NID Entrance Exam Preparation 2025: Section-Wise Preparation Tips and Best Books

What to expect from this article: To pass the NID DAT exam with excellent grades, you must develop an effective NID Entrance Exam Preparation strategy. This includes choosing the appropriate study material, creating a study schedule, taking notes, and attending mock tests. This article will discuss all aspects of the NID entrance exam section-wise preparation and NID 2025 Last-Minute Preparation Tips.

The NIDs, or National Institutes of Design, are India's premier autonomous design education institutions. The main three campuses are NID Ahmedabad, NID Vijayawada, and NID Kurukshetra.

NID Ahmedabad, an 'Institute of National Importance,' has three campuses. NID Ahmedabad (Main campus or Heritage campus), NID Gandhinagar (PG campus), and NID Bangalore (R & D campus).

Admission to this institute is primarily through the NID Entrance Exam, which consists of two tests:

• Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Prelims and
• Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Mains

These tests aim to assess candidates' knowledge, skills, and behavioural characteristics.

• DAT Prelims is the first round of tests worth 100 points.
• This test takes three hours to complete.
• It is a written exam that assesses the candidate on topics such as knowledge, analysis, visualization, comprehension, and, most importantly, creativity.
• This preliminary exam is divided into two parts.
• The first section consists of MCQs for 30 points.
• The second section consists of subjective questions in visual or written formats for 70 points. There can be a slight changes in the pattern as decided by the authorities. 

Download Free Study Material for NID 2025 by Creative Edge

NID Entrance Exam Preparation 2025: Last-Minute Preparation Tips

1. Practise basic shapes in sketching: Use a pencil to draw circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles. Use line weight and shading to create depth. Practice perspective and depth by drawing cubes, cylinders, and gesture drawing to capture the movement of objects and spheres.

2. Prepare for MCQs: We understand it carries lesser weightage compared to drawing but every mark in NID counts! Therefore revise the important topics and questions from previous year's papers, mocks and question banks. 

3. Take Mocks: Even at the end of your preparation, if you find time, take mocks. It will boost your confidence! Take mock tests and time yourself to get a feel of the actual exam

4. Revision of important concepts: Revise the concepts you thoroughly know, and do not pick any new topic to study. It's time for revision only! For creative exams like NID, understanding the concepts properly, rather than just memorising them, is important. Revision can help you with accuracy and speed to ace the exam

5. Go through previous year's papers: Solving past papers can help you understand the type of questions you may be asked and how best to answer them. If lucky, you might even have repeated questions in NID 2024 paper. 

6. Take rest and good care of your health: Ensure you are in a good physical and mental state to perform to the best of your abilities. Managing stress levels is important to maintain good physical and mental health and to help you focus during the exam. Any amount of worrying does no good now! 

NID Entrance Exam Preparation 2025: NID-DAT Study Material, Preparation Books, and Study Tips

For the first part of the DAT Prelims, here are some sample questions based on the following topics (please note that the exam questions are not limited to the following examples)

Possible topics that can appear in your exam. 

• Art questions, such as identifying famous paintings and painting styles;
• Performing Arts, such as identifying dance forms or musical instruments;
• Design and Architecture, such as identifying famous works of designers or famous historical monuments;
• Film - understanding of award-winning or acclaimed directors;
• Logos - identifying and categorizing various logos, as well as understanding their designs;
• Technological questions and abbreviations
• Visual ability, mental aptitude, analytical reasoning, basic applied science, and other general knowledge and current affairs topics are also tested.
• Books on verbal and nonverbal reasoning, reading comprehension, and general knowledge are recommended, as are internet studies, newspapers, and so on.

Read More: How To Prepare For NID 2025 In 6 Months?

The second part of DAT Prelims covers topics such as the following.

• Fine arts – the study of perspective, texture, environments, human and animal drawings, etc.
• Graphic questions – studying 2D graphic posters, logos, signages, etc.
• Subjective topics in Creative thinking. For example, a half-full glass searches for water to fill itself. Write and illustrate the challenges it would face, or illustrate the following words and their opposites: hot, anger, kind, patience, etc. Keep in mind that questions on creative thinking are pretty much an open topic.

Referring to NID entrance exam sample question papers is always a boon to understanding the type of questions that are usually asked, which are available on the official website of NID.

Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Mains

Candidates who have completed the preliminary DAT Prelims are eligible for this exam. The DAT Mains consists primarily of the following components: drawing or creative thinking; material handling; audio-visual rounds; observation or psychometric and thematic tests.

The topics covered in NID DAT Mains are as follows:

Drawing or creative thinking questions - Topics covered here are pretty much on the same lines as the second part of DAT Prelims which is explained above. You may also be asked to sketch or explain any activity or work assigned to you during the studio test, so fluency and practice in sketching will come in handy here as well.

