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Home / Self Study Material for Design Entrance Exams

DQ Edge is an award winning learning platform specifically to help students prepare for NID, UCEED, CEED, NIFT, NATA & JEE Paper 2 in 2021 and 2022 or later.

What you will find on DQ Edge

  • Learn - Theory & Aptitude: All concepts and advanced topics for Design Aptitude including Mental Ability, Analytical Reasoning, Visual Spatial Ability, General Knowledge, Fashion Aptitude, Architecture Aptitude etc.
  • Learn - Design Sketching: Perspectives, Human Figures, Animal Figures, Shading, Shadows, Textures, Speed Sketching, Theme Sketch, Creative Thinking exercises etc.
  • Take Tests / Practice: Get 100+ Free Practice Questions, 500+ Predicted questions, Sectional Tests, Past Year Question Papers, Sample Full Length Mock Tests etc. Questions also come with answer explanations and External resource links.
  • Studio Test / Material Handling / Situation Test Preparation: There are over 50+ material handling excercises from past year question papers of CEED, NID, NIFT at both UG and PG levels. Find the entire list of materials that you need to work with and also exercises on how you can use them
  • Peer Learning: Understand how you are performing as compared with your peers. See their work, rate them, let them rate your submissions as well. This is one of the key reasons that all students of DQ Edge perform better as the quality of the entire group increases.
  • Live Online Class Recorded Videos: Watch Recorded Videos of Online Classes at your convenience. The recorded Live videos cover all topics and will be avaialble to those who have full access to DQ Edge
  • Building your Attitude: What they are checking for in any of these creative exams is your Design Thought Process. To develop this, its not just enough that you prepare for the topics in Aptitude and Sketching. You need to be passionate about Design, Art, Fashion, Architecure and related other creative fields. To help you with this, DQ Labs encourages you to participate with industry E-Meets, DQ Conversations, E-Meet your Schools (Design, Fashion & Architecture), E-Meets with DQ Labs Previous Year Toppers and a lot more.

Some Toppers who have found DQ Edge to be useful:

  1. Pramitha SS - NATA 2020 Score 182.5
  2. Charithra N Reddy - NATA 2020 Score 177.5
  3. Anirudh Ramesh - 2020 JEE Paper 2 Percentile 99.86
  4. Mohena Nagar - NID 2018 Topper
  5. Anmol Venkatesh - NIFT 2018 Topper
  6. Sirigowri Kambalimath - NIFT 2018 AIR 2
  7. Logasrinivasan - CEED 2017 Topper
  8. Manasvini S - CEED 2017 Topper

DQ Edge - Accelerate Learning

DQ Edge is a learning platform that helps students prepare for creative entrance exams, from the comfort of their own home.

Exams that are catered to are NID, UCEED, CEED, NIFT, FDDI, NATA & JEE Paper 2

DQ Edge is hosted on the Xamplay Edutech Platform which is the winner of the 2019 NASSCOM Design4India Award

DQ Edge

Students on DQ Edge have secured admission into the top Design, Fashion and Architecture Schools in India and Globally.

What you will find on DQ Edge:
  1. Learn Content -This section contains the Theory for all Subjects organized in a simple and effective manner. You will find the Design Sketching subject very interesting.

    • You will find theory, quizzes, videos, explanations etc.
    • All topics covered including – Sketching, Aptitude, Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics, General Awareness etc

  2. Practice Tests -This section helps you evaluate your learning. There are various tests - subject wise, chapter wise and full length mock tests. You will find the personalized suggestions the most interesting feature in this section

    • Past Year Question Papers, Mock Tests, Practice Questions, Topic wise questions, Predicted Questions
    • Personalized suggestions for all students – Topics to study in terms of priority

  3. Sketch Development – The idea is to help a student understand their own level of sketching and match it with the expectations of their faculty. If they share the same understanding, then the student will realize where they need to improve themselves. The results are outstanding!

    • All sketches to be evaluated online by students themselves, Expert Faculty & Peer Group
    • View peers sketches for the same topics

  4. Webinars - Online Classes DQ Labs is the first coaching institute in India which used to organize online classes for their students. We pioneered the online sketch development program in 2007 to guide students to the best of their abilities.

