1. Draw (pencil and paper works the best)

2. Get inspired (Internet is all yours, honey)

3. Observe (You dont have to pay them)

4. Listen (Ever heard of patience?)

5. Empathise (Because, ultimately they are the ones who are gonna buy your stuff)

6. Read and sense the pulse (Because others are ahead of you and its better to learn from their mistakes than to make all on your own and then learn from them)

7. Learn the tools – if u ask me one tool – then its Adobe (r) Illustrator

8. Practice

9. Practice

10. Practice (Shut up and do it)

11. Find work (Search the net – theres too much of info – that you have to learn to sort it first)

12. Do it. ON TIME. (Because your clients dint hire you for your ‘pleasure of creativity’ )

13. Stay humble

News here.

*well… i kinda doesn’t like fruit companies much

http://www.gate.iitb.ac.in/ceed2011/

I had been busy few days with Windows 7. Awesome! In one word, that’s all i can say about it. Had been a devotee of Windows XP, recently only i made the decision to switch to Windows 7. Handles all tasks pretty effectively. Even this post is being written from a Microsoft tool (Windows Live writer).

I think recently i got converted as a Microsoft loyalist. After the Google privacy issues and all, i had been thinking none of these companies will be handling our data safely and i hope little bit of competition is always necessary. lets wait and watch, what else can we do?

Well, the exam consisted of 12-13 qstns, I dont rememeber. It was for 3 hours and 150 marks. The questions were
1. Pencil sketching, candle half open matchbox and some spilled sticks with emphasis on details etc.
2. Design a torch with an additional function[utilising power from dry cells] OR design a mascot for ‘a proposed underwater tourism project by Govt of India’
I chose the second option.
3. Eight unconventional/productive ways of using dead CDs.[Sketches]
4. Summarize the given paragraph.
5. Ten probs/defects with the tolilets of second class passenger trains.
6. Convert given news report into visuals.
7. Make two sculptures by using the given four basic figures[Sketches]
8. Design the base for a statue[pic given][Sketch]
9. Design gear train for a bicycle for an uphill task[engg. skills][sketches]
10. Design a mineral water bottle for children in the age group of 3-6 yrs.

Well, the rest I forgot.
Hope these will help someone.

Edit: I am adding my comment here.

Well, to talk about CEED, all the official information is available here: http://www.iitb.ac.in/%7Epge/home.htm

You need some exposure into design and related stuff to take the test confidently. I was totally unprepared for the test, dint have ANY idea about the questions. I was expecting more of mechanical/theory/design questions, but as you can see from my post, the questions were primarily based on pure design.

You need sketching skills. Its a must. and for that you need pencils, color pencils etc… carry some to or three pencils [of diff grades, like hb, 2b 4b and one harder one - 2H, am i right? -] get used to sketching when u r given one topic on the spot.

next, they test you for you observational skills. critical observation, they say.

then you need to have lil bit of graphic design exposure. there was a question, in which a figure was given which had the word ‘little’ in some bold font [like http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/jnlevine/sporting-life/ ] in a twisted way. you have to decipher the word contained in it. then you have to sketch another word in the same style.

try going thro some design related sites. i recommend http://del.icio.us/popular/design as a starter.

then verbal skills. like summarizing a paragraph

a lil bit of engineering skills is also required.

you dont need mini drafter etc. you need pen, pencil, dry coloring tools, eraser, pencils etc. i think you can use wet coloring tools also, but it eats away a good chunk of your time and spoils the paper. if you are a pro with watercolor, you can use that. you will be answering in the question paper itself. it is made of good grade drawing sheet.

then you have to finish off the test in the given time. I failed there. wen i saw the questions, i was thrilled. everything seemed to be easy, but i could do only half the questions. i left questions worth about 70 marks [out of total 150 ]. So dont get carried away by the questions. I enjoyed taking the test.

if you feel that you are talented enough, then go for NID test. I heard the test is more grueling, but you can conquer it by practice.
i think by this time you all might have taken the test. really sorry for this late reply.

and if any of you have any questions/queries or need resources regarding graphic design, feel free to contact me.

I had searched the net exhaustively for any info regarding questions, but so far found none. If you are a member of orkut, then try visiting the NID community and try seeking help there. Also the IISc community. Sometimes they can help you.

thanx and all the best. THANX TO YOU ALL FOR YOUR COMMENTS. THANX FOR VISITING MY BLOG.

deepak.

PS: I dont think you need much exposure in CAD to crack CEED. but be prepared for the unexpected, i have seen only one test. try to meet guys who have taken some other CEED test.

the others- precisely the ‘designers’- *think* also. and that makes all the difference.

all designers and some kinda tool experts. but its not true the other way round.

spelling doesnt work. am i dislexic? i havent seen TZP yet. want to se it. now i am at bros hostel, working freom sanjus machine, i can see TZp-it is in here. but i prefer to go for nayakan, kamal hasssan’s epic movie-kinda remake of godfather.

well, the news is that i have decided to go back to design. i am fed up with this coding shit. earlier, i used to wonder why they spent lots of time infront of those machines churning out huge volumes of code. even i did. i still do. now i know their motives and the incentives. but sorry, these days i dont find any drive in that stuff. how to restart designing?

here is a list. its for me.

1. watch rock on
2. learn HTML
3. Watch more movies. watch pursiut of happyness once more.
4. buy a secondhand desktop. ask bro to get me one. search in BB.
5. net conn. i know shareef will get it done. no worries. he is such a cool dude.
6. think
7. get the music right.
8. now, *start dreaming*
9. design.

thats it. dreaming is such a good thing. just take off, fly around. you need some good music to go along. rock on works fine for me now. i am listening to an indian band, Thermal and a quarter also. they have some good songs out there.

love you all…

The major change is its introduction of a public page for you, marking its entry into the the social networking platform.

For years, netvibes have been my start page whenever I used to have one. I have been involved with their translation to local languages also. Personally I feel its the best web 2.0 start page available on the net.

Update: TechCrunch is offering 500 free invitations for its readers. Go there to grab it.

Stephen Pressfield in his book The War of Art