The first step to deciding which path you take in life is to sit down, have a discussion, deliberate and conclude. Decisions like these, that is, the direction you want to take in life, are crucial to deciding how the rest of your life goes. There are courses in college which can either broaden your scope for a job in the stream later on or narrow them. For example, studying for a medical degree guarantees that you can diversify but only as a medical professional. You can only deviate from the entire medical stream by doing a completely different course in another subject of your choice, but you shall have to start from square one. Whereas if you are pursuing engineering, and especially computer science, you can, later on, diversify into any profession you’d want, with a pre-existing degree in hand.
A lot of people often take the road not taken to realize their actual dreams. Some of these dreams involve courses that are not considered conventional by the general populace. Arts and Humanities, Psychology, and Design are some such examples. And, we shall be exploring the numerous avenues you have as a student to get into the design institute of your choice in India. I’ll be basing this on factors such as the ranking of the institute of same specializations in India, courses offered and job prospects upon graduating. I will also be talking a little bit about the courses you need to study in PUC 1 and 2 to qualify for the best design institute’s entrance and the pattern of the papers usually set.
Ranking of Design Colleges in India (Based on specialization offered) .
So, there are not many design institutes in the country. And if you want to make a mark in the industry, you must get into the best of the best. But before you decide that design is the path that you choose, maybe you should analyse what kind of design are you most suited. Conventionally there are about five streams in designing: Graphic Design, Interaction design, product design, animation and fashion design. I shall be giving you the four top colleges in the country for each stream.
For Graphic design, we have –
- NID Ahmedabad
- IIT Bombay
- IIT Guwahati
- MIT Pune
For Interaction Design, we have –
- IIT Guwahati
- IIT Bombay
- Symbiosis Pune
- MIT Pune
For Product design, we have –
- NID Ahmedabad
- NID Vijaywada
- MIT Pune
- Symbiosis Pune
For Animation, we have –
- NID Ahmedabad
- MIT Pune
- Symbiosis Pune
- UPES Dehradun
For Fashion design, we have –
- National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi
- NIFT Gandhinagar
- NIFT Mumbai
- Symbiosis Pune
What Do Most Colleges Require at an Undergraduate Level?
All the exams for Indian institutions, especially government colleges, have a fixed set of criteria that you shall need to qualify before even applying for the entrance exam. The standards required for getting into the NIDs are – you need to be younger than twenty years old, has done 10+2 from any recognized board, it doesn’t matter which stream you have done. You must pass out of 12th standard from your respective board.
All the colleges that you wish to apply to have their respective application forms, which you shall be able to download from their official website and fill in. Make sure you submit it in time. Some documents that are essential for the application process are your 10th class marks certificate and also your 12th class higher education certificate. Make sure you have these and proof of identity with you. Some colleges also demand you to have a migration form with yourself, which your school shall be giving to you in due process.
Also read: A career in Fashion designing: All you need to know about it
What Is Generally Asked For in a Design College’s Entrance Exam paper?
Like all entrance exam papers, design colleges have a mixture of questions from different subjects which carry different weightages. A general college entrance exam paper shall contain both multiple-choice and long answer questions. The topics that they ask are both mental and creative ability, a part of logical reasoning and general knowledge, and a lot of design thinking.
If you feel that you are not a good artist, do not worry. Most design colleges are not looking for how well you can draw as this gets honed on in the college itself. They are looking for the way you think, and wish to analyse if you are a good fit to get into their college. Reputed colleges like the NIDs have only 19 seats in each stream and it extremely tough to get into it. So remember that they shall focus on what your thought process brings to the table more than your drawing skills.
What Should I Do as an Applicant to Attempt a Design Exam Paper?
Attempting a design exam paper is the same as trying any other competitive paper. You must prepare yourself and practice a lot of mental ability and logical reasoning problems. Counting and calculation must be like the back of your hand as they shouldn’t come to hinder you during the exam. Go through as much general knowledge as you can and stay up to date on current events. Obtain all that you can on these design exam papers. Mock papers, old question papers, solved question answer booklets, explain everything, no matter how small. Make sure to keep a time limit on each question paper you are addressing so that you get faster eventually. Analyze your performance and figure out where you’re losing points and time.
Also read:15 trending courses after graduation in 2019
Is Solving a Question Paper all That is Required?
No, there is more. The next step to applying for a design college is to prepare a portfolio. All design colleges require this. What is a portfolio, you ask? A portfolio is a body of your work that represents you as a designer. It’s a collection of your best creations for the college to examine and go over. A portfolio helps them better decide if you are a fit for their college. Your portfolio can be a collection of your best artworks or paintings. It can also be any other creation of yours, like sculptures, posters that you have previously designed.
You should look upon how to create a portfolio and adopt the style that best suits you. It will be ideal if you begin creating your collection two to three years before your application. We suggest this so that you have ample sample paintings for you to shortlist from. Make sure that all your work is original and inspired by what you aim to create. Also, make sure that all your work is unique and caters to a wide variety of designs. You need to show your versatility
In the end, we’d just like to say that no path is pothole-free. There will be a lot of bumps and accidents and mistakes in this journey. You must learn to take this in stride. And if you second-guess your true desire for designing, we’d urge you to take a definite IQ test to check. We hope you achieve your goals and dreams and wish you best in life.