    • Full programs - 1 or 2 Academic year programs - classes multiple times a week
    • Fast Track Programs - Multiple programs ranging from 2 to 21 days depending on various student objectives

  5. Apply to Colleges -

    • An entire list of Private design schools that you can consider
    • Connect with the schools directly and let them know you are interested

  6. Discuss / Articles / Events / -

    • Discuss - Ask your questions in a forum and get your answers from peers and experts
    • Articles - Blogs that give you information on various topics related to design, fashion and architecture
    • Events - Live Webinars, Register for workshops etc. These could be free or paid

What you can prepare for on DQ Edge:

This is the best resource for all students preparing for the following exams:

  • Design Entrance Exams (NID / UCEED / NID PG / Any Private Design School) - Preparation for Prelims (Design Sketching / Design Aptitude Test)
  • Fashion Entrance Exams (NIFT / FDDI / Any Private Fashion School) - Preparation for Written Test (Design Sketching / Creative Ability Test / General Ability Test)
  • Architecture (NATA / JEE Paper 2) - Preparation for any entrance (Sketching / Aptitude / Mathematics / Physics / Chemistry / Scientific Ability etc.)
  • Portfolio Preparation (Indian Schools & Study Abroad Programs)
  • Round 2 Preparation - Preparation for Mains (Studio Test, Material Handling etc.); Preparation for Situation Test (Material Handling etc.); Preparation for Interviews / Group Discussion etc.;

Learn Content - Your Digital Textbook

The learn section Contains Theory, Quizzes, Videos, Explanations etc.All topics are covered including – Sketching, Aptitude, Mathematics, General Knowledge & English

Learn Mental Ability, Analytical Resoning & General Knowledge on DQ Edge:

Depending on the test that you are preparing for, there are various subjects - Mathematics, Visual Spatial Ability, Mental Ability, Analytical Reasoning, English, General Knowledge and a lot more!

All content is organized in a very simple manner so as to help you learn quickly. Each subject has Chapters, Sub Chapters, Concepts, Practice quizzes, variations in questions. There are a lot of external references and video tutorials as well.

Learn

Learn Design Sketching on DQ Edge:

An interesting aspect is the Design Sketching section. Design Sketching, like the other subjects, also has its own structure - very different from art.

There are techniques - and then there’s creativity. If you really need to stand out and top the entrance test, your creativity has to be at full throttle.

In some cases, we also show you sample sketches - along with the video of how that sketch has been made. Check out the example below or

This makes it extremely easy for you to learn and improve your design sketches on DQ Edge

To help improve your sketches, you can also get your sketches evaluated by expert faculty and your peer group. Find out more about Sketch Evaluation here.

Sketching

Practice Tests - Your Personalized Mentor

The Practice section helps you evaluate your learning. There are various tests - subject wise, chapter wise and full length mock tests. You will find the personalized suggestions the most interesting feature in this section

An overview of this section looks like this:

Practice

Here, you will find Mock Tests, Past Year Question Papers, Topic Wise questions and Full length Mock Tests.

Personalized Suggestions on DQ Edge:

If you look at the section closely, you will find the “My Suggestions” Box. This is the most important feature of the Practice section of DQ Edge.

Practice as you know is key to evaluate what you have already learnt. But we look at Practice differently. For us, if you need to practice, you just don't need to know what you got right or wrong. If your test could tell you what specific topic you need to study in terms of priority, then that would help you out tremendously.

We at DQ Labs put in a lot of effort to be able to scientifically let you know how these suggestions are generated - We use a patent pending “Multi Dimensional MCQ Technology”

Personalised Insights

Patent Pending Multi Dimensional MCQ Technology on DQ Edge:

This is an award winning technology invented by the founders of DQ Labs and is hosted on Examplay Edutech learning Platform. This patent pending technology has won the prestigious 2019 NASSCOM Design4India Award.

You can find out more about the award from here

The difference between the a regular MCQ and the Muti-Dimensional MCQ is below:

In a regular MCQ, you will have a standard question with answer options and a submit button.

MCQ

The information that you can get from it is limited and will help you to a limited extent.

In a Multi Dimensional MCQ, you will have a standard question with answer options. However, the magic happens with the submit button. An example is below:

Multi Dimensional MCQ 2

Here, we are asking the student to input another layer of data - i.e. How did they come up with the solution.

