September 18, 2015

How to prepare for CEED : Study Plan

It's already mid-September and CEED is just about a couple of months away. If you are panicking about the fact that you have not began your preparation or disappointed about the rate at which your preparation is progressing, then welcome to the club of more than 5,000 CEED aspirants!  

A sense of positive pressure gets work done. Deadlines are important to build that positive pressure. To set deadlines and milestones to motivate yourself for preparation, all you need are guidelines on how to make a wonderful plan for CEED preparation. For NID preparation, same guidelines can be followed, but with different dates.  

Before making the plan keep these factors in your mind: 
  1. Forget about the portfolio! That’s right! CEED is being held in December, while the interviews won't begin till March. That’s a lot of time to make a killer portfolio. Therefore, while preparing for CEED, just forgot about portfolio! 
  2. Sketch on clean sheets of paper.  Though the tip number one tells you to forget about your portfolio, you never know which one of the sketches would be so good that it might work its way into your portfolio. Hence, always use a clean sheet, not a ruled one or a back-of-used-paper sheet. One simple way to do this is buy a nice pack of A4 sized papers meant to take print-outs on. These cost between Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 a ream (500 pages) which is a good investment  
  3. Buy pencils. Try out different pencils such as 0.5 mm, 0.7 mm, 0.9 mm mechanical pencils as well as regular wooden pencils during the first week of practice. 


The sample CEED plan 
Milestone 
Week 
Study area 
Start 
1st week 
(Sept 3rd  week) 
  • Sketching straight lines, perfect freehand circles, ellipses 
  • Try out different pencils and techniques 
  • Watching videos on YouTube about these techniques 
  • Buying books and material for practice 
  • Studying perspective sketching 

2nd week 
(Sept 4th week) 
  • Observing and sketching simple products like cell phones, spoons, scissors, etc. 
  • Learning proper shadows and textures 

3rd week 
(Oct 1st week) 
  • Practicing product textures using pencils 
  • Sketching simple products without observation (only by imagination) 

4th week 
(Oct 2nd week) 
  • Practicing sketching architectural buildings and houses using proper perspective 
  • Start by learning how to sketch human figures. Watch videos for the same 
  • Go through old CEED papers and list down the topics covered in Part A of these papers. This is your syllabus.  

5th week 
(Oct 3rd week) 
  • Detailed sketching of human figures in action 
  • Start Part A preparation. Read the information about relevanttopics from the list of topics you have prepared. 

6th week 
(Oct 4th week) 
  • Detailed study of human hands 
  • Study of hands in different postures  
  • Read more topics for Part A 

7th week 
(Oct 5th week) 
  • Study of problem solving techniques such as Attribute Method, SCAMPER, brainstorming, etc. And applying them to solve simple problems of everyday life such as prevent water clogging on roads 
  • Read more topics for Part A 

8th week 
(Nov 1st week) 
  • Solving old CEED papers. Download an old CEED paper from IITB site and then solve it within set time of 3 hours. Spend next day analyzing the paper 
  • Read more topics for Part A 

9th week 
(Nov 2nd week) 
  • Solve more old CEED papers. And when you discover you are finding difficult to attempt certain questions, then analyze and practice those points where you feel you need improvement 
  • Read more topics for Part A where you feel you lack or need focus 

10th week 
(Nov 3rd week) 
  • Practice selectively on the sketching where you feel you really need to improve. Spend rest of the time on preparing for Part A 

10 
11th week 
(Last week before CEED) 
  • Try to get maximum rest. 
  • Sketch and practice as required. 
  • Read as much Part A topics as needed 
  • Practice based on your requirement 

11 
CEED 
CEED exam this Sunday 
This is a broad study plan. You can modify it as per your requirements. You can shorten or lengthen some elements as you wish to.  

Important resources for the study plan 

Creativity: 
And don’t forget the all encompassing D'Source  




30 comments:

Vivek said...

You are just awesome!! , Thanks prasanna !

ZeldA said...

You, sir, are awesome. I am printing this!

সৌরভ said...

Hi Prasanna..
I have a question..
Does CEED ask for some specific models to draw.. like some automobile series (specific Car series or bike series)..
Kindly let us know :)
Thanks in advance...

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hi Sourav,
Knowing the pattern of CEED, it is meant for students of all the trades including architecture, who may not be having knowledge about specific car series and all. Therefore, in my opinion, CEED wont ask you to draw a specific model, like say, there wont be a question asking "sketch Tata Nano" or something of that sort.

ZeldA said...

Hi Prasanna,
1. Will our choice of optional question matter in the course we pick ? i.e. Can i get into Animation though i answered a question on product design?
2. For a question like "Imagine 3 interesting products made out of combination of minimum 3 of- cuboid, cone, cylinder, disc, hemisphere" (CEED 2015) are we expected to show something that already exists, or create something new?

I apologize if I've missed you answering these somewhere in this super useful blog. :)

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hi ZeldA,
1. You can attempt whichever question you feel will fetch you maximum marks in CEED. During interview, you might be asked that why have you attempted this question. In that case you have two options: (1) You can claim that in the exam, a better solution struck you for that question (2) When asked, present a solution to animation question that was asked in CEED, so that the interview panel would know that you are skilled in animation as well. This is because, i have seen that the faculty would ask this question "If you were to attempt this question, how will you solve it"

2. For 3 interesting products question, the examiner wants to test whether you can create something given to you. I suggest that you make something existing out of the blocks. One approach is, just think about a product, say, a bike and think how you can arrange the given blocks to make it.

Hope this helps you. Best of luck :)

ZeldA said...

