Success story : Ravishankar S – Interaction Design, NID Bangalore

Dear friends,
Ravishankar S bagged a seat at NID for  Interaction Design course. Here is his success story. The best feature about Ravishankar's story is his systematic approach and study of the previous years papers. This is no doubt the perfect way to study for CEED. TeCupBlog wishes Ravishankar all the best for the future :)

Hi all,

I am Ravi. I am an Instrumentation Engineering graduate from Govt College of Technology, Kovai. I was working for a leading Engineering consultancy for past 4 years. My case is an example for a guy who had just inspiration and no guidance. From my childhood I enjoyed spending time on creative things, later like everyone else I took engineering as career. Life was pretty fun and challenging until it became routine. I couldn’t take that I have to do the same work forever. I was experimenting on MBA and MS etc., that was the moment I met one a guy who is a product designer and PG from NID.

Undoubtedly, I fell in love with the course. I couldn’t think of anything else. I cursed myself for not exploring little earlier. I was one among those who think the designers are Mechanical Engineers J. The same day one of my friend showed me the Advertisement of CEED 2014. I had excuses like I work 10 hrs a day etc., but suddenly remembered “Yeah! I sketch well”.. Actually I was the only one among my friends who sketch a bit :-P. My skills were not so good.. Also I wasn’t following any preparation blogs... I had no idea how the CEED will be but my heart said “If not now, Never”. I registered immediately. 

The Preparation Part:

The fun part, I downloaded a CEED paper of previous year. There was part A and Part B. “Oh Part B is sketching man. Chuck it. What is Part-A ?  Oh god !”. My eyes wide opened, heart beat raised. “Ok I need help now”. Without any hesitation I called my dear friend Google. Every question I raised, there was only one answer from him that was Teacupblog (Thank you Prasanna).

First thing I did was, read all the success stories. It gave me insight of what is CEED and what exactly I should be prepared for. Then download all the materials provided in the blog. Read Read Read.. Yeah I understood where I was (level 0). I checked the CEED date. I had exactly 3 months. The blog gave me the courage to proceed ahead. Download all the available question papers of CEED. Instead of finding answers, I decoded the question papers. Actually reverse engineering, listed the topics in a excel sheet (refer the image). Then collected all the materials required for each topic. It took me 1 month, seriously!. I had no idea, went crazy collecting information (But actually If your IQ is good, you can clear Part-A). Ok somehow I got confidence in Part-A.

Actually Part –B scarred me more. But I decided to follow the same formula. Practiced sketching min 1 hour every day, sketched whatever I saw and posted few in FB. Actually it helped me to rate my sketches and get the opinion of others. Also downloaded some video tutorials for perspective sketching and practiced (actually was starring at the laptop). On Dec 1^st reached the exam hall early. I felt I was ready for it. Part- A was quite easy (Seriously it was J).

Part – B, I checked the question paper, there were 4 problems. I solved it one by one. First two questions went well. I checked the time 1 hr15 min was already over. There were 2 more questions to answer. I ended up less time for the main question. My hands started shivering. I somehow completed. My dream for IIT’s shattered. I took it as learning. I didn’t repeat the mistakes in NID entrance.

Portfolio and PI :

Both the exams were over. I had less hope for CEED but still I couldn’t stop working towards portfolio because NID exam was better compare to CEED. So again there was a planning phase. I went through lot of portfolios to understand what exactly designers look in to it. Finally decided that my portfolio should contain custom designed cover (to show my creativity), Resume (Info-graphic – to show uniqueness), Sketches, few concept projects (from ideation to presentation), My previous works etc etc.,

I worked very hard because the portfolio was my trump card. Meanwhile CEED results came, I passed. AIR 334 (Score – 30). But I faced continuous rejections (IIT –B – 1 mark, IISC – 2 marks). I quit many times but will be back working on my portfolio in couple of days. NID results came, I was qualified for both PD and IxD.

 I have done both the interviews with full positive attitude. Even though I had no practice for studio tests, I enjoyed every moment being in that hall. I used the Gap between the studio test and the interview to 3d model the studio test question and presented to the jury during interview.

So here I am now. With God’s grace and little hard work, I got selected for IxD in NID R&D campus J. Also I got calls for interview from all the other IITS (D, K & G).  I have to thank everyone who helped me, tolerated me and mentored me. I hope this small piece of info gives you confidence and the courage required to chase your dream. All the best guyz !!

Analysis of Part A of CEED paper

Analysis of Part B of CEED paper

Cover page

Resume

Sketches page

Vertical Take Off And Landing - Concept Page 1

Vertical Take Off And Landing - Concept Page2

Energy Saver Concept - Product description page

Energy Saver Concept - Usage storyboard

Miscellaneous works

Solution to IxD studio test at NID

 

Solution to PD studio test at NID