They will choose from the following:

  1. Knowledge / Formula - only if they have looked at the question and immediately used the right formula or knowledge to get to the answer
  2. Elimination - if they choose to look at the answer options first and then choose the answer from the options
  3. Random Choice - If they are unable to come up with the answer from the above two methods and need to guess the answer

Note: Sometimes students may use multiple approaches to come up with the solution, however, they need to choose the dominant approach.

This way, the student is actually introspecting on how they are coming up with their answers.

A wealth of analytics is generated from this technology as listed below

How students can Interpret Analytics on DQ Edge:

The Analytics that are generated from DQ Edge is as follows:

  1. True Score
  2. Preparation Strategy Insights
  3. Attempt Strategy Insights

These are 3 very unique insights that no other technology platform in the world can give. These are scientifically generated and if used properly, can help a student improve learning significantly in a much shorter period of time.

These are explained below in detail

True Score:

The point of this section is to understand the actual Metacognition of the student - clarity in what they know and what they don't know.

Here, the student understands that in their scorecard - they have actually got some answers right even through guessing. They understand that these are topics that they still have to work on.

True Score

In this section, the marks scored by Random Choice are not considered so as to show the True Score of the student.

Preparation Strategy Insights:

The point of this section is to help a student know how they should be utilizing their time most effectively, in the run up to the exam.

Here, we look at the break up of the approach. Sets of coloured cards are shown to the student showing.

  1. Specific Topics to study
  2. The priority which which these should be studied
  3. The marks that they would have gained had they studied these

Strategy Insights 2
Red Cards: If a student answers using Knowledge or Formula and gets the answer right, then the student has mastered the topic. However, if they have got the answer wrong, then there is deep concern with these topics. The student is displaying a misunderstanding with concepts and hence, needs to unlearn and relearn these topics
Orange Cards: If a student uses Elimination as their approach, and may get some questions right or wrong, then these topics show as improvement topics. These are to be done in 2nd priority, only when the topics red cards are revised.
Green Cards: These are mastered topics, and students have generally used Knowledge or Formula as their approach and got them right. Students do not need to focus on these topics and can utilize their time to focus on the topics in the Red and Orange cards.
Subject Wise Performance: Here, students can also analyse their overall performance in each subject. They can see graphically, which subject they need to spend more time on.
Subject Performance

Ideally, there should be more green or orange and less red in the graph. The graph should also be almost complete. The graph above shows minimal preparedness for the exam.

Attempt Strategy Insights:The point of this section is to get a strategy to maximize their marks during an exam.
  • Green Topics - are those which the student has mastered and must answer immediately in a short time span.
  • Orange Topics - are those which the student may take a little more time than average to solve and hence, must be attempted as soon as the green topics are over
  • Red Topics - these are topics which the student must attempt last as they may take more time to answer these questions.

However, we do recommend that the student looks through all the questions in the question paper. A Red topic may have easy questions as well!

Attempt Strategy Insights
Time Based Analytics:These are analytics that showcase the overview of how they have utilized time during an exam. This will indicate to them how they can improve on time management.
Time Based Analytics

Sketch Development - Fine Tune the Designer in you

The idea is to help a student understand their own level of sketching and match it with the expectations of their faculty. If they share the same understanding, then the student will realize where they need to improve themselves. The results are outstanding!

Students need to

  • Access the Learn section to get a thorough understanding of Design Sketching fundamentals and assignments
  • Access the Practice Tests section to get their sketch assignments within a mock test

The questions will be displayed and students need to understand the questions clearly.

Drawing Section

They also need to understand the various parameters they would be judged on once they complete the assignment. So they are clear what they need to focus on.

Drawing Parameters

Once they complete the assignment within the stipulated time given, they are required to upload their sketches and Rate their own sketches by themselves.

Drawing Self Evaluation

When a student rates themselves, they give almost perfect scores

Drawing Faculty Evaluation

Faculty rating for the same sketch

The difference between the student rating themselves and the faculty rating is evident and is an eye opener for the student.

Students will also be able to see comparable sketches for the same assignment done by other students - only after their sketches are uploaded. This way, they get inspiration from their peer group as well!

Peer Evaluation

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