, M.Des, M.F.Tech, M.F.M.
- Exams that conduct Design Aptitude Test
- What is tested in Design Aptitude Test (DAT)?
- How to prepare for Design Aptitude Test?
- Design Aptitude Test Topics
Exams that conduct Design Aptitude Test
Design entrance exams can have different names, such as NIFT Creative Ability Test (CAT) and General Ability Test (GAT) in NIFT Entrance Exam and NID DAT in NID Entrance Exam. Some of the exams which conducts DAT are:
What is tested in Design Aptitude Test (DAT)?
DAT tests the following:
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Visualisation and spatial reasoning | Ability to visualise and transform 2D shapes and 3D objects and their spatial relationships. |
| Practical and scientific knowledge | Scientific principles and everyday objects. |
| Observation and design sensitivity | The capacity to detect concealed properties in daily life and think critically about them. Attention to detail, classification, analysis, inference and prediction. |
| Environment and society | General awareness of environmental, social and cultural connections with design. |
| Analytical and logical reasoning | Ability to analyse qualitative and quantitative information. |
| Language | Proficiency in reading and comprehending English. |
| Creativity | Grasp of verbal and non-verbal analogies, metaphors, signs and symbols. |
| Drawing | Ability to draw products, people or scenes in proportion with good line quality, composition, proportion, perspective and shading. |
| Design aptitude |
Capability to practically and appropriately respond to problems/situations with ingenuity and empathy. |
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How to prepare for Design Aptitude Test?
Some of the ways to prepare for the Design Aptitude Test are given below.
- Practice sketching daily: Practice drawing daily. Sketch basic items, human body, shapes, and expressions daily. Work on perspective and proportion. Learn 1-point, 2-point, and 3-point perspective drawing. Improve on your line quality and shading. Practice freehand straight lines, circles, and curves.
- Observe everyday objects: Observe everything around you, leaves, traffic, road, people and notice details. These will help you in imaginative drawing and sketching. Observe scenes at the hospital, airport, railway station, market, etc.
- Solve visual reasoning puzzles: Pay attention on solving questions under the category of visual reasoning puzzles. Solve visual puzzles involving paper folding (origami), 3D block counting, pattern recognition and object rotations.
- Focus on Design GK: Practice GK questions based on design. These will include static GK for Design and current affairs. Read about designers, arrt work, Indian art and culture, monuments, textiles and fibres, etc.
- Study basic design principles: Know the basic Design principles, such as balance, contrast, rhythm and movement, proportion and scale, pattern, etc. For example, create a textile pattern inspired by a peacock.
- Storyboarding & Sequential Drawing: Solve questions on Storyboarding & Sequential Drawing. Draw comic strips and storyboards. Many questions are asked in the exam on this topic. Example: Show the process of a person making a cup of instant noodles in 4 frames; Show a seed growing into a fruit-bearing tree, then turning into a wooden chair in 5 frames.
- Solve previous years’ papers: This is one of the most important steps in the preparation for the Design Aptitude Test. Solving past year question papers will help you understand the pattern and type of questions asked in DAT. You will get the most repetitive questions, frequently asked questions, etc.
- Practice Mock Papers: Solve mock tests to get the feel of the exam. It helps you overcome the fear of exams. These should be taken to know the pattern and the type of questions asked. It also helps in developing time management skills.
Design Aptitude Test Topics
Some of the topics for Design Aptitude Tests are given below.
| Design Outline for Beginners |
Colour Terminology | Inspiration & Design Development |
| Mood, Theme & Colour Inter-relationship | Design Theory |
Elements & Principles Of Design |
| Natural & Geometrical Form | Innovation in Design | Principles of Composition |
| Lettering |
Optical Illusion | Understanding Light & Shade |
| Colour Psychology & Optical Illusions | Form & Function |
Colour, Pattern & Texture |
| Theme Development | Creative thinking & writing | Picture Analysis |
| Visual Logic |
Good Design vs Bad Design | Drawing Fundamentals |
| Use of Measurements, Scale & Proportions | Optical Illusion |
Foreshortening & Perspective |
| Developing Themes & Colour Associations | Inspiration & Creativity | Ornaments & motifs |
| Memory Drawing |
Usage of Colour in Compositions | Expression & Emotion |
| Exercises on imagination |
Lateral Thinking |
Story Pictures |
| Presentation Techniques | Imagination & Doodling | 3D Visualisation |
| Graphics & Pictograms |
Innovation & Creation | Design Awareness |
| Developing Observation |
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Sayeba Naushad is a commerce postgraduate from Banaras Hindu University. She has over five years of experience in content writing and editing. She has a nose for current events in design field. At Shiksha.com, she s
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