NID DAT 2020 Exam Analysis by Experts

In the BDes paper, the DAT segment, of 70 marks, consisted of six questions, with more drawings to be done than the number of questions. Compared to 2019, this segment was lengthier. It was a balanced mix of testing the students on their creative visualisation, technical drawing skills, critical thinking, social responsibility and also comprehension ability.

The first question comprised of 5 marks, which had a pattern shown and that was to be re drawn in the form of 3 dimensional cube structure. In this, the first thing required was to stick to the details of the pattern and also to give the directional change keeping the continuity intact as the pattern crossed over from one plane of the cube to the other.

The second question, for 12 marks, was similar in nature to the first question of 2019. This aimed at looking into the perspective drawing skills of the students. A drawing of a kitchen with details was given with a vantage point marked. It had to be re drawn with complete details from the given point if a three year old child stood at the point. This clearly means that the child would not have the visibility of the top surfaces of the kitchen slab and the stuff on it as everything is above his eyelevel.

The third question was for 13 marks, which had a story narrated. The same story had to be illustrated in black & white only in three frames. The story was about a man who is sitting under a java plum tree on a riverside and observes pumpkins on the ground and wonders why these bigger fruits seemingly to him deserve bigger and higher trees but grow strewn on the bed instead. Suddenly, a plum falls on his head from the tree above, and this makes him realise why nature has put pumpkins where they are. This needed consistency in style of illustration of characters and three crux frames that communicate the story completely. The story should also end with the moral. The frames could have been supported by thought bubbles and narrative lines.

The fourth question, for 15 marks, was a signature NID question. One had to illustrate five creative uses of a fused bulb. One could put the bulb to various uses like planting hanging creepers, a dancing toy doll could be created by joining two bulbs, filling one at bottom with sand and painting appropriately, it could be used as door knobs if fixed properly. There could be many creative solutions here and the more novel and logical and possible your solution is the better you are marked.

The fifth question was for 15 marks again, where the question was seeking solutions from young minds. The students had to show five defence mechanism that the trees can develop in themselves to protect themselves from being cut. The solution could range from the tree barks developing themselves thick enough to be unable to be sawed or they may develop electric current hence any metal could lead to shock or the more they could grown in a manner where the trunk isn’t accessible for cutting by being surrounded by the mesh of its own hard outgrowth. There could be many such solutions.

The last question was for 10 marks and was an encore from 2019. The classic lines by Rabindranath Tagore “When the mind is without fear...(and the head is held high...)” were given and the students had to depict their interpretation as an illustrated poster on the same. The continuity lines should have been based on the students’ interpretation and used as the caption.

NID Exam Analysis 2020 for MDes Course

The MDes Common DAT segment again had lot of reasoning and some quantitative analysis questions besides art based awareness. The questions asked commonly were

(a) Sketch a person’s hand holding the stapler and stapling the paper. This was about observation, proportion and details.

(b) The second question asked for the measures to be drawn for the hazardous air that we breathe.

(c) The names of the furniture were given and one had to write the fonts as the products. An example of Executive Chair was given and to draw:

• Coffee table
• Rocking chair
• Store cabinet
• Bean bag

The second NID Entrance Exam segment was based on specific faculty as the students had applied to.

NID DAT Exam Analysis 2020 for MDes Interior Design

Those who applied to Interior Design, had a paper that comprised of the field specific questions as listed below.

• First question asked, “You are living in a studio apartment and planning for a home film festival. Draw three steps to prepare for the same.” This needed planning and execution steps.
• In the second,  One had to design a chair for a kid. In this it was important to identify the age of the kid and his need and the purpose of the chair. The design should be a good balance of aesthetic and function, hence it should be appropriately designed.
• For the third,  a dough was given, 3 chairs were supposed to be drawn from the same.

NID DAT Exam Analysis 2020 for MDes Apparel Design

Students applying for Apparel Design were asked to draw an apparel showing the given phenomenon: A lotus leaf has rough surface and gathers water as droplets, which when bumped, carries dirt along with it. The same had to be incorporated in an apparel design. Here the client, category, occasion, fabric choice, colours, surface techniques, silhouettes, embellishments and accessorisation everything was to be considered.

The second question asked the students to draw an apparel for rickshaw puller to protect him from smog in old Delhi.

NID DAT Exam Analysis 2020 for MDes Interaction Design

For the Interaction design paper, one had to illustrate the sketch and plan for a display unit.

NID DAT Exam Analysis 2020 for MDes Transportation & Automobile Design

In the Transportation & Automobile design, A side view of a car for a particular brand was given. Observing the same, one had to draw the same with finer details in different views and perspectives.

Another question wanted students to design different modes of transports from certain given images.

The drawing segment varied for different faculties similarly.

NID results are expected around February 18, 2020 for Masters programmes and March 19, 2020 for Bachelors courses. After this,  stage two, NID DAT (Mains) would be conducted between April 29, 2020 to May 3, 2020. The final result is expected around mid May, 2020 with course commencement by June, 2020.

About the Author:

Shipra Anand is the Founder Director of Academy for Fashion Careers in Lucknow.