Material handling includes 3D model creation based on creative material manipulation and thinking outside the box. Clay, straws, rubber bands, toothpicks, wire, cloth, and other materials may be provided. Material handling tools may or may not be provided, but candidates are advised to bring a few materials or tools such as cello tape, glue, sandpaper, pliers, steel rulers, paper cutters, and so on.

The key to this activity is to use materials wisely and build stable or sustainable structures appropriate for the given theme and time frame. Though material handling may not be as simple as it appears, practice is essential. Try practising at home with common household items. While material handling questions are asked of all prospective B. Des and GDPD students, some PG programs, such as interaction design or information design, do not. Material handling is present in product design, toy and game design, and so on.

Courses Offered at NID Campuses

The main campus of NID Ahmedabad provides both a four-year Bachelor of Design (B. Des) and a 2.5-year Masters of Design (M. Des) program.

In contrast, the Gandhinagar and Bangalore campuses only offer the 2.5-year Masters of Design (M. Des).

On the other hand, NID Vijayawada and NID Kurukshetra only offer a four-year Graduate Diploma in Design (GDPD).

Graduate programs (B. Des) offered at NID Ahmedabad are of the following specializations:

• The faculty of Communication Design offers four disciplines - Animation film design, Film and video communication, Exhibition Design and Graphic Design.
• The faculty of Industrial Design offers three disciplines - Ceramic & Glass Design, Furniture with Interior Design and Product Design.
• Textile and Apparel Design faculty offers one discipline, which is Textile Design.

Read More: Courses Offered through NID 2025

Graduate Diploma programs in Design (GDPD) offered at NID Vijayawada and NID Kurukshetra are in the following three specializations are

• Communication design
• Industrial design
• Textile and apparel design

Postgraduate programs (MDes) offered at NID Ahmedabad are of the following specializations:

• The faculty of Communication Design offers four disciplines – Animation and film design (Ahmedabad), Film and video communication (Ahmedabad), Graphic design (Ahmedabad) and Photography design (Gandhinagar).
• The faculty of Industrial Design offers six disciplines – Ceramic and Glass design (Ahmedabad); Furniture and Interior design (Ahmedabad); Product design (Ahmedabad); Toy and Game design (Gandhinagar); Transportation and Automobile design (Gandhinagar) and Universal Design (Bangalore).
• The faculty of IT Integrated Design offers four disciplines – Digital Game Design (Bangalore), Interaction Design (Bangalore), Information Design (Bangalore), and New Media Design (Gandhinagar).
• The faculty of Interdisciplinary Design offers two disciplines – Design for retail experience (Bangalore) and Strategic design management (Gandhinagar).
• The faculty of Textile, Apparel, Lifestyle and Accessory Design offers three disciplines – Apparel design (Gandhinagar), Lifestyle Accessory design (Gandhinagar), and Textile Design (Ahmedabad).

Read More: How to prepare for the NID studio test

NID Entrance Exam Preparation Books 2025

There are several books out there that can guide you on how to prepare for the NID entrance exam.

The below-mentioned books might help you.

• NID (B.Des.) Entrance Books and Test Series by AFAINDIA
• NID DAT book by R.S. Aggarwal (Aptitude Section)
• Basic Rendering from Robert W.Gill
• Design drawing by Francis D.K. Ching
• NID Mock Test Series 2019-20 by Bhanwar Rathore and NID Alumni Ahmedabad
• NIFT/ NID/ IIFT entrance exam guide by Surendra
• NIFT/NID/IIFT Entrance Exam Guide by RPH Editorial Board
• NIFT, NID, IIFT Entrance Examination by Dharmendra Mittal

Read more: NID 2025 Preparation Books

How can CreativeEdge benefit you in your NID Entrance Exam Preparation 2025?

Creative Edge, a TopRankers initiative, is one of the top online NID entrance exam coaching centres.

Here, we make your NID entrance exam preparation more effective and easier to process. We help you to shape your skills and nourish your qualities to excel in the exam. 

• Get to communicate with our top faculty.
• Live classes with separate doubt-clearing sessions.
• Online Mock Tests are available for self-assessment.
• Get access to valuable study materials through PDF formats.
• Stay focused on the subject with interactive visuals and sample papers.
• Report card of your progress and so much more. 

Read more: Time Management Tips for NID 2025

Conclusion

The results for the NID 2025 Prelims exam will be released soon.

The selection process for the NID 2025 mains test will be based on the performance of the candidates in the prelims exam. The selected candidates will be called for the mains exam and further selection process.

Candidates who have cleared the prelims exam can prepare for the mains exam with full dedication and enthusiasm.

All the best to all the aspirants!

Take the next step towards mastering your NID entrance exam preparation by enrolling in our comprehensive NID online coaching program. Gain expert guidance, personalized support, and access to exclusive study materials designed to elevate your skills and ensure your success.