The (NEW) products I'd "created" seem rather juvenile. :'D
This helps. Thanks a lot!

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Your products are infant now, as you practice they will grow :)

Unknown said...

Hello Prasanna sir.. I have many art as my portfolios for NID ..( please check my art on Instagram @kiis_love_art. ) Do u think I can do it .. If I am planning to take addmisssion for NID entrance exam ... Please please reply seeing my art.. Thank you

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hi KongDuitara,
You have done wonderful pieces of arts!! Apparently, you have a nice collection of characters, therefore, i assume you might be interested in animation design. Artworks by themselves dont count much in NID. This is because for a design course, the portfolio should showcase your ability to design. Now, you can use your artistic skills to express your design. For example, you think about a mascot for an entertainment company, and you use that scary faced guy to represent their brand image. This is a design problem to design a mascot, while you are using scary face guy to express it :)
All the best making portfolio !

Unknown said...

Thank you sir for your kindly reply. Am more interested in graphic design. Would you explain me Sir. the different between Graphic design and animation design .. Thankyou

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hi KongDuitara,
Graphic design and animation design both are sub branches of visual communication. Graphic design solves problems related to communication of visual elements using texts, symbols and images, while, animation designer deals in communication of a story or event. Mostly graphic design is static (e.g. design of logos, posters, etc) while animation design has representation of motion (e.g. mascots, comic strips, cartoon films, etc)

Unknown said...

Based on my art experience.. What do you think is best course for me Graphic design or Animation Design? And when will the application form for NID available. Right now am studying 12 arts stream. Please help me

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hi,
I cant tell you which stream is good for you, but during your preparations, you will be able to understand this yourself
You would need to keep an eye on NID website for the forms or join NID beginners group on facebook. There you will get updates

Unknown said...

Thnkyou.

ZeldA said...

Dear Prasanna,
I was just wondering if we are to select the online test center sometime now fro CEED 2016? I am not able to find the link. I hope I didn't miss it.

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hi,
There was a prefered city option available while filling out CEED form. If this is not filled out, I have observed that you will get the center in or nearest to address mentioned in the form. I dont think you can edit the form now, so you wont see that option.
Hope this helps

ZeldA said...

Okay that's it? I have filled out preferred city. I read somewhere that have to book the slots- place & time. Guess that's incorrect. Thanks a lot, Prasanna! No more panicking :D

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Oh no!! Let me also confirm that!! :O
Panic transfered :P

ZeldA said...

Hi Prasanna. Happy Diwali. (my fav festival)
I was solving CEED 2014, and the Part B Optional Question for Animation Design requires us to illustrate a story in 20 frames!! TWENTY FRAMES!!!
I assumed that I'd be spending about half hour per question in Part B.I think managing time is going to be the trickiest part. :'S How do you suggest we go about this for CEED 2016?

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hi,

As soon as you get the answer paper, you should go through the instructions, carefully understand them and then move to the questions part and decide how much time you can give for each question. In CEED 14 paper, there are 3 compulsory questions and one optional question.

Here is a simple format for time management for this paper:
60 Mins : Part A. Locks down after 60 mins anyway
(Now you have to manage the remaining 120 mins )

Total compulsory marks = 20 + 15 + 15 = 50, Optional question = 50 marks
So for compulsory question time distribution: 1 min for each mark. Leave 10 mins for understanding the instruction, adding details, checking the answers, if needed.

Hence the bottom line is that you have one full hour to draw 20 frames! This I feel is manageable. If not, then you can cut some time from compulsory question.

Hope this helps :)

ZeldA said...

Thanks, Prasanna.
I attempted the question and took 1 h 15 min.
Time aside, the illustrations are pretty rough. (only Pencil) They look like they're right outta my sketchbook. Is that acceptable for CEED?

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hi,
Can you send me your sketches on pg2005.pg@gmail.com
So that i can have a look and tell whether they are acceptable

ZeldA said...

I just sent it. Please lemme know. :)

Unknown said...

Hey Prasanna! I need to ask few questions from you.
Firstly regarding my eligibilty for the exam as I ave already visited official websites again called on the official number and mailed them . Still nothing proved to be futile. seeing your experience and capability I felt you might be of help to me.
I have done 5 years B.tech +MBA integrated programme its an integrated dual degree course ,and I did from Gautam Buddha University but Description for CEED eligibilty is 4 years Grad programme. Hence please guide me whether Iam eligible or not?

Secondly since you have already done your Maters in Design. what is the placement situation in IISC bangalore or in IITs and their packages ? Can you guide me on same?

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hi aakanksha,
Sorry for the late reply. Though not officially, you do have 10+2+5 pattern if I understand correctly, so my best guess is that you are eligible for CEED. I suggest you to check eligibility while applying for the institutes after CEED. You would surely be eligible for admissions as well :)
All the best

Unknown said...

what is the minimum percentage to qualify after CEED exam for IISc bangalore

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hi aakanksha,
The percentile varies every year based on the difficulty of the CEED paper, number of applicants and their scores, etc. But to give you a rough number, try to score above 50 in CEED for getting into IISc.
All the best

Unknown said...

Hey prasanna! I think you got my question wrong , I was asking how much percentage, I need to have in my Graduation so that I am eligible for IISc bangalore if I clear my CEED.

Prasanna Gadkari (M.Des in Product Design from I.I.Sc. ) said...

Hi aakanksha,.
On this webpage http://www.cpdm.iisc.ernet.in/mdes.php they used to say 55%, but looks like they have removed this restriction :D
So there is no criteria on graduation marks for getting a seat at IISc